Justin Stein has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, fatally shooting her in the face and dumping her body in a barrel.
Judge Helen Wilson delivered the sentence in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney, where a thin and nervous-looking Stein appeared in person.
Judge Wilson said Stein, 33, showed “no remorse whatsoever”, had “no humanity or morals” and that the shooting was “unspeakably cruel and murderous”.
“These were deliberate acts, and the second shot was an execution shot. He took these actions with the intent to kill her,” she said, “he was trying to blame Charlise’s mother for his own indecent behavior.
‘Charlise wasn’t just any child, she was a very young child… nine years and five months old.
‘Charlise had begun to address the perpetrator as “Daddy.” This crime is a gross violation of that trust.
‘She was in a state of extreme drowsiness; she had even less ability to defend herself and escape from danger.’
Judge Wilson called Stein’s allegedly tearful account of Charlise’s death “false” during the trial and said the tissue he used was dry.
Justin Stein is convicted of murdering nine-year-old Charlise Mutten (above in December 2021, during her last Christmas) and then dumping her body in a barrel
Justin Stein shot Charlise Mutten in the face after drugging her and then dumping her body in a barrel in the bushes
“From where I was sitting I could see it very clearly. He hadn’t slept a wink and he didn’t shed a single tear,” Judge Wilson said.
The sentence came after prosecutors sought a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for the shooting murder, which the judge described as “comparable to an execution.”
Judge Wilson warned the court on Monday that her sentencing would contain “shocking” elements.
“He shot Charlise twice with a stolen gun,” she 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 the projectile struck those clothes.
The wound indicates that Charlise is turning away from the perpetrator.
Charlise was still alive and would have survived this injury.
The projectile struck Charlise’s right cheekbone, causing extensive facial fractures.
The bullet penetrated… the inside of the skull where the brain is located.
‘I’m satisfied… the stolen gun was the gun used to kill Charlise.
“The barrel of the gun was held very close to Charlise’s face. The perpetrator was standing in front of Charlise.”
Stein was convicted of the January 2022 fatal shooting of nine-year-old Charlise in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. The Tweed Heads Primary School pupil was on holiday with Stein and her mother.
Judge Wilson said during a sentencing hearing on Friday that Charlise must have fallen to the ground after being shot in the back by Stein.
Stein then walked up to the child and shot her again at close range, about a foot from her face, in what Judge Wilson said was “almost an execution.”
Charlise’s mother Kallista Mutten burst into tears during the hearing and told her former fiancé, “I hate myself for trusting you.”
Mrs Mutten read out a victim’s impact statement via an audio-video link. In a trembling voice, Mrs. Mutten told Stein: ‘[Charlise] just wanted you to be her daddy. I just hate myself for being so wrong about you.
“I have to live with the fact that I trusted someone and that because of my trust I put my daughter in danger.”
Justin Stein tried to blame Kallista Mutten (above with Charlise, during Christmas 2021) for the murder of her own daughter while she was in a drug-induced state
Stein was arraigned in court on Friday and listened silently as prosecutors sought a mandatory life sentence for the murder.
Stein blinked rapidly and then closed his eyes for a few seconds. His leg trembled restlessly as he listened to the statements of Mrs. Mutten and her father.
“I won’t get to see her grow up, have her first boyfriend and get married,” Charlise’s mother said.
“I miss being Charlise’s mom the most and her saying ‘I love you.’
‘Charlise was my biggest fan and always told me I was the best mother in the world.’
Ms Mutten said that since Charlise’s murder, she has been harassed in public, verbally abused by people on public transport and followed by the media, preventing her from going out.
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 that the last time she saw Charlise, she had told her she was pregnant and that the girl was looking forward to “being an older sister.”
Mrs Mutten added: ‘My life will never be the same again.’
She said Charlise “loved being a nerd and reading books.”
The young man was shot twice in Stein’s luxurious family home in Mount Wilson between January 11 and 12, 2022, after being sedated with Stein’s schizophrenia medication, shot in the back and then shot at close range through her right cheek.
Justin Stein is at Bunnings looking for sand to weigh down the barrel he’s placed Charlise’s body in
Detectives found Charlie’s body in this barrel (above, in situ, with the little girl’s remains inside), dumped by Stein on the banks of the Colo River
Stein has been in hiding since the day investigators found Charlise’s 75-pound body, wrapped in a tarp, bound with tape and placed head first in an industrial vat on the banks of the Colo River, a week after the shooting.
During a five-week trial in May-June, he attempted to blame Charlise’s mother, then a heavy intravenous methamphetamine addict, for the murder of her own daughter.
The court heard Kallista gave her a huge amount of ice (17 points a day) and had psychotic episodes when she was lying on the floor, babbling and unintelligible.
But in traumatic testimony at trial, she testified that she was not with Stein or Charlise the night the murder occurred and that she believed his story that her daughter was being cared for by another woman.
On June 19, after 35 hours of deliberation spread over eight days, a jury found Justin Stein guilty of Charlise’s murder.
Stein had already admitted disposing of the body after police released CCTV footage showing him driving the tarpaulin-covered barrel through Sydney, collecting sand at Bunnings to weigh it down, then driving it to the riverbank 100km northwest of Sydney.
Stein alleged that after shooting her daughter, Mrs. Mutten secretly placed Charlise’s body in the barrel and strapped it to the bed of his pickup truck without his knowledge.
But the jury didn’t believe him.
Stein drives through the Lane Cove tunnel with the barrel in the back, covered with a blue tarp
Charlise Mutten at school in 2021, the last year of her short life, and the barrel she was put in when Stein dumped her body in January 2022
Mrs Mutten denied she had anything to do with her daughter’s death and burst into tears when she was accused in court.
Stein was the defense’s only witness at the trial and spent two days discussing his version of events.
Prosecutor Ken McKay SC said Stein gave Charlise his schizophrenia drug Quetiapine “either deliberately or … accidentally”.
Stein denied giving Charlise the drugs and said he had participated in a plan by Charlie’s mother to cover up the murder, including lying to police about leaving the girl in the care of an imaginary woman who appraised items on the Mount Wilson estate.
Stein denied giving Charlise the drugs and said he had participated in a plan by Charlie’s mother to cover up the murder, including lying to police about leaving the girl in the care of an imaginary woman who appraised items on the Mount Wilson estate.
Detective Bradley Gardiner told the trial that according to phone records, Stein texted Kallista Mutten at 8:20 p.m. on January 11, writing, “Hey honey, sorry, I left my phone in the car and I went inside to look for it,” that he was “frying chicken” and that “Charsey” was watching TV and playing with balloons.
On January 12 at 10:06 a.m., Stein sent another text to his partner, saying, “I’m literally about to walk out the door. Charsey is staying in bed.
“She crashed and went back to sleep,” and left Mount Wilson at 10:13 a.m. By that time, however, Charlise was already dead.
