When Kallista Mutten was accused of killing her own daughter, she sobbed and told the judge she didn’t even know where the nine-year-old had been shot.
In court for the murder of schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, Justin Stein, 33, testified that he saw Mutten shoot the victim.
On January 18, 2022, Charlise’s body was discovered by authorities in a barrel near the Colo River in the Blue Mountains.
She had gunshot wounds to her back and face.
At the time, Mutten was dating Stein, and the court had already learned that the two intended to tie the knot.
In the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Mutten was confronted by Stein’s attorney, Carolyn Davenport SC, who stated that on January 12, 2002, she shot and killed Charlise at the Blue Mountains residence where the latter was staying.
“What I suggest is … you had, in fact, shot and killed your daughter,” stated Davenport.
“Are you serious? No, Mutten said. Davenport said, “You shot her once in the head and once in the back.”
“I was unaware that she had been shot with a gun,” an upset Mutten retorted.
“I didn’t even know where she was shot, so now I know.”
The court then adjourned so Mutten might gather her thoughts.
In her opening statement, Davenport informed the jurors that it will soon become clear Mutten, not Stein, was the one who had the motive to kill the girl.
Over the Christmas break, Charlise, who resided with her grandparents, had been spending time with her mother and Stein.
The party split their time during the stay between Stein’s mother’s Mount Wilson residence and a trailer at the nearby Riviera Ski Park, which was about a 90-minute drive away.
Mutten said on Monday that the last time she saw her daughter was on January 11, when the nine-year-old went to spend the night at Mount Wilson with Stein while she slept at the RV park.
On Tuesday, Davenport confronted Mutten, claiming that she had seen Charlise alive on January 12 and that the girl had accompanied her and Stein to Sydney.
Mutten refuted this claim. In the weeks following the discovery of her daughter’s body, Mutten acknowledged lying to the authorities about Stein’s drug usage and access to guns.
She informed the court that Stein had instructed her not to disclose the whole extent of their drug use, including his use of methamphetamine, which they had occasionally taken together.
When Davenport learned that Charlise’s body had been discovered and that Stein was accused of killing her, he questioned why she would have lied for him.
“I still in my heart believed that what he told me was the truth,” replied Mutten.
Although she denied using narcotics in front of her daughter, she acknowledged using them while Charlise was visiting.
At the time, she claimed that she and Justin were “fighting a lot” and that she had opted to stay at the caravan on most days instead of the Mount Wilson estate.
Davenport informed her that Charlise would rather stay at Mount Wilson with Stein and his mother than with her.
Mutten remarked, “You’re comparing like a caravan to a mansion.”
“Charlise asked you if she could go back to Mount Wilson, and you allowed it,” replied Davenport.
Unfortunately, Mutten replied.
She acknowledged that using methamphetamine had led to numerous issues in her life and that, despite the occasional drug-induced psychosis, she had kept using the drug.
Due to an incident in which Charlise was hospitalised after being discovered unconscious in the middle of the road, her scheduled Easter 2021 visitation with Stein and Mutten had to be cancelled.
“You were taking ice despite the fact that your daughter was due to arrive to see you in a few days?”
Yes, Mutten replied.
