What mum did after schoolgirl’s death

The last time Kallista Mutten saw her daughter, nine-year-old Charlise asked if she could “go with Daddy”, hours before prosecutors allege she was shot twice and her body stuffed in a barrel.

At the time, Ms Mutten had hoped to marry Justin Stein and let her daughter travel more than 90 minutes away with the man who would later be charged with murder.

This week she gave evidence against the man she once loved and believed, confessing to a jury her movements and actions in the hours after her daughter’s alleged death.

In the hours after prosecutors allege Mr Stein shot and killed Charlise, Ms Mutten injected ice and had sex in Sydney’s centennial park before accusing Mr Stein of cheating on her and contracting a sexually transmitted infection.

Mr Stein, 33, is facing trial in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to Charlise’s murder at his family’s Mount Wilson property.

Prosecutors allege 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.

He claims it was Ms Mutten who shot her daughter twice, in the lower back and face, but admits to disposing of the barrel in the Colo River area.

The jury has heard three weeks of evidence including from witness Ms Mutten, with the Crown case wrapping up on Friday.

“CAN I GO WITH DADDY?”

Charlise had travelled to Sydney from Tweed Heads on December 21, 2021, where she was due to spend the school holidays.

They spent their time split between Mr Stein’s family property at Mount Wilson, where Charlise was allegedly killed, and at the Riviera Ski Gardens caravan park in Lower Portland about 90 minutes away.

Charlise celebrated Christmas at Mr Stein’s mother’s house in Sydney, but otherwise spent her time swimming in the caravan park, and had even seen a movie with the couple, the jury has heard.

Ms Mutten claims she last saw her daughter on January 11, after they spent the day at the caravan park’s pool, when Mr Stein claimed he had to return to the Mount Wilson property to let a woman into the house the following day.

“He said to me he had to go back up to Mount Wilson to let this auctioneer lady in for his mum because she was selling antiques,” Ms Mutten explained to the jury.

“Charlise had finished swimming in the pool and she said ‘Can I go with daddy, mum?’

“I said ‘yes, of course’.”

The jury heard Charlise travelled to Mount Wilson with Mr Stein that evening, with phone records showing texts from Ms Mutten, who remained at the caravan park, asking if they had arrived safe.

Mr Stein sent a message to his then-partner at 8.20pm which said: “Hey bub, sorry, left my phone in the car, been searching inside for it, I’m just cooking up some chicken and Charsey is watching TV and playing with balloons”.

“PACK AN OVERNIGHT BAG”

In his interview with police, the jury heard Mr Stein claimed Charlise woke up on the morning of January 12 “throwing up everywhere”, so he gave her children’s Nurofen and let her stay in bed.

He claimed a woman had arrived at the house to assess items for an auction and had offered to take care of Charlise.

Ms Mutten told the court Mr Stein told her the woman had “three kids of her own and she’s practically like a nurse so Charlise was in good hands”.

At 10.06am, Mr Stein sent another text: “Am literally about to walk out the door. Charsey is staying put in bed, she’s wrecked and already fallen back to sleep”.

The jury heard he had also told his partner to “pack an overnight bag bub”. Ms Mutten told the jury she thought Mr Stein was planning an elopement.

Prosecutors say, according to the location of his phone, Mr Stein left the property at 10.13am.

By that point, Charlise was allegedly dead.

DRUGS AND SEX IN A PARK

Ms Mutten told the jury Mr Stein picked her up from the caravan park before they travelled into Surry Hills in Sydney and bought $50 of marijuana and $100 of methylamphetamine, otherwise known as ice.

Mr Stein’s barrister, Carolyn Davenport SC, claims Charlise was still alive at this point and was “laid down” in the back seat of the car.

The man who sold the drugs, Damien Cossey, was one of the final prosecution witnesses, telling the court he didn’t see anyone else in the car with the couple.

When asked whether he saw anyone in the car other than Mr Stein or Ms Mutten, he said: “No, I didn’t.”

According to Ms Mutten, they drove to Centennial Park and had sex in Mr Stein’s Holden Colorado ute after injecting ice.

The court heard while at the park, Ms Mutten searched online: “blood coming from penis after sex” and “blood coming out of penis after ejaculation”.

The pair travelled back to the caravan park, where Ms Mutten said they were going to be “intimate again”, but she grew worried for Charlise and left.

When they arrived at 8.44pm to the Mount Wilson property, there were no lights on in the house.

CLAIMS FROM ACCUSED KILLER’S MOTHER

While the prosecution case alleges Charlise was already killed by the time Mr Stein and Ms Mutten arrived back at the property on the night of January 12, the defence claims the girl was still alive.

