Search

Father’s fury over Charlise Mutten’s fate

Image: Facebook The biological father of missing girl, Charlise Mutten, whose body was found inside a barrel in NSW’s Blue Mountains overnight has paid tribute to his “beautiful” daughter. The 9-year-old was holidaying with her mother Kallista Mutten and stepfather Justin Laurens Stein at a wedding estate in Mt Wilson when she was reported missing at 8:20 am on Friday. Stein, the fiance of Ms Mutten, has since been charged with her murder. Her biological father spoke out about the situation in a Facebook post earlier on Wednesday. “Goodbye you beautiful little girl. I love you so much. I miss you every day! You have captured the hearts of the nation and the world, and now those hearts are breaking, with mine,” he wrote. “This doesn’t happen! Kids need to be safe. What is wrong with you people???? “We will get the answers for you baby, and we will honour you properly. This is not the end of you or your story.” Police, SES and RFS crews spent the past five days searching bushland around the multimillion-dollar Wildenstein wedding venue, where the girl was staying with her mum and her mum’s fiance. Charlise usually lives with her grandmother in Coolangatta, Queensland, but was spending two weeks with her mother during the school holidays. According to acting Commissioner Webb said the cause of the child’s death is yet to be determined and the investigation remains ongoing. “The search will remain ongoing to look for any clues to help us identify the cause of the death,” she said. “I encourage people to come forward with information. There are still many elements of this investigation that we have to work through to determine exactly what happened from the time the young girl was reported missing up until last night when those remains were found.” Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said while investigators are still uncertain of exactly what happened, they were “certain” about a number of facts, sharing that police have alleged the accused placed her body in the barrel. "Things will unravel over the next week or so to find a cause of death, the purpose for a death, and try and identify exactly what happened so that the remaining family have some comfort in that,” he told reporters. He said the investigation is ongoing and that there is no evidence to support anything other than that the accused acted alone.

News

Vandals of the UK’s Edward Colston statue learn their fate in court

At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, that were sparked by the murder of George Floyd by a US police officer, protestors all around the world took it upon themselves to remove commemorative statues of slave traders. In the UK city of Bristol, four people removed a monument of Edward Colston from a town square, before pushing the statue into the nearby harbour. Many protestors joined the four in spray-painting and destroying the statue, with many onlookers filming the destruction on their phones. Edward Colston was a member of the Royal African Company, and was responsible for transporting thousands of slaves from Africa during the mid 17th century. The four protestors - Rhian Graham, Jake Skuse, Sage Willoughby, and Milo Ponsford - were all charged with criminal damage when they removed the statue without permission. According to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/05/four-cleared-of-toppling-edward-colston-statute">Guardian</a>, the protestors did not deny that they had toppled the monument, but maintained their innocence over the charges. Despite admitting their involvement, the four protestors were found not guilty and set free. The graffitied monument of Colston has since gone back on view in view in Bristol in a museum, with historian David Olusoga saying that it is “the most important artifact you could select in Britain if you wanted to tell the story of Britain’s tortuous relationship with its role in the Atlantic slave trade.” Image credits: Getty Images

Art

Man who helped his father die finds out his fate

Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide which may be distressing to some readers. After a lengthy battle against aggressive bowel cancer, in May 2021, Colin Stratton decided he'd had enough. Just a few days shy of his 81st birthday, the loving man asked his family to do something for him. Colin, along with his late wife, had been long term supporters of the voluntary euthanasia bill and members of Dying with Dignity. On May 24th, Colin visited his GP and asked for a suicide pill in order to die on his own terms. When the doctor hold him the paperwork would take up to two weeks, he informed his GP he would simply take matters into his own hands. Impaired from extensive chemotherapy, Colin was unable to complete the task of ending his life by himself. Instead, he asked his 54-year-old son Glenn to help him. Glenn initially refused. “Don’t make me make a bloody mess of it, I can’t do it by myself,” Colin told the middle of his three children. Glenn and his father exchanged "I love yous", and Glenn completed one last task for his father. “The psychological pressure on you must have been enormous,” Victorian Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said in a renewed hearing on Wednesday. “You finally pulled the trigger spontaneously out of love and respect for his wishes,” she said. Glenn explained to the court that his father had always done everything he could for his family, and in return they would've done anything for him. His family are all supportive of his actions, as they saw the impact Colin's illness had on the last years of his life. “They also understand how important it was for him to be able to end his life on his own terms when the pain and burden of illness became too great for him,” Justice Hollingworth said. “They describe your actions in helping your father achieve his wish as loving, courageous and selfless.” Glenn Stratton was initially charged with murder after confessing his actions to police, and he spent 46 days behind bars, causing him to miss his father's funeral. Glenn pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting his father's suicide, and Justice Hollingworth declared there would be no benefit to keeping him in jail. He was instead ordered to undergo mandatory counselling. Mr Stratton's family have said they hope voluntary euthanasia will become more widely available so other families don't have to go through the same thing. If you or a member of your family need help in a crisis, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Image credit: 7News

