Jury decides fate of accused murderer Justin Stein
The jury has handed down their verdict to Justin Stein after a lengthy trial into the murder of schoolgirl Charlise Mutten.
Stein, Mutten's stepfather, was found guilty of murdering the nine-year-old and disposing of her body in barrel in the Blue Mountains.
Charlise's body was found near the Colo River, northwest of Sydney on January 18th 2022, with gunshot wounds to her face and lower back.
The jury deliberated for almost two weeks before delivering its verdict on Wednesday morning, following a four-week trial.
Throughout the trial, Stein admitted to disposing of Charlise's body after her death in January 2022, but maintained that the young girl's mother, Kallista Mutten, had been the one to murder the child.
Kallista denied having any involvement in her daughter's death and broke down in tears when faced with the accusation in court.
As she dismissed the jurors, Justice Helen Wilson thanked them for their service.
She said "quite a lot of people" had told her at the beginning of the proceedings that they did not feel they could listen to evidence about the death of a child.
"It's not an easy thing to hear evidence about something as distressing as the violent death of, particularly, a child," she said.
"That's upsetting, I think, for most people. It's also difficult to sit in judgement on a fellow member of the community."
"In being willing to do both those things, you've played a very important role in our criminal justice system."
Stein will now face a sentence hearing on August 23rd, where is he faced with life in prison for the murder charge.
Image credits: 9News / NSW Police