Some of Justin Stein’s DNA remained on a rifle which police said was hidden in a trail of fire and was used to kill schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, jurors were told.
Stein, 33, faces trial at the NSW Supreme Court in Parramatta after pleading not guilty to murder but admitting disposing of the schoolgirl’s body.
He is accused of murdering Charlise, the daughter of his ex-partner Kallista Mutten, on her parents’ property before dumping her body, which was hidden in a plastic barrel, near the Colo River area.
The girl was visiting her mother during the school holidays and spent her time in New South Wales split between Stein’s family property in Mount Wilson, where she was allegedly shot dead, and at a caravan park called Riviera Ski Gardens in Lower Portland, about 90 minutes away. far.
Forensic scientist Rebecca Willis, an expert in DNA analysis, told jurors on Friday that she had examined more than 233 samples received by police during the investigation.
Some of Justin Stein’s DNA remained on a rifle which police said was hidden in a trail of fire and was used to kill schoolgirl Charlise Mutten (pictured), jurors were told.
Stein (pictured) faces trial at the NSW Supreme Court in Parramatta after pleading not guilty to murder but admitting disposing of the schoolgirl’s body.
She told the jury that a trigger sample from the .22-caliber BSA bolt-action rifle tested positive for two sets of DNA, one of which was Stein’s.
“The recovered DNA is a mixture that comes from at least two individuals… Justin Stein cannot be excluded as a contributor to this mixture,” he told the jury.
The jury previously heard that the weapons had been found by a hiker on a fire trail near the Mount Wilson property, buried under a pile of sticks and wrapped in a blue tarp.
In a prison call on March 21, 2022, Stein had told his mother that he needed her to “recover” some things in the mountains.
The call was played to the jury, in which he said he had “borrowed” certain things from a friend and “threw” them into the bush.
The jury had also been told that a scope on the gun had Stein’s fingerprint on it.
Another expert told the court that two pairs of shoes belonging to Stein had been tested for gunpowder residue, but there were no positive results.
“Due to the transient nature of trace evidence and the ease with which gunshot residue is lost and transferred, its absence cannot be used to excuse someone for having been within range with a firing firearm,” he said. to the jury.
A worker from the Lawsons Auctions group also gave evidence at the trial on Friday, telling the court that she visited the property on January 6, 2022 to value some furniture and that she had met Charlise.
Shauna Farren-Price told the court she did not visit the property again because she had fallen ill with Covid-19 the following week.
The jury had previously been told that Stein made up a story to the police and Charlise’s mother claiming that a worker called ‘Leanne’ had arrived at the property on the day Charlise disappeared on January 12, 2022.
He claimed the woman had offered to take care of Charlise because she had been sick while he was driving to pick up Charlise’s mother 90 minutes away.
Stein then changed her story and claimed that Mrs. Mutten had something to do with her daughter’s disappearance.
The jury heard from a large number of witnesses during the second week of the trial, one of whom told them that Charlise had probably taken schizophrenia medication in the six hours before her death.
The jury was told Stein made up a story for police and Charlise’s mother claiming that a worker called ‘Leanne’ had arrived at the property on the day Charlise (pictured) disappeared.
The jury was told Thursday that Charlise had Stein’s schizophrenia medication, quetiapine, found in her system.
Dr Judith Perl, a forensic pharmacologist with the New South Wales Police, told the jury the drug was found in fluid from Charlise’s spleen.
He said the medicine was not safe for children and had only been approved by the TGA for people aged 10 and over.
Reading her report, Dr Perl told the court: “However, I consider it possible that quetiapine may have been ingested within six hours of death due to its presence in the deceased’s stomach.”
He added that “it is not possible to specify what dose or when the medication was ingested.”
“It may have occurred six hours after death… it is not a firm opinion given the decomposition of the body.”
If Charlise had taken an adult dose of the medication, Dr Perl told the court it would have put her in a “toxic range”.
He explained that if the drug had been absorbed into Charlise’s bloodstream, it could have caused vomiting.
The jury previously heard that Stein had told people that Charlise woke up vomiting on the morning of January 12.
“It can cause central nervous system depression…it alters a person’s level of alertness, the most common side effect of quetiapine in children is sedation or drowsiness,” Dr. Perl said.
“There may be other adverse effects…things like restlessness, muscle stiffness, unusual behaviors like salivation and chewing, and unusual facial movements.”
Forensic pathologist Marna Du Plessis told jurors Thursday that Charlise died from the gunshot wound to the face.
The doctor described “powder tattoo” marks around the gunshot wound, which entered just below the girl’s right cheekbone, leading her to conclude that “the end of the snout was approximately a ruler away (30 centimeters)” of Charlise’s face.
Dr Du Plessis told the jury that Charlise was also shot in the lower left buttock, a shot she would have survived.
“The gunshot wound to the back is not fatal in itself,” said Dr. Du Plessis.
He also told the jury that Charlise was still alive when she was shot in the face and that the bullet “entered her brain.”
“She was alive when that shot entered her body,” Dr Du Plessis said.
The jury was told Charlise’s body was in an “advanced” state of decomposition when the examination was carried out.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC alleges Stein was the “last person” to see Charlise and have the opportunity to kill her between 7.16pm on January 11 and 10.06am on January 12.
Charlise (pictured) was found with Stein’s schizophrenia medication, quetiapine, in her system, the jury was told.
Stein (pictured) told people Charlise woke up vomiting on the morning of January 12, the court heard.
Charlise’s body was found in a barrel on an embankment near the Colo River, four days after her mother reported her missing.
After his arrest in January 2022, Stein denied killing Charlise in an interview with a Correctional Services officer, but said “her mother shot him twice,” the jury heard.
“Her mother was on the ice all week, I heard a gunshot and then I heard her scream for me, then I ran back and she shot him again,” he told the prison guard, the jury heard.
The trial continues before Judge Helen Wilson.
