"Unspeakably vicious": Judge hands down verdict to Justin Stein
After a lengthy trial into the murder of nine-year-old Charlise Mutten, 33-year-old Justin Stein has had his fate read in court.
At the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Monday, Stein was sentenced to life in jail without parole after he was found guilty of fatally shooting the schoolgirl in the face before dumping her body in a barrel.
Justice Helen Wilson delivered the sentence and unleashed on Stein, saying he was "completely without remorse" and "without humanity or morality".
Justice Wilson said the shooting that took place at Stein's lavish family home in the Blue Mountains in January 2022 was "unspeakably vicious and murderous", saying, "These were deliberate acts, and the second shot was an execution shot. He undertook these actions intending to kill her."
"He sought to blame Charlise's mother for his own indecent conduct. Charlise was not just a child; she was a very young child at nine years and five months of age."
"Charlise had come to refer to the offender as 'Daddy'. This crime represents an egregious breach of that trust."
Wilson explained that Charlise was murdered after she was drugged with Stein's schizophrenia medication, as she said, "She would have been in a state of pronounced drowsiness; she had even less capacity to defend herself and flee from danger."
Justice Wilson described Stein's supposedly tearful account of Charlise's death during the trial as "false" and said the tissue he used was dry.
"From where I sat I could see very clearly, he was completely dry-eyed and did not shed a single tear," Justice Wilson said in disgust. "It might have been called theatre if it wasn't so calculated."
"Some instances of murder are so grave that the maximum penalty is the only appropriate penalty."
In a recent hearing, Charlise's mother Kallista Mutten broke down in tears and told her former fiancé, "I hate myself for trusting you."
Ms Mutten read a victim's impact statement via audio video link as she told Stein. "[Charlise] just longed for you to be her dad. I just hate myself for being so wrong about you."
"I am forced to live with fact I trusted someone and because of my trust I put my daughter in harm’s way."
Image credits: Facebook / NSW Supreme Court