Verdict on hold in Charlise Mutten murder trial as jury are sent home and accused killer Justin Stein’s fate hangs in the balance

Charlise Mutten’s murder trial against accused killer Justin Stein has been sent home for a long weekend after failing to reach a verdict on Friday.

On Thursday, the jury retired for the first time to decide whether Stein killed schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, 9, by shooting her in the face, but no verdict has yet been delivered.

But at 1pm on Friday, Judge Helen Wilson sent the jury home after they requested access to a transcript of evidence given by the suspect’s mother, Annemie Stein.

Jurors, who have now deliberated for about five hours, previously requested transcripts of the testimony of both Mr. Stein and Charlise’s mother, Kallista Mutten.

Judge Wilson wished the panel members a good weekend and said she would see them back in court next Tuesday.

In closing submissions on Thursday, the jury was told the issue in the case is not how the schoolgirl died, but who pulled the trigger.

Justin Stein claimed that Charlise’s mother Kallista Mutten shot and killed her own daughter on January 12, 2022 around 9 p.m.

The prosecutor maintained that Stein was the last person to see Charlise and had the opportunity to kill her between 7:16 PM on January 11 and 10:06 AM on January 12.

Charlise’s body was found near the Colo River, northwest of Sydney, on January 18, 2022, with gunshot wounds to her lower back and a fatal shot to her face.

Stein, 33, has pleaded not guilty to Charlise’s murder and claims he heard Ms Mutten shoot her daughter, who shouted his name and then “Mama, no” before she fell to the ground at the family’s estate Stein, Wildenstein, in the NSW Blue Mountains.

Judge Helen Wilson completed her instructions and summary of evidence in the trial in the NSW Supreme Court around lunchtime on Thursday.

Charlise Mutten was shot and killed while on vacation with her mother Kallista Mutten (above), who was then engaged to the suspect, Justin Stein

Stein admitted dumping Charlise’s body, but he said Mrs. Mutten shot her daughter and placed her body in a barrel on the back of his body without his knowledge.

Mrs Mutten denied any involvement in her daughter’s death and burst into tears when confronted with the accusation in court.

Many of the facts of the case were not in dispute, including that Charlise died from gunshot wounds she suffered on or near a Mount Wilson property owned by Stein’s mother, the jury heard.

“The issue is not how Charlise died, but who pulled the trigger,” Judge Wilson said.

The judge told jurors that if they found there was a reasonable possibility that Mrs. Mutten shot her own daughter, they should find Stein not guilty.

Charlise Mutten, 9, died in January 2022 from a gunshot wound to the face fired at close range, after which her body was dumped in a barrel on a riverbank.

“The Crown has no evidence that anyone saw the suspect shoot Charlise,” she said.

Stein appeared as the only defense witness in the trial and spent two days early in the week going over his version of events.

At the time of her death, Charlise was visiting her mother and Stein from Queensland, where she lived with her grandparents.

Charlise stayed at Stein’s mother’s house in Sydney, then with Mrs Mutten and Stein – who were engaged at the time, with the little girl calling the accused ‘daddy’.

They split their time between Wildenstein and a cabin at the Riviera Ski Gardens in Lower Portland, the trial was told.

Charlise spent the night of January 11 alone with Stein at Mount Wilson, while her mother remained in the cabin, and that’s when prosecutors alleged he killed her.

Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC said the jury could find that Stein drugged and shot Charlise dead.

The schoolgirl, who lived with her grandparents in Coolangatta, had flown south to spend time with her mother and her ‘stepfather’, Justin Stein, when the tragedy occurred.

An autopsy revealed that Charlise had traces of quetiapine, the ingredient in the antipsychotic Seroquel, which Stein used for his schizophrenia, in her body.

The jury heard that an adult dose would have a profound calming effect on a child, but it was difficult to tell how much Charlise had received.

Mr McKay said one possible motive was that Stein killed Charlise when she fell ill after he gave her the drug.

Stein denied giving Charlise the medication, instead claiming she was shot by Ms Mutten on the evening of January 12.

He said he agreed to a plan to cover up the murder, including lying to police about leaving the girl in the care of an imaginary woman who was appraising items on the Mount Wilson estate.

Stein claimed that he was unaware that Charlise’s body was in a barrel on his back until the next day and that he panicked and eventually threw away her remains when he found out.