Suspected killer cries after shooting

Alleged killer Justin Stein broke down in court as he told the jury he “heard a gunshot” and Charlise Mutten called out to him, before shouting “Mum, no” and hearing the sound of a second gunshot.

Through tears, Mr. Stein's voice wavered as he explained the moment he saw the nine-year-old girl's body on the ground after she was allegedly shot twice.

The 33-year-old is on trial after pleading not guilty to murder but admitted disposing of the nine-year-old's body.

Mr Stein is accused of murdering his former fiancée's daughter, Kallista Mutten, on a property owned by her parents before dumping her body, hidden in a plastic barrel, near the Colo River.

But on Monday he took the witness stand and told the jury he saw Ms Mutten shoot her daughter on the night of January 12. Ms. Mutten denied shooting her daughter.

“SNAM”

Mr Stein told the court he was working on his car in the shed when he heard a gunshot and “Charlise shouting my name”.

“Then I came out of the hangar… I got to the back of the hangar, that's when I heard Charlise shouting 'Mom, no',” Mr Stein told the jury as he tried to hold back his tears.

“That's when I heard…a noise…a second gunshot…I saw Kallista and that's when I saw Charlise on the ground.”

Questioned by his defense barrister Carolyn Davenport SC, Mr Stein told the jury he saw Ms Mutten with a .22 caliber rifle in her hands.

He told the jury he asked Ms Mutten “what did you do”.

“She looked at me and shouted, 'You did that,'” Mr. Stein said, dabbing his eyes with a tissue.

The 33-year-old told the jury she kept shouting “you made me do that”, to which he replied: “what did I do?” I did everything for you.”

The jury heard Ms Mutten shouted at him to get a tarpaulin, but he refused.

“She raised the gun like she was going to shoot…I put both hands up and said OK,” Mr. Stein said.

Mr Stein said he was in the shed for around ten minutes and after leaving he headed towards where they were, only to find Charlise and Ms Mutten “both gone”.

He walked home and went to his bedroom where the jury heard he was “shaking” as he rolled a joint and broke down in tears for 15 minutes.

“Abandon her”

Mr Stein told the court he only saw Ms Mutten the next morning, when he claimed she had taken his car, prompting him to call the police and report it.

He told the jury he called police about the stolen vehicle and intended to “turn her in…for killing Charlise.”

But when police visited later that day, he said nothing about Ms Mutten.

When asked why he did not turn Ms. Mutten over to the police, Mr. Stein replied: “Honestly, I don't know, I've asked myself that question a lot…I couldn't to speak “.

He claimed that Ms Mutten had made up the story about an auctioneer and that Charlise had been placed in the care of this woman.

“I told him no one would believe it,” Mr. Stein said.

The jury heard Mr. Stein's interviews with police on January 14, where he told officers that Charlise was ill the morning of January 12, so he left her with an auctioneer who came to appraise the property.

In his second interview, he turned on Ms Mutten and claimed she had made up the story and wanted to “run a race” with Charlise.

The girl visited her mother during school holidays and spent her time in New South Wales, split between Mr Stein's family property at Mount Wilson, where she was allegedly shot and killed, and the Riviera caravan park Ski Gardens in Lower Portland, about an hour and a half away. .

“LAST PERSON” TO SEE CHARLISE

Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC alleges Mr Stein was the “last person” to see Charlise and had the opportunity to kill her between 7.16pm on January 11 and 10.06am on January 12.

In her evidence, Ms Mutten said Mr Stein told her Charlise woke up vomiting in the early hours of January 12 and left her in the care of an auctioneer before heading off to spend the day together .

But Mr Stein said on Monday he placed Charlise in the back seat of the car and took the schoolgirl with him as they picked up Ms Mutten and drove to Sydney.

According to Ms. Mutten's testimony, she and Mr. Stein had spent the day injecting ice and having sex at Centennial Park.

But Mr Stein refuted the allegations, telling the court he was walking his dog in the park while Ms Mutten “flushed” in the toilet.

He claimed Ms Mutten wanted to have sex with him in the park toilets, but he refused.

“CHARLISE WAS WITH ME”

The jury had previously heard Mr Stein leave around 4 p.m. on January 13, saying he was looking for Charlise, but prosecutors say he threw the barrel with Charlise's body down an embankment near the Colo River in the early hours the next morning.

But he told the jury he intended to do building work on the caravan and went to Bunnings to buy sand for the patio.

Mr Stein said he spoke to Ms Mutten while he was at Bunnings.

“She made a comment that Charlise was with me and only I could find her and I had to take her home,” he told the jury.

“I thought it was her and the ice cream talking, I didn't think about it at the time.”

He told the court that later that night he noticed the tarpaulin covering the barrel, which he claimed he intended to use to carry out work on the caravan, had come loose.

Mr Stein said he stopped the car and jumped onto the back of the vehicle when he noticed the ratchet straps had been tampered with.

“I started to pull the tarp off, as I pulled it, the barrel tipped over, I lifted it up and that’s when I saw Charlise in a blue tarp,” he said.

“I threw up, put the lid back on, jumped in the car and started driving.”

He said he panicked and just started driving before going onto Colo River Road and dumping the body down an embankment.

Mr. Stein was called to the witness stand Monday morning by Ms. Davenport, who formally opened the defense case.

The 33-year-old entered the witness box, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and dark tie, before pouring himself a glass of water before his questioning.

Crown prosecutors rested their case on Friday, with Supreme Court Justice Helen Wilson explaining the jury had heard “all the evidence that the Crown presented to you.”

The barrel containing Charlise's body was found on January 18, 2022, after police attended the scene after checking Mr Stein's phone.

The trial continues.