A significant twist has surfaced in the ongoing investigation of Charlise Mutten’s tragic case, as new charges have been leveled against her stepfather, who is facing allegations of murder.
Justin Stein, aged 31, stands accused of fatally shooting the nine-year-old in January on his family’s estate in the Blue Mountains and subsequently disposing of her remains in a barrel.
Following the discovery of her body in bushland near the Colo River on January 18, Stein was quickly apprehended and charged with murder. His defense attorney, Peter Katsoolis, has previously indicated that they plan to contest these charges.
It has now come to light that Stein faces additional charges, including firearm possession and two counts of possessing child abuse material.
The case is scheduled to be heard in Penrith Court on Friday, but proceedings will be postponed until July to allow more time for the police to submit additional evidence. In the meantime, Stein’s lawyer is in isolation due to COVID-19.
Charlise (pictured) was allegedly fatally shot with a ‘small calibre rifle’ sometime between January 10 and 11
The latest charges pertain to two firearms and ammunition discovered by authorities in bushland near Mr. Wilson on February 3.
Stein was visited by homicide detectives at Silverwater jail on Thursday, arrested, and charged with with two counts of possess unregistered firearm, two counts of possess unauthorised firearm, possess ammunition without licence/permit, and aggravated break and enter in company.
Two counts of possess child abuse material were for unrelated matters, police said on Thursday.
The additional charges come just weeks after Stein’s defence solicitor claimed during a court hearing in March there may have been another person ‘possibly involved’ in the alleged murder.
At the time, Mr Katsoolis, also told Nine News he was yet to read a 4000 page police brief on the case and hadn’t received a post-mortem report on Charlise’s death.
He said ‘there is no clear motive’ for his client or anyone else to have allegedly killed Charlise and that he had ‘a long way to go to analyse all of those movements’ in relation to CCTV released by police which allegedly showed Stein driving around with a barrel in the back of his red ute soon after the girl’s death.
At the time of the alleged murder, police say Charlise’s mother Kallista Mutten was staying at a caravan park at Lower Portland on the Hawkesbury River, 81km from the luxury Mount Wilson estate where Charlise is believed to have died.
Stein last faced court on March 18 where he was remanded in custody until May over the murder charge, and a separate charge of breaching parole.
Justin Stein, 31, (pictured) has been charged with possessing a firearm and two counts of child abuse material possession
The lawyer for accused murderer Justin Stein has claimed it was possible someone else was involved in the death of nine-year-old Charlise Mutten (above)
Mr Katsoolis told the court the alleged parole breach related to a drug charge from 2016.
Stein did not appear on screen from Silverwater prison, where he is believed to have been held since his arrest in January.
Magistrate David O’Neil had set the next hearing for the murder charge on May 20.
Charlise was allegedly fatally shot with a ‘small calibre rifle’ sometime between January 10 and 11.
The Tweed Heads schoolgirl had been holidaying with her mother and Stein at his family’s luxury Blue Mountains wedding venue and at a Lower Portland caravan Park over the Christmas holiday season.
Ms Mutten reported her daughter missing from the Wildenstein property on the morning of January 14, and police located her remains inside a blue barrel 65km on the banks of the Colo River on the afternoon of January 18.
Kallista Mutten (above) took her daughter Charlise on a holiday to NSW with new boyfriend Justin Stein, a trip which ended with the tragic alleged murder of the schoolgirl
Stein was arrested on the same night and charged with Charlise’s alleged murder.
An autopsy on the remains of Charlise revealed the cause of death and detectives released CCTV footage in February which allegedly shows Stein’s red Holden Colorado ute with a barrel-shaped object in the back under a blue tarpaulin towing a white boat around various Sydney locations.
Police allege Stein was behind the wheel when the red ute visited the BP service station at Marsden Park, in northwestern Sydney at 5.53pm on Thursday, January 13.
It was then captured driving along Victoria and Bayswater roads at Drummoyne around 7.20pm when Stein allegedly drove it to Five Dock boat ramp.
Ms Mutten, 31, is now reportedly pregnant with Stein’s child.
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