Justin Stein has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, whom he fatally shot in the face before dumping her body in a barrel.
Judge Helen Wilson handed down the sentence in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney, where Stein appeared in person looking thin and nervous.
Judge Wilson said Stein, 33, had “no remorse,” “no humanity and no morals” and called the shooting “unspeakably cruel and murderous.”
“These were deliberate acts and the second shot was a firing shot. He took these actions with the intent to kill her,” he said, “he sought to blame Charlise’s mother for his own indecent conduct.”
‘Charlise was not just a little girl, she was a very little girl… she was nine years and five months old.
‘Charlise had begun referring to her attacker as “Dad.” This crime represents a blatant violation of that trust.
“He would have been in a state of pronounced drowsiness; he had even less ability to defend himself and flee from danger.”
Judge Wilson called Stein’s reportedly tearful account of Charlise’s death during the trial “false” and said the handkerchief she used was dry.
Justin Stein is being sentenced for murdering nine-year-old Charlise Mutten (above, in December 2021, on her last Christmas) and then dumping her body in a barrel.
Justin Stein shot Charlise Mutten in the face after drugging her and then dumped her body in a barrel in the woods.
“From where I was sitting I could see very clearly, her eyes were completely dry and she had not shed a single tear,” Judge Wilson said.
The sentence came after crown prosecutors asked for a mandatory life sentence without parole for the shooting that the judge described as “execution-like.”
Judge Wilson warned the court on Monday that her sentence would contain “distressing” elements.
“He shot Charlise twice with a stolen gun,” he said. “One wound to the left side of her lower back or pelvic area, the other to the right side of her face.
‘Charlise was wearing black sweatpants and a skirt when a bullet entered those garments.
The injury is consistent with Charlise walking away from the attacker.
Charlise was alive and would have survived this injury.
‘The bullet struck Charlise just below her right cheekbone… causing extensive facial fractures.
The bullet penetrated… inside the skull, where the brain is located.
‘I am satisfied… the stolen weapon was the gun used to murder Charlise.
‘The barrel of the gun was very close to Charlise’s face. The attacker was facing her.’
Stein has been sentenced for the fatal shooting of nine-year-old Charlise in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in January 2022, where the Tweed Heads primary school student was on holiday with Stein and her mother.
Judge Wilson said at a sentencing hearing last Friday that after Stein shot her in the back, Charlise must have fallen to the ground.
Stein then approached the girl and, 30 centimetres from her face, fired again at point-blank range, which was “almost execution-like”, Judge Wilson said.
Charlise’s mother, Kallista Mutten, broke down in tears during the hearing, telling her ex-fiancé: “I hate myself for trusting you.”
Ms Mutten read the victim impact statement via audio and video link. Her voice shaking, Mrs. Mutten told Stein: “(Charlise) just longed for you to be her father. I hate myself for being so wrong about you.”
‘I am forced to live with the fact that I trusted someone and because of that trust, I put my daughter in danger.’
Justin Stein attempted to frame Kallista Mutten (above with Charlise, Christmas 2021) for murdering her own daughter while in a drug-induced state.
Stein was brought into court on Friday and listened quietly as prosecutors demanded a mandatory life sentence for the killing.
Stein blinked rapidly and then closed his eyes for several seconds, his leg shaking restlessly as he listened to Mrs. Mutten and his father’s statements.
“I won’t see her grow up, have her first boyfriend and get married,” Charlise’s mother said.
‘What I miss most is being Charlise’s mom and having her tell me I love you.
‘Charlise was my biggest fan and always said I was the best mom in the world.’
Ms Mutten said that since Charlise’s murder, she had been harassed in public, abused by people on public transport and followed by the media to the point where she was unable to go outside.
Only Charlise’s grandfather, Clinton Mutten (above), who along with his wife Deborah was the nine-year-old’s legal guardian, showed up for Justin Stein’s sentencing.
She said the last time she saw her, she had told Charlise she was pregnant and that the girl was looking forward to “being a big sister.”
Ms Mutten added: “My life will never be the same.”
She said Charlise “loved being a nerd and reading books.”
The young man was shot twice at Stein’s luxurious family home in Mount Wilson. Between January 11 and 12, 2022, after being drugged with Stein’s schizophrenia medication, she was shot in the back and then at point-blank range in the right cheek.
Justin Stein buys sand from Bunnings to make the barrel he has put Charlise’s body in heavier
Detectives found Charlie’s body in this barrel (above, in situ, with the girl’s remains inside), dumped by Stein on the banks of the Colo River.
Stein has been behind bars since the day, a week after the shooting, detectives found Charlise’s 75-pound body wrapped in a tarp, bound with tape and placed headfirst inside an industrial barrel on the banks of the Colo River.
During a five-week trial in May-June, he attempted to frame Charlise’s mother, then a serious intravenous methamphetamine addict, for murdering her own daughter.
The court heard Kallista injected himself with a massive amount of “17 points a day” of ice and had suffered psychotic episodes as he lay on the ground, babbling incoherently.
But in a shocking testimony at the trial, he said he had not been with Stein or Charlise on the night of the murder and believed her story that her daughter was being cared for by another woman.
On June 19, after deliberating for 35 hours over eight days, a jury found Justin Stein guilty of Charlise’s murder.
Stein had already admitted dumping the body, after police showed CCTV footage showing him driving the tarpaulin-wrapped barrel around Sydney, collecting sand from Bunnings to weigh it down, then heading to a riverbank 100km northwest of Sydney.
Stein had claimed that after Mrs. Mutten shot her daughter, he secretly placed Charlise’s body in the barrel and secured it in the back of his truck without her knowledge.
But the jury didn’t believe him.
Stein exiting Lane Cove tunnel with barrel on back covered by blue tarp
Charlise Mutten at school in 2021, the last year of her short life, and the barrel she was placed in when Stein disposed of her body in January 2022
Ms Mutten denied any involvement in her daughter’s death and broke down in tears when faced with the accusation in court.
Stein appeared as the defense’s only witness at the trial and spent two days going over his version of events.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC said Stein gave Charlise her schizophrenia medication, Quetiapine, “either intentionally or… accidentally”.
Stein denied giving Charlise the medication and said she had followed a plan by Charlie’s mother to cover up the murder, which included lying to police about leaving the girl in the care of an imaginary woman who was appraising items at the Mount Wilson estate.
Stein denied giving Charlise the medication and said she had followed a plan by Charlie’s mother to cover up the murder, which included lying to police about leaving the girl in the care of an imaginary woman who was appraising items at the Mount Wilson estate.
Detective Sergeant Bradley Gardiner told the trial that phone records showed Stein texting Kallista Mutten at 8.20pm on January 11, saying: “Hey mate, sorry I left my phone in the car, I’ve been looking for it inside,” that he was “cooking chicken” and that “Charsey” was watching TV and playing with balloons.
At 10.06am on 12 January, Stein sent another message to her partner, saying: “I’m literally about to walk out the door. Charsey is staying in bed.
“She’s devastated and has already gone back to sleep,” he said, and left Mount Wilson at 10:13 a.m. But by that time Charlise was already dead.