Family’s ‘life sentence’ after carer murdered by friend
John Sheffield’s decision to kill his friend and live-in carer left victim Kenneth Magee’s loved ones with a lifetime of grief.
“One moment, that’s all it takes to change a person’s life,” Mr Magee’s daughter Kristy told the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday.
One moment Ms. Magee was sitting on the couch watching television, the next she was frantically putting on her clothes and running to the hospital to be with her dying father.
Just four minutes after that life-changing phone call from authorities came another that dragged him into a complicated, life-altering reality.
Explaining that he learned about his father’s death, he said, “For a moment I was so angry that I could break everything in my eyes, and for a moment I was completely numb.”
“I shed so many tears that they could fill an Olympic pool.”
Once a devoted sous chef who loved her job, Ms. Magee now spends her days away from family and friends, suffering from the mental overload resulting from her father’s death.
“His life was stolen from someone he once called a friend,” he said.
Mr. Magee’s younger sister, Allison Menzies, remembers her brother as a selfless man who cared about his friends, loved animals and made an impact as a prolific blood donor.
“Every time I thought of Ken I would smile at the memories,” she told the court.
Almost a year and a half has passed since Mr. Magee’s death, but time has not begun to heal his wounds.
“Instead, grief festers deep within me,” he said.
“Ken was given the death penalty, but I was given a life sentence.”
Before losing her brother, Ms. Menzies recalled a life free of fear and anxiety.
“Now my brother’s screams come into my dreams,” he said.
The actions of Sheffield, 56, who admitted killing Mr Magee at their home in Melbourne’s west on December 2, 2024, have resulted in ongoing struggles for both women.
“Kenny was loved and I hope he gets the justice he deserves,” Ms Menzies said.
Mr Magee, 62, was sitting in the living room of his Werribee home when Sheffield burst in and beat him with a hammer.
A neighbor who heard screams coming from the house called the police, who arrived at the scene and found the victim unconscious on the couch with a serious head injury.
Rushed to hospital, the man succumbed to his injuries, which included skull fractures and brain lacerations from five blunt force trauma.
Sheffield initially told police that someone had broken into their home while she was in her room listening to a John Farnham DVD loudly.
He said he went out to smoke a cigarette and returned to see Mr. Magee on the sofa with blood pouring from his head.
Sheffield, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in March.
Defense lawyer John Desmond detailed the pair’s relationship history, citing statements and reports from a neighbor and a domestic violence organization who claimed Mr. Magee would hit his client’s head with a closed fist and hit him in the stomach and face.
“My client committed the crime of murder in this environment,” he said in court.
He said the alleged domestic violence negatively impacted Sheffield’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, which led to cognitive and decision-making slowing, resulting in murder.
But prosecutor Grant Hayward urged Judge Rita Incerti to be careful about domestic violence allegations given Sheffield had previously lied to police.
He referred to an earlier hospital report which said Sheffield denied any concern about his carer and did not feel safe around him.
Judge Incerti will hand down sentence at a later date.
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