The family of murdered schoolgirl Charlise Mutten have spoken of their mental torture over the nine-year-old’s brutal death and the abuse they get from strangers
Grandfather Clinton Mutten tearfully read out a victim impact statement on behalf of himself and his wife Deborah before the sentencing of Charlise’s killer stepdad Justin Stein on Friday.
Mr Mutten’s emotional plea to the court revealed how their lives have been torn apart since their beloved granddaughter was murdered when Stein shot her in the face at point blank range in January, 2022.
Stein, 33, was their drug addict daughter Kallista Mutten’s fiancé at the time of the heartbreaking tragedy, which took place at Stein’s family home at Mount Wilson in Sydney’s Blue Mountains.
Stein was convicted of the murder in June and appeared in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday for a sentencing hearing where Mr Mutten told Justice Helen Wilson of the living hell the family has endured in the wake of the killing.
Charlise’s grandmother is suffering ‘much mental anguish and sadness,’ he said. ‘It affects her mental and physical health (causing) depression and anxiety.
‘The failure to protect Charlise will haunt our consciences for the rest of our lives, causing depression and sometimes suicidal thoughts.
‘We trusted our daughter and her partner to provide care for Charlise and in hindsight this trust was misplaced … family members have become estranged.
Charlise’s murder had caused her grandmother and legal guardian Deborah Mutten (above the two together) ‘much mental anguish and sadness, depression and anxiety’
Since Charlise (above at her last Christmas, in 2021) was murdered people have blamed her grandparents, Clinton Mutten said, for failing to protect her
‘Since Charlise was murdered, there have been accusations against us that as grandparents we failed [her].
‘As her legal guardians we didn’t give her adequate protection.’
With his voice wavering as he spoke to a packed court room, Mr Mutten described the last moment he saw his ‘caring, respectful, smart, thoughtful’ granddaughter.
Mr Mutten’s final conversation with Charlise was at Coolangatta Airport on the Gold Coast in December 2021, just days before her murder.
She was leaving her grandparents to board a flight to Sydney to spend Christmas with her mother and Stein.
‘My last words to Charlise were “be a good girl and make us proud” and Charlise said, “I will Pop”,’ he told the court.
‘Charlise was a special little girl who aspired to be a vet, an aspiration that can now never be.
‘We took Charlise to school on time every day. The ring of the school bell – we can hear it from our house – now reminds us of our loss, as does back-to-school stationery [ad campaigns], and uniforms.
Clinton Mutten, pictured leaving the sentencing hearing on Friday, said he and his wife Deborah had been blamed for failing to protect their beloved granddaughter
Mr Mutten, pictured above with his son, also called Clinton, said their trust in their daughter Kallista and her then-partner Justin Stein to look after Charlise had been ‘misplaced’
‘Never again will I hear the rush of Charlise’s footsteps after school. Never again will I teach Charlise how to solve a maths problem.
‘Why was Charlise murdered while alone with a person my daughter trusted? Was she hunted down, incapacitated … murdered pleading for her life?
‘Did she call out mine or anybody else’s name? These are questions I believe will never be answered and will be a burden for the rest of my life.’
Mr Mutten said that his granddaughter had been honoured in an annual literacy award named after her at Tweed Heads Public School.
He also disclosed that although he and his wife had become estranged ‘until recently’ from their daughter following Charlise’s murder, they now realised that ‘Charlise’s mother is also a victim of this crime,’ he said.
He said Stein killing Charlise while the child was with ‘her beloved mother and a person she considered a potential father … breaches all sense of decency and trust’.
Kallista Mutten appeared by videolink to also read out a victim impact statement, which described how she has been abused by strangers on public transport after Charlise’s murder.
Tweed Heads Public School has named a literacy prize after Charlise Mutten (above with a school award in 2021), to honour the ‘bookworm’ who loved reading
One of the last pictures of Charlise Mutten, with her mother Kallista, just over two weeks before she was murdered
‘My whole life has been uncovered and under the microscope for all the world to see,’ Ms Mutten said. ‘I had no voice, just rumours and fingers being pointed at me.
‘I can’t handle getting a job, people saying that I’m not a good mother.
‘Charlise was my biggest fan. And would always say I was the best mummy in the world.
‘I miss hearing her voice. More than anything I miss being Charlise’s mum and having her to say to that I love her.
‘She was such a kind, smart and good child and wasn’t afraid to say kind things to people.
‘My life is never going to be the same. I won’t get to see her grow up, go to high school, have her first boyfriend or get married.
‘I’m forced to live with the fact I trusted someone and because of my trust I put my daughter in harm’s way. I blame myself a lot.’
Stein will be sentenced on Monday. Crown prosecutors have asked for him to be jailed for life without parole.
His defence counsel has asked for a non-parole period of 25 years, meaning a possible release date in 2047 when he is 56 years old.
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