Accused Justin Stein’s DNA found on gun stashed on fire trail and allegedly used to kill schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, court told

Some of Justin Stein’s DNA was left on a gun that police allege was hidden in a trail of fire and used to kill schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, a jury has been told.

Stein, 33, faces a trial in the NSW Supreme Court in Parramatta after pleading not guilty to murder but admitting disposing of the schoolgirl’s body.

He is accused of killing Charlise, the daughter of his former partner Kallista Mutten, at a property owned by his parents before dumping her body, which was hidden in a plastic barrel, near the Colo River area.

The girl was visiting her mother during the school holidays and spent her time in NSW, split between Stein’s family property at Mount Wilson, where she was reportedly shot and killed, and at a caravan park called the Riviera Ski Gardens in Lower Portland, about 90 minutes. away.

Forensic scientist Rebecca Willis, an expert in DNA analysis, told the jury on Friday that she had examined more than 233 samples received by police during the investigation.

She told the jury that a swab from the trigger of the BSA .22 caliber bolt action rifle tested positive for two sets of DNA, one of which belonged to Stein.

“The recovered DNA is a mixture that comes from at least two individuals… Justin Stein cannot be excluded as a contributor to this mixture,” she told the jury.

The jury previously heard that the weapons were found by a hiker on a fire trail near the Mount Wilson property, buried under a pile of sticks and wrapped in a blue tarp.

During a prison call on March 21, 2022, Stein had told his mother that he needed her to “get” some things in the mountains.

The call was played to the jury, in which he said he had ‘borrowed’ certain items from a friend and ‘dumped’ them in the bush.

The jury was also told that the gun had Stein’s fingerprint on it.

Another expert told the court that two pairs of Stein’s shoes were tested for gunpowder residue, but there were no positive results.

“Due to the transient nature of trace evidence and the ease with which gunshot residue is lost and transferred, its absence cannot be used as an excuse for someone having been within range of a firing firearm,” she told the jury.

An employee of the Lawsons Auctions group also gave evidence at the trial on Friday, telling the court she had visited the property on January 6, 2022 to value some furniture items and met Charlise.

Shauna Farren-Price told the court she did not visit the property again because she fell ill with Covid-19 the following week.

The jury were previously told that Stein had concocted a story for police and that Charlise’s mother claimed a worker called ‘Leanne’ had come to the property on the day Charlise went missing on January 12, 2022.

He claimed the woman had offered to take care of Charlise because she was sick while he drove to pick up Charlise’s mother, 90 minutes away.

Stein then changed his story and claimed that Mrs. Mutten had something to do with her daughter’s disappearance.

The jury heard from numerous witnesses in the second week of the trial, one of whom told them Charlise had likely taken schizophrenia medication in the six hours before her death.

On Thursday, the jury was told that Charlise had been found with Stein’s schizophrenia drug Quetiapine in her system.

Forensic pharmacologist with the NSW Police Force, Dr Judith Perl, told the jury the drug was found in Charlise’s spleen fluid.

She said the drug was not safe for children and was only TGA approved for people aged 10 and over.

Dr. Reading from her report, Perl told the court: “I consider it possible, however, that the Quetiapine was ingested within six hours of death due to its presence in the deceased’s stomach.”

She added that “it cannot be stated what dose or when the drug was taken.”

“It may have occurred within six hours of death… this is not a settled opinion given the decomposition of the body.”

Had Charlise taken an adult dose of the drug, Dr Perl told the court it would have resulted in her entering a ‘toxic range’.

She explained that if the drug had been absorbed into Charlise’s bloodstream, it could have caused vomiting.

The jury previously heard that Stein had told people that Charlise woke up vomiting on the morning of January 12.

‘It can cause depression of the central nervous system… changes the person’s level of alertness. The most common side effect of Quetiapine in children is sedation or drowsiness,” said Dr. Perl.

“There may be other adverse effects…things like restlessness, muscle stiffness, unusual behaviors such as salivation and chewing, and unusual facial movements.”

Forensic pathologist Marna Du Plessis told the jury earlier on Thursday that Charlise died from the gunshot wound to her face.

The doctor described “powder tattoo” marks around the gunshot wound, which entered just below the girl’s right cheekbone, leading her to conclude that the “end of the muzzle was about a ruler’s length (12 inches)” from Charlise’s face.

Dr. Du Plessis told the jury that Charlise had also been shot in the lower left buttock, a shot she is believed to have survived.

“The gunshot wound to the back is not fatal in itself,” said Dr. Du Plessis.

She also told the jury that Charlise was alive when she was shot in the face, with the bullet “entering her brain.”

“She was still alive when the shot entered her body,” Dr Du Plessis said.

The jury was told Charlise’s body was in an ‘advanced’ state of decomposition when the exam was administered.

Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC claims 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.

Charlise’s body was found in a barrel on an embankment near the Colo River, four days after her mother reported her missing.

After his arrest in January 2022, Stein denied murdering Charlise in an interview with a Corrective Services officer, but said “her mother shot her twice,” the jury heard.

“Her mother was on the ice all week, I heard a shot and then I heard her screaming for me, then I ran back and she shot her again,” he told the prison officer, the jury heard.

The trial continues before Judge Helen Wilson.