A man who allegedly murdered his nine-year-old stepdaughter and dumped her body in a barrel in the bush will face trial later this year.
Justin Stein, 32, appeared in the New South Wales Supreme Court via audio-visual link on Monday as he prepares to stand trial over the allegations.
He is accused of murdering Charlise Mutten, his fiancee’s daughter, during a family holiday in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales and dumping her body in a plastic barrel.
The schoolgirl’s body was discovered with suspected gunshot wounds in bushland near the Colo River in the New South Wales Central Plateau in January 2022.
Stein denied murdering the nine-year-old girl after he was left alone with her on January 11.
On Monday, Judge Helen Wilson confirmed Stein would face a seven-week trial at the NSW Supreme Court in Parramatta on May 6.
Prosecutor Ken McKay SC said the Crown would seek to rely on evidence from websites Stein had accessed in the lead-up to January 12, when Charlise disappeared.
It also foreshadowed a request for the judge to visit the house in Mt Wilson where Stein allegedly killed Charlise.
“We hope to be able to do it in the next three weeks,” he said.
Judge Wilson noted there would be “seasonal variations in the landscape” because the scene would be seen in the autumn, when the schoolgirl was allegedly killed in January.
“We can consider this when we get to it,” he said.
Stein was staying at his family’s Mt Wilson property in January 2022 with his fiancée, Kallista Mutten, and daughter Charlise when the schoolgirl disappeared.
Prosecutors allege that Stein murdered the nine-year-old boy on the night of Jan. 11 or in the early hours of Jan. 12, when the couple was alone.
Charlise Mutten (pictured) was reported missing on January 14, prompting a lengthy multi-agency search of the surrounding bushland involving hundreds of volunteers.
He then allegedly traveled from Mt Wilson towards the northwest and inner Sydney before returning to the Colo River, near Hawkesbury, where he disposed of her body.
Charlise was reported missing on January 14, prompting a lengthy multi-agency search of the surrounding bushland involving hundreds of volunteers.
His body was found four days later inside a barrel in the bush and Stein was arrested.
He has remained behind bars in pretrial detention for two years while awaiting trial.