Legal

Supermarket customer meets violent fate for “taking too long”

A 69-year-old man has been charged after he punched a customer at a supermarket in Florida for taking too long. Henry Harvey was waiting in line with his wife at American store, Walmart, when he became angry at the customers in front of him on December 4, around 7.15 pm. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7833201/walmart-3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0c11b8ebf4a44f91a7f27d97003d87b2" /> According to Cape Coral Police Department, Harvey became involved in an argument with the customer ahead of him about how long they were taking. The argument resulted in Harvey punching the victim in the head. CNN reported. Later, Harvey was arrested at his home for battery. Police said the victim was not seriously injured after the assault. Image credit: Lee County’s Sheriff's Office.

Caring

Juror reveals the words that sealed Bill Cosby's fate

One of the jurors who <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/2018/04/bill-cosbys-outburst-in-court-after-guilty-verdict/" target="_blank">found Bill Cosby guilty of sexual assault</a> during a retrial has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to explain how the comedian’s own words sealed his fate. <a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank">News.com.au reports</a>Harrison Snyder conceded in his interview that the trial, “wasn’t an open and shut case”, and the jury was greatly influenced by what happened in court. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNYDNVideo%2Fvideos%2F448843655567000%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> The 22-year-old says it was ultimately Cosby’s deposition, in which he confessed to giving women drugs to have sex with them, was the evidence needed to let him know he was guilty. “I think it was his deposition, really. Mr Cosby admitted to giving these Quaaludes to women, young women, in order to have sex with them,” Snyder said on Monday. The deposition was part of a civil case brought by accusers Andrea Constand and Snyder said he had no doubt the jury landed on the right decision of convicting the 80-year-old. Cosby has maintained his innocence and his lawyers have vowed to appeal. The jurors presiding over Cosby’s case released a statement about their decision. “After thoughtful and meticulous consideration of the information and evidence provided to us, we came to our unanimous verdict,” the jury said in the statement. “Not once were race or the #MeToo movement ever discussed, nor did either factor into our decision, as implied in various media outlets.” What are your thoughts?

Legal

The call that sealed the fate of Titanic victims

On the night the Titanic sank, there was one fateful call that sealed the fate of the victims. Just after midnight on April 15, 1912, two boats received distress calls that the “unsinkable” ship was sinking. The nearest boat to the Titanic, the Californian, was less than 20km from the disaster, yet when Captain Stanley Lord received the news, he decided not to act. Surrounded by icebergs, he didn’t move his ship, didn’t contact the Titanic and didn’t wake up his wireless operators. “The hazard to himself and his command was too great to risk responding,” Titanic researcher Daniel Allen Butler told <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/his-blood-ran-cold-call-that-sealed-fate-of-titanic-victims/news-story/9e292cc59fb35c3767370b8da6648f8e" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>. “The Californian did nothing.” Captain Lord later argued that he did not realise the rockets were a distress signal and was further away from the ship than 20km, however, a British inquiry found that if the Captain had decided to push through, the Californian “might have saved many, if not all, of the lives that were lost”. “Such conduct, whether arising from indifference or gross carelessness, is most reprehensible, and places upon the commander of the Californian a grave responsibility,” a US senate inquiry decided. While Captain Stanley decided to ignore the strange activity, another captain who was more than 100km away, decided to act immediately and his heroism led to the rescue of 705 people. The Carpathia’s wireless operator, Harold Cottam, had sent a message to his counterpart on the Titanic to let him know there were messages from shore for his passengers. The response “literally made Cottam’s blood run cold” Butler said. The response he received was a distress call with the Titanic’s call letters followed by coordinates. The operator ran to Captain Arthur Rostron’s cabin, ignoring protocol and said, “The Titanic has sent out a distress call, she needs our assistance immediately.” The Captain immediately directed his first officer, “Mr Dean, turn this ship around. I’ll work out the course for you in a moment. Now, Cottam, are you sure it’s the Titanic and are you sure she needs our assistance?” As the ship turned around to assist the Titanic, officers were instructed to make room for up to 2000 people, moving passengers into new cabins and transforming pump rooms into temporary dormitories. The rescue mission was dangerous and the captain later said that he believed “some other hand than mine was on the helm that night”. The ship arrived at 4am, nearly an hour-and-a-half after the Titanic sank. When they arrived and didn’t see the ship, they realised the only survivors were in lifeboats. For the next four hours, the ship rushed back and forth collecting boats. Most of the survivors were hauled up into the ship because they didn’t have the strength to climb the ropes. Captain Rostron counted the 705 survivors his ship had collected and decided to return to New York. At daybreak, the Californian arrived at the scene of the Titanic’s historic tragedy. “By the time the captain of the Californian had decided to act and arrived on the scene, passengers would have been dying of hypothermia,” Butler said. “Most, if not all, would have died. “He would have been collecting boats full of corpses.”

