After hearing Justin Stein’s account of the disappearance of nine-year-old Charlise Mutten, police turned their attention to whether he knew more than he was telling them.
The 33-year-old man, who is on trial for the schoolgirl’s murder after pleading not guilty, claims it was the girl’s mother, Kallista Mutten, who shot her own daughter.
Stein’s lawyer told the court earlier this week that he had initially lied to police to cover up for Mutten because the couple was in a relationship.
Charlise’s body was found by detectives on January 18, 2022, in a barrel dumped near the Colo River, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
She had spent the night of January 11 alone with Stein at a property in Mount Wilson, while Mutten stayed in a caravan at Riverview Ski Park, about 90 minutes away, the NSW Supreme Court was told. .
Stein spoke to officers at Penrith Police Station on January 14, the day Charlise was reported missing by her mother.
In video of the interview played for the court, Stein tells officers that he woke up on Jan. 12 to Charlise vomiting and left her with a woman who had come to do an appraisal on the property, which was owned by her mother. .
The mother of a murdered schoolgirl, Kallista Mutten (pictured), and her alleged killer bought methamphetamine the day after the girl’s death.
Stein says that same day she learned from her mother that the property appraiser wouldn’t be coming until the following week, which she described as “pretty shocking information.”
Officers question why after learning this information, Stein did not appear to take any steps to find out who the woman was by investigating what real estate agency she worked for.
‘There’s nothing I can say, I know what shit looks like; It looks bad,” Stein tells the agents.
Several times during the interview, Stein becomes emotional and explains that he is under immense stress and had not slept at all the night before.
Stein tells police he spent that time traveling to locations around Sydney, including Rose Bay and Drummoyne, to ask contacts from his criminal past if they knew what happened to Charlise.
Prosecutors allege that Stein was in fact looking for a suitable place to dump Charlise’s body.
Stein is accused of shooting Charlise Mutten (pictured) in the head and dumping her body in a barrel loaded with sand.
When asked who those people were, Stein does not specify, adding that while he has no current conflicts, there was “bad blood” between him and an accomplice in a cocaine importation scheme for which he spent five years in prison.
Stein had also reported his car stolen the day after he claimed Charlise went missing, and police officers attended the property in connection with that report.
In the video, officers ask why Stein didn’t tell police at the time that Charlise was missing.
“Yesterday the police were at the house and a report was made about the theft of a car, but not about the disappearance of a nine-year-old child,” says one of the agents.
‘Can you appreciate where we come from?’
The question then turns to whether Stein or Mrs. Mutten had anything to do with what happened to Charlise, whether accidentally or deliberately.
Officers suggest Charlise may have been accidentally run over or taken medication from which she didn’t wake up.
—Have you been involved in Charlise’s death? asks one of the officers.
“No, no,” Stein replies.
When asked if Ms. Mutten could have done something to Charlise without her knowledge, Stein said that with her history of drug use and mental health issues “it could be possible.”
“Honestly, in my opinion, I don’t think her kids mean as much as she says they do (sic).”
Earlier on Thursday, the jury heard evidence that Stein and Mutten drove to Surry Hills in Sydney to buy methamphetamine after Charlise was shot and then went to nearby Centennial Park to have sex.
Mrs Mutten would accuse Stein of cheating on her and contracting gonorrhea, the jury heard.
Police allege Ms Mutten sent him a message saying: “You are a liar, a cheat and now I have lost my daughter.”
The trial continues on Friday.
The nine-year-old boy’s alleged killer, Justin Stein, traveled with Ms Mutten to Bondi Junction to get the drugs and tools to use them, a court heard.
