After hearing Justin Stein’s story about 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, 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 for Ms Mutten because the pair were 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 Ms 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 a video of the interview played in court, Stein tells officers that on January 12 he woke up to Charlise vomiting and leaving her with a woman who had come to do an appraisal of the property that his mother owned.
The mother of a murdered schoolgirl, Kallista Mutten (pictured), and her alleged killer bought methamphetamine the day after the child’s death
Stein says he was told later that day by his mother that the property appraiser wouldn’t arrive until the following week, which he described as “pretty shocking information.”
The officers wonder why Stein, after learning this information, did not appear to take steps to find out who the woman was by researching which real estate agency she worked for.
“There’s nothing I can say, I know what sex looks like; it looks bad,” Stein tells the officers.
During the interview, Stein becomes emotional several times and explains that he is under enormous stress and did not sleep all night the night before.
Stein tells police he spent that time traveling to locations in Sydney, including Rose Bay and Drummoyne, asking contacts from his criminal past if they knew what happened to Charlise.
Prosecutors allege that Stein was in fact looking for a suitable location to dump Charlise’s body.
Stein is accused of shooting Charlise Mutten (photo) in the head and disposing of her body in a sand-weighted barrel
When asked who those people were, Stein does not answer specifically. Although he has no ongoing conflicts, there was “bad blood” between him and an accomplice in a cocaine importation scheme for which he served five years in prison.
Stein had also reported his car stolen the day after he said Charlise was missing, while police officers attended the property in connection with that report.
In the video, the officers wonder why Stein didn’t tell police at the time that Charlise was missing.
“Police were at the house yesterday and a report was made about a car being stolen, but not about the missing of a nine-year-old boy,” said one of the officers.
“Can you understand where we come from?”
The question then turns to whether Stein or Mrs. Mutten had anything to do with what happened to Charlise, accidentally or intentionally.
The officers suggest Charlise may have been accidentally run over or taken medication that didn’t wake her up.
“Were you involved in Charlise’s death?” one of the officers asks.
“No, no,” Stein replies.
When asked if Ms. Mutten might have done something to Charlise without his knowledge, Stein says that with her history of drug use and mental health issues, it “could be possible.”
“Honestly, I don’t think her kids mean as much as she says (sic).”
Earlier on Thursday, the jury heard evidence that Stein and Ms Mutten drove to Sydney’s Surry Hills to buy methamphetamine after Charlise was shot and then went to nearby Centennial Park to have sex.
Ms Mutten would accuse Stein of cheating on her and contracting gonorrhea, the jury heard.
Police allege that Mrs Mutten sent him a message saying: ‘You are a liar, cheating and now I have lost my daughter’.
The trial continues on Friday.
The nine-year-old’s alleged killer, Justin Stein, traveled to Bondi Junction with Ms Mutten to purchase the drug and tools to use it, a court has heard
