Jury deciding ‘who pulled the trigger’ on schoolgirl

A jury will continue deliberations on whether Justin Stein murdered his then-partner’s nine-year-old daughter and dumped her body in a barrel.

Stein has pleaded not guilty to murdering Charlise Mutten in January 2022, claiming her mother Kallista Mutten shot her.

If the jury is unable to reach a verdict today, Stein will have to wait until at least Tuesday to learn his fate due to the long weekend.

Charlise’s body was found dumped by the Colo River, north-west of Sydney, four days after she was reported missing, with gunshot wounds to her head and lower back.

She had been visiting her mother and Stein for the Christmas holidays with the group staying at a Mount Wilson estate in the Blue Mountains, owned by Stein’s mother, and a caravan at the Riviera Ski Park, about a 90-minute drive away.

Prosecutors allege Charlise spent the night alone with Stein at the Mount Wilson property on January 11 and that he killed her either that evening or the next day.

To convict Stein, the jury must be satisfied there was no reasonable possibility that Kallista Mutten shot her own daughter, Justice Helen Wilson told the group on Thursday.

“The issue is not how Charlise died, it’s who pulled the trigger,” Justice Wilson said.

Mutten denied having any involvement in her daughter’s death and broke down in tears when faced with the accusation in court.

Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC told jurors it was open to them to find Stein had drugged and fatally shot Charlise.

Toxicology revealed Charlise had traces in her body of the antipsychotic drug Seroquel, for which Stein had a prescription to treat schizophrenia.

The jury heard an adult dose of the drug would have a profound sedating effect on a child.

According to Stein’s version of events, Charlise was shot by Mutten on the evening of January 12, and he had gone along with a plan to cover up the murder including lying to police about leaving the girl in the care of a woman who was valuing property at the Mount Wilson estate.

Stein claimed he was unaware Charlise’s body was in a barrel on the back of his ute until the next day and that when he found out, he panicked and ultimately disposed of the body.