GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING
Never-before-seen photographs of murdered schoolgirl Charlise Mutten show the happy nine-year-old celebrating her last Christmas.
Murder trial evidence released by the NSW Supreme Court also includes footage taken the day before she was shot dead by the evil monster she called “daddy”.
More grisly images were released of the brown plastic barrel in which Charlise’s body was found face down in the fetal position, bound with duct tape and loaded with sand on the banks of the Colo River.
Daily Mail Australia previously reported that the scene where Charlise’s remains were discovered was so horrific that police were left traumatized and needed time off work.
“There will be people who won’t go back to work for a while,” one source said.
The photos, along with police interviews with Charlise’s killer, Justin Stein, and a recording of the Triple-0 call from Charlise’s mother, Kallista, reporting her disappearance, were released at the end of Stein’s trial.
Stein, 34, a drug addict from a wealthy family, was found guilty on Wednesday of murdering Charlise between January 11 and 12, 2022.
A jury found him guilty after a month-long trial and then eight days of deliberation before Judge Helen Wilson.
The convicted murderer, who shot Charlise in the face while she was on vacation with him and his mother, Stein’s then-fiancée, could face life behind bars.
Charlise Mutten appears on Christmas Day 2021, her last Christmas and just weeks before she was murdered, in new photographs released by the New South Wales Supreme Court.
Charlise is seen with her mother Kallista Mutten on Christmas Day 2021, when the nine-year-old was on holiday in Sydney with Kallista’s fiancé Justin Stein, who has now been convicted of her murder.
Justin Stein (above) was Kallista Mutten’s fiancé from a wealthy family, but in reality the former couple were drug offenders and met while serving prison sentences.
Murder trial evidence released by the NSW Supreme Court includes chilling images of the brown plastic barrel in which Charlise’s body was found face down, bound with duct tape and loaded with sand on the banks of the Colo River .
Stein had pleaded not guilty to Charlise’s murder and lied that it was Ms Mutten, 40, who shot her daughter in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.
Stein had claimed that after Ms Mutten shot her daughter, she secretly placed Charlise’s body in the barrel and secured it in the back of her ute without her knowledge.
But the jury did not believe him.
Mutten denied having any involvement in her daughter’s death and broke down in tears when she faced the accusation in court.
Many of the facts of the case were not in dispute, including the fact that Charlise died from gunshot wounds she suffered on or near a Mount Wilson estate owned by Stein’s mother, the jury heard.
At Stein’s trial, the court heard about the “unconditional love” between Charlise and Kallista, and the boy’s growing affection for Stein over FaceTime calls.
“He said he really liked Justin and asked me if I would be a good father,” said his grandfather Clinton Mutten.
The last photos of Charlise Mutten (left) in a pool three days before her murder and (right) laughing on the night of January 10, 2022. A day later she would be dead.
The BSAQ .22 rifle with a telescopic sight with which, according to the police, Justin Stein murdered Charlise by shooting her in the face.
The barrel with Charlise inside was dumped in the bush next to the Colo River, 60 km from where Charlise was shot dead on Stein’s property, ‘Wildenstein’. Daily Mail Australia previously reported that the scene was so horrific that police were traumatized and needed time off work.
When Charlise finally came to New South Wales for the holidays, she had finished a successful school year in which she won a literacy award.
Clinton Mutten also told the court that the young woman loved animals and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
In the last week of Charlise’s life, the court heard, the romance between Stein and Kallista was almost over.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC said Stein was the last person to see Charlise and have the opportunity to kill her between 7.16pm on Tuesday, January 11 and 10.06am on Wednesday, January 12.
Justin Stein will be sentenced in August for Charlise’s murder.
