Justin Stein cries while giving evidence, claiming mother of slain schoolgirl Charlise Mutten allegedly shot her

Justin Stein has broken down while making claims about how he reacted when he found Charlise Mutten’s body, a jury has heard.

Alleged killer Justin Stein has broken down in court while making claims he had no idea Charlise Mutten’s body was on the back of his ute and that he “threw up” when he found the nine-year-old in a barrel.

Mr Stein’s voice wavered as he told his NSW Supreme Court trial he saw his former partner and Charlise’s mother standing over the girl’s dead body after her death

The 33-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murder, but has admitted to disposing of the nine-year-old’s body.

Mr Stein is accused of murdering the daughter of his former fiancee, Kallista Mutten, at a property owned by his parents before dumping her body, which was concealed in a plastic barrel, near the Colo River.

Justin Stein is giving evidence in his defence. Picture: NCA Newswire / Vincent de Gouw

But on Monday he took to the witness stand where he told the jury he saw Ms Mutten shoot her daughter on the night of January 12. Ms Mutten has denied shooting her daughter.

Mr Stein became emotional multiple times during his evidence on Monday, explaining that he “heard a gunshot” before Charlise called his name and screamed “Mummy, no” before a second gunshot was heard.

“CHARLISE WAS WITH ME”

The jury has previously heard Mr Stein left about 4pm on January 13, claiming he was searching for Charlise after she disappeared, but prosecutors allege he dumped the barrel with her body down an embankment near the Colo River in the early hours of the following morning.

Charlise Mutten was allegedly shot and her body stuffed in a barrel.

Justin Stein is accused of the murder and will take to the witness stand.

On Monday he told the jury he had intended on doing construction work at the caravan, and went to Bunnings to purchase sand for the patio, and spoke to Ms Mutten while at Bunnings.

“She made a comment saying Charlise was with me and only I could find her and I had to bring her back home,” he told the jury.

“I thought it was her and the ice talking, I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

He told the court that later that night he noticed the tarp over the barrel had come loose.

Mr Stein said he pulled over and hopped on the back of the ute when he noticed the ratchet straps had been tampered with.

“I started to pull off the tarp, when pulling it, it tipped the barrel, I lifted it up and that’s when I saw Charlise in a blue tarp,” he said.

“I threw up, I put the lid back on, I hopped in the car and started driving.”

He said he panicked and just started driving before going to the Colo River Road and dumping the body down an embankment.

Mr Stein claims Kallista Mutten (pictured), Charlise’s mother, killed the girl. She denies the claims. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“BANG”

Earlier in his evidence, Mr Stein detailed the moment he allegedly heard Ms Mutten fire two gunshots, killing her daughter.

He told the jury on the night of January 12, he had been working on his car in the shed when he heard a gunshot and “Charlise scream my name”.

“Then I went outside the shed...I got to the back of the shed, that’s when I heard Charlise scream ‘Mummy, no’,” Mr Stein told the jury as he tried to hold back tears.

“That’s when I heard...bang...a second gunshot...I saw Kallista and that’s when I saw Charlise on the ground.”

Under questioning from his defence barrister Carolyn Davenport SC, Mr Stein told the jury he saw Ms Mutten with a .22 calibre rifle in her hands.

He told the jury he asked Ms Mutten “what the f**k have you done”.

“She looked at me and screamed at me: ‘You did this’,” Mr Stein said, dabbing his eyes with tissues.

The 33-year-old told the jury she continued to scream “you made me do this”, to which he responded: “what have I done? I have done everything for you”.

The jury heard Ms Mutten screamed at him to get a tarp but he refused.

Mr Stein’s lawyer Carolyn Davenport has called Mr Stein as a witness. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

“She lifted up the rifle like she was going to shoot...I put up both hands and said OK,” Mr Stein said.

When he returned he couldn’t find Charlise or Ms Mutten, he told the jury, before returning to his room and rolling a joint before breaking down in tears for up to 15 minutes.

“GIVE HER UP”

Mr Stein told the court he didn’t see Ms Mutten until the following morning when he claims she took his car, prompting him to call the police and report it.

He told the jury he called the police over the stolen vehicle and intended to “give her up...for killing Charlise”.

But when police went to the property later that day he didn’t say anything about Ms Mutten.

When asked why he didn’t give Ms Mutten “up to police”, Mr Stein said: “I honestly don’t know, I’ve asked myself that question a lot...I couldn’t get myself to speak”.

Charlise disappeared from the Mount Wilson property. Picture: 9 News

He claimed Ms Mutten made up the story about an auctioneer and that Charlise had been left in the woman’s care.

“I told her that no one would believe it,” Mr Stein said

The jury was played Mr Stein’s interviews with police on January 14, where he tells officers Charlise had been sick on the morning of January 12, so he left her with an auctioneer who had come to value property.

In his second interview, he turned on Ms Mutten and claimed she made up the story and had been wanting “do a runner” with Charlise.

“WENT ALONG WITH IT”

Under a grilling by Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC, Mr Stein was questioned as to why he would go along with a story that “made you in effect the last person to see Charlise.

Mr McKay said: “I suggest to you in the circumstances that you have described, you would not be agreeing to give a story, even if you wanted to protect her, that made you, in effect the last person to see Charlise Mutten alive.”

“I can understand what you’re saying but I didn’t think about it at the time, I just went along with it,” Mr Stein said.

The girl was visiting her mother during the school holidays, and spent her time in NSW split between Mr Stein’s family property at Mount Wilson, where she was allegedly shot and killed, and at the Riviera Ski Gardens caravan park in Lower Portland about 1.5 hours away.

The court heard Mr Stein had called police on the morning of January 13 to report his car stolen.

Mr McKay questioned why he hadn’t called police about a “psychotic woman with a firearm” when he didn’t know if Charlise was “alive or dead”.

Mr Stein is accused of driving Charlise’s body around in a barrel in the back of his ute. Picture: NSW Police

“You didn’t think about calling police because Kallista had an episode with a firearm...you didn’t think about it because this actually didn’t happen, what you’re telling this court,” Mr McKay said.

Mr Stein replied: “It happened”.

He said he wanted to tell police about what he witnessed but when it “came time to talk I couldn’t get myself to talk”.

Mr Stein said he had a really good relationship with Charlise and that he had cared for her.

“You didn’t try and get assistance for her when you believed she’d been shot,” Mr McKay said.

Mr Stein said: “No, I didn’t”.

Mr McKay alleges Mr Stein was the “last person” to see Charlise and had the opportunity to kill her between 7.16pm on January 11 and 10.06am on January 12.

The barrel with Charlise’s body was found on January 18, 2022, after police went to the location as a result of going through Mr Stein’s phone.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Justin Stein cries while giving evidence, claiming mother of slain schoolgirl Charlise Mutten allegedly shot her