Father of murdered Victorian teenager Charlie Gander 'shattered' by Supreme Court jury verdict
The 19-year-old's remains were found by emergency services in a burnt car in Bunbartha, in the state's north, on Christmas Eve 2022.
Danny Clarke, Dimitri D'Elio and Kylie Stott pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, murder and arson.
Yesterday a jury found all three guilty of kidnapping, but only D'Elio was found guilty of murder and arson.
Stott was found guilty of manslaughter.
Mr Gander said watching the trial unfold was an exhausting experience.
"By the end of the day I'm that mentally drained, I'm in bed by 7:30," he said.
For nearly 30 days the jury heard a range of evidence and had to look photos of skeletal remains taken by crime scene investigators.
"I didn't watch the earlier stuff of certain evidence because I don't think any parent should have to see that," Mr Gander said.
He felt "shattered" that not all three accused were found guilty of murder.
Mr Gander remembers his son "Chaz" as a "good kid" who played football and loved tinkering with cars.
"He was always helping others. A really good kid. A good sportsman. Just a good lad," Mr Gander said.
During the trial in Melbourne the jury was shown the final text messages Mr Gander exchanged with his son as they made plans for Christmas.
The jury also heard that Mr Gander learnt of his son's death via a phone call from the mother of one of Charlie's football mates.
"That was horrific — I just couldn't believe it and hearing it the way I heard it," Mr Gander said.
"When that happened, you know, your whole world just stops. And even going to the police station going, 'You know what's going on?'
"They're like, 'Oh, we can confirm there was a car burnt and we can't confirm who was in it.'"
Mr Gander said it was two or three days before police were able to confirm that his son was dead.
"That was a hard time because in the back of your mind, you're thinking … maybe he's going to walk in the door any day now. But it wasn't to be," he said.
The Gander family has created a memorial to Charlie on Loch Garry Road in Bunbartha.
"We all caught up and we dug a hole and put that cross in there," Mr Gander said.
"It's hard going back there"
The workshop Mr Gander now runs in Melbourne is in honour of Charlie's love of cars.
"He wanted to be a mechanic — that's the reason I brought this workshop, because I said to him, 'Once you become fully qualified, I'll buy you a workshop and we'll run it together.'"
"If he was with us, he'd be like, 'This is gold.'"
Mr Gander says the family will never get over Charlie's murder.
"Once the sentencing is done, we just need to move on I guess," Mr Gander said.

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