During her evidence this week, Mr Stein’s mother, Annemie Stein, told the court she couldn’t recollect many phone calls from the time, but told the jury she “definitely” remembered a call from her son on the night of January 12.

“I don’t know who rang who … he said that he picked up Kallista and Charlise from the caravan park and that they were back in Mount Wilson and I was not happy about that at all,” Annemie told the jury.

“He just said ‘mum relax it’s just for one night’.”

She told the court she heard someone in the background yell: “Narelle it’s only one night”.

When asked by Mr McKay who the voice was, she said it was “cheeky”.

“To the best of my knowledge it was cheeky, the way it was said was cheeky, so to me that was the little girl,” she said, referring to Charlise.

In an interview with police from the day Charlise was missing, played to the jury, Annemie was asked whether she could hear anyone else in the background of the call.

She responded: “No”.

“LIAR AND A CHEAT”

The prosecution alleges in the early hours of January 13, Ms Mutten found messages on her partner’s phone which she believed was evidence of him cheating and used his car to drive to a nearby campground.

While there, she sent multiple messages to friends saying Mr Stein was cheating and her daughter was “gone”.

Ms Mutten was asked whether she was still affected by the ice.

She replied: “Yes and no”.

“(It) just numbs me from reality … so maybe if I hadn’t been on drugs I might have put the pieces together,” Ms Mutten told the court, adding that things “weren’t adding up”.

Ms Mutten told the jury she was terrified of Mr Stein when she arrived back with the car and attempted to hide from him.

“He found me and grabbed me and pushed me to the ground, and started kicking into me and hitting me, and grabbing my shoulders and my clothes,” Ms Mutten said.

“He said ‘you’re going to get in trouble for this’, he said ‘do you think I’ve got anything to do with this for your daughter’.”

Ms Mutten claims Mr Stein was then informed by his mother the “auctioneer lady is not the auctioneer lady” and said maybe his “ex-affiliations had … kidnapped” Charlise.

She said Mr Stein told her not to call police.

“He said ‘you ring the police and they will kill her’,” Ms Mutten told the court through tears.

“GOING TO WAR”

Mr Stein left the property about 4pm with a barrel in the back of his ute and towing his boat, the jury heard.

The jury was told Mr Stein travelled to multiple wharves in Sydney before dumping the barrel near the Colo River in the early hours of the following morning.

But he told Ms Mutten he was “going to war” to find Charlise.

When Mr Stein arrived home Ms Mutten told the jury he said he couldn’t find anything and she could call the police.

Ms Mutten called police at 8.15am on January 14.

She was later taken to hospital complaining of stomach pains but was eventually admitted as a voluntary mental health patient in “distress” over her missing daughter.

Mr Stein participated in two police interviews on January 14.

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.

Mr Stein was arrested at a location in Surry Hills and charged over the murder on the same day.

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MUM

When accused of shooting her daughter by Ms Davenport during intense cross-examination, Ms Mutten was shocked.

“You waited until you arrived back at the house and when you sent those messages, you had in fact shot and killed your daughter,” Ms Davenport asked.

Ms Mutten responded: “Are you serious?”

“I’m serious,” Ms Daveport said, to which Ms Mutten replied: “No”.

The barrister asked if Ms Mutten had shot her daughter “near the shed” on the property.

Again, she responded: “No”.

“You shot her once in the back and once in the head,” Ms Davenport continued her questioning.

Ms Mutten grabbed a tissue and started to cry and said she “didn’t even know” Charlise was shot with a gun.

“I don’t even know where she was shot, so now I know,” Ms Mutten said through tears.

The 40-year-old denied claims she “made up the story with the auctioneer lady”.

“That was to cover up the fact that you killed Charlise,” Ms Davenport said.

Ms Mutten again replied: “No”.

“Then you added another layer to that by suggesting to him he could say the woman might have been associated with his co-offenders from his drug offence,” Ms Davenport continued, to which Ms Mutten denied.

Ms Mutten spoke to police on January 21, just three days after her former partner had been charged with the murder of her daughter.

On that occasion, the court heard she told officers there was “not a lot of drug use at Mount Wilson” and Mr Stein was “not fond” of meth.

She admitted in court to lying to police to protect her former partner.

“I was trying to protect him … he told me not to tell anyone we were taking drugs,” Ms Mutten said.

“I still in my heart believed what he told me was the truth.”

In her final questions, Ms Davenport suggested Ms Mutten had “no reason to say anything to police that might protect Justin”.

“I loved him,” Ms Mutten said.

“Even though you were told he had been arrested and charged with the murder of your child?” Ms Davenport asked.

Ms Mutten told the jury she “really did” believe Mr Stein had left to search for her daughter and believed his story.

The trial continues with the defence case on Monday.