The man accused of murdering Charlise Mutten in the Blue Mountains has told a jury the schoolgirl's mother shot the nine-year-old dead and then immediately attempted to blame him.
On Monday, Justin Laurens Stein, 33, was called as a witness in his own defence after pleading not guilty to murdering Charlise at his family's Mount Wilson property in January 2022.
Her body was found in a plastic barrel by the Colo River.
The Crown alleges Charlise was killed while alone with Mr Stein at the property on the evening of January 11 or the following morning.
Mr Stein told the NSW Supreme Court on Monday, Charlise woke up on January 12 feeling unwell and travelled with him back to see her mother, his then-partner Kallista, who was staying at his caravan in Lower Portland.
He said he drove them to Surry Hills to "score" the drug ice for Ms Mutten and some cannabis for him.
Mr Stein said he walked his dog while Ms Mutten used drugs in toilets at Centennial Park.
Later that evening, the three arrived back at Mt Wilson and Mr Stein said he went to a shed to work on a ute.
"That's when I heard a gunshot, then I heard Charlise scream my name," he told the court.
Mr Stein paused to wipe his face with his hand before continuing.
"Then I went outside the shed to