Travel Trouble

Quick-thinking airline attendant saves young girls from terrible fate

A quick-thinking airline attendant has saved two teenage girls from a terrible fate, when they showed up at her counter with one-way flights and no identification. The duo, aged 17 and 15, turned up to Sacramento International Airport with two small bags and two first-class tickets to New York, booked by another person. Airline worker Denice Miracle knew something was wrong. “Between the two of them, they had a bunch of small bags. It seemed to me as if they were running away from home,” American Airlines worker Miracle said. “They kept looking at each other in a way that seemed fearful and anxious. I had a gut feeling that something just wasn’t right.” What she did next could have saved the girls’ lives. After refusing to let them board the plane, Ms Miracle called the police and explained the situation. Deputy Todd Sanderson soon arrived on the and talk to the girls. It didn’t take long to realise just how close they’d come to an unsightly fate. Sanderson found out the girls had met a man named “Drey” on Instagram, who’d purchased the tickets offering them $US2000 ($2530) to model and feature in music videos. “When I told them that they didn’t have a flight home, that’s when it kind of sunk in that maybe I was actually telling the truth,” Sanderson said. “In my opinion, what was going to happen was they were going to go back to New York and become victims of sex trafficking. They said they wouldn’t have let that happen, and I said they probably wouldn’t have had a choice.” Sanderson praised Miracle for her quick-thinking. “I fully believe she probably prevented these girls from becoming victims,” he said. What are your thoughts?

Travel Trouble

2 questions that determine fate of relationships

Apparently there are just two questions you need to ask to determine if your marriage will last… or not. A University of Virginia study, conducted by Leora Friedberg and Steven Stern, asked 4,242 couples two simple questions to assess the quality of the marriage. They then followed up on the couples six years later. The questions were: 1. How happy are you in your marriage relative to how happy you would be if you weren’t in the marriage? (The answer choices are: much worse; worse; same; better; much better.) 2. How do you think your spouse answered that question? In other words, would you still be just as happy if you weren’t married? After analysing the data, the study authors found only 40 per cent of couples were able to correctly predict what their partner would say – which means 60 per cent of married couples were not quite on the same page. The results also indicated a higher divorce rate in couples where one spouse overestimated how unhappy their partner would be if they were separated. The pairs that remained wedded were when both partners said they would be “worse” or “much worse” if they broke up. The study researchers warned that couples misjudging each other’s emotions could unknowingly cause a divorce. Professor Stern explains: “If I believe my wife is really happy in the marriage, I might push her to do more chores or contribute a larger portion of the family income. If, unbeknownst to me, she’s actually just lukewarm about the marriage, or she’s got a really good-looking guy who is interested in her, she may decide those demands are the last straw, and decide a divorce would be a better option for her.” “In this scenario, pushing a bargain too hard, based on misperception of a partner’s happiness, will result in a divorce that wouldn’t otherwise have occurred.” Professor Friedberg added the research indicated how important it was to pick your battles in relationships. “This data shows that people aren’t being as tough negotiators as they could be, and then we realised that we needed to include caring in the model for it to make sense,” she says. “The idea of love here is that you get some happiness from your spouse simply being happy. For instance, I might agree to do more house chores, which reduces my personal happiness somewhat, but I get some offsetting happiness simply knowing that my partner benefits.” While there are plenty of other reasons marriages break up, their advice is still good to keep in mind. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/01/1950s-tips-for-being-good-wife/">How to be a good wife according to a 1950s book</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/01/words-about-love-that-dont-have-english-equivalent/">12 words about love that don’t have an English equivalent</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2015/12/famous-quotes-about-marriage/">13 famous quotes about marriage</a>

Relationships

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date