By Sarah McPhee and Amber Schultz
The mother of nine-year-old Charlise Mutten has tearfully told a court that her smart and kind daughter had longed for a father, and she hates herself for putting her trust in the wrong person, as prosecutors push for a life sentence for the girl’s killer.
Justin Stein, 33, was found guilty by a jury in June of murdering Charlise, whose body was found with gunshot wounds to her face and back in a barrel next to the Colo River in January 2022.
Charlise Mutten was murdered by her mother’s fiance, Justin Stein.
“It’s almost akin to an execution, isn’t it?” Justice Helen Wilson said at Stein’s sentence hearing on Friday.
Charlise, who lived with her grandparents in Tweed Heads, had flown to Sydney in December 2021 to spend Christmas and the school holidays with her mother, Kallista Mutten, and her mother’s fiance, Stein. The Crown case was that Stein killed Charlise at his family’s mansion, Wildenstein, in the Blue Mountains on the night of January 11 or the morning of January 12, 2022, while her mother was staying 1½ hours away at his caravan in Lower Portland.
Reading her victim impact statement via video link, a tearful Kallista Mutten said Charlise had “just longed for a dad. She trusted in my judgment and I just hate myself for being so wrong about it.”
To Stein, she said: “You took away Charlise and, with that, my future as a mother.”
Kallista Mutten outside the NSW Supreme Court in Parramatta.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Stein, wearing a dark suit, thin black tie and crumpled white shirt, sat in the dock and watched proceedings intently with a stern expression.
Mutten remembered Charlise as a smart, kind and good child, who dreamed of being a doctor or a vet and read 180 books in one year. The court heard Tweed Heads Public School has named an award in Charlise’s honour.
Stein spun a web of lies, claiming he left Charlise in the care of a female auctioneer at the home because she was sick. He suggested his former criminal associates may have kidnapped her, and pretended to search for her. He also pointed the finger at his then fiancee, alleging she shot her daughter, which Mutten denied.
Mutten said being accused of her daughter’s murder was “one of the most horrific experiences”. She said she was blindsided by Stein’s lies that made it look like she was “covering” for him.
“My beautiful daughter, I will always cherish your kind wisdom, and I will forever miss your unconditional love.”
Charlise’s grandfather, Clinton Mutten Senior, read a joint statement on behalf of his wife Deborah. He said the sound of the nearby school bell reminds them of their loss.
“Charlise was such a beautiful, caring, respectful, smart, thoughtful and loving person to all that knew her,” he said. “Her murder by a person of whom she trusted, was calling ‘Daddy’, and hoped for him to someday be a caring father to her, I believe breaches all sense of decency and trust.”
He said his last words face-to-face with Charlise were at the airport, when he said, “Be a good girl, and make us proud”, to which she replied, “I will, Pop, love you.”
“Knowing Charlise as I do, I’m sure she was true to her word,” he said.
Charlise Mutten with her grandmother Deborah Mutten.Credit: Facebook
Mutten snr said their trust in their daughter and Stein to care for Charlise was “misplaced”. He said they had been accused of failing to protect her, and it would “haunt our consciences for the rest of our lives”.
He asked himself daily why Charlise was murdered, whether she had been “hunted down”, pleaded for her life, or called out his or anyone else’s name “in a vain effort for help before her life was taken”.
“These are questions I believe will never be answered, and will be a burden I will carry for the rest of my life.”
Charlise Mutten’s grandfather, Clinton Mutten Senior, told the court the nine-year-old was kind and thoughtful.Credit: Nick Moir
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay, SC, submitted that a life sentence was “the only punishment appropriate” for Stein, a “person without remorse”.
“Charlise Mutten must have been in great fear until the final fatal shot,” he said.
A .22 calibre BSA bolt-action rifle, which had Stein’s fingerprint on it, was found on a Mount Wilson fire trail in February 2022.
McKay said Stein was entrusted to look after Charlise at the property, and “went to great lengths to avoid being held responsible for his actions, and went as far to try and blame Charlise Mutten’s own mother for her murder.”
He said the judge could find Stein, who has schizophrenia, was responsible for Charlise having anti-psychotic drugs in her system, and that she was physically incapacitated as a result.
Defence barrister Carolyn Davenport, SC, argued there was no known motive, but conceded Stein was facing a minimum sentence of 25 years in jail.
Stein is due to be sentenced on Monday.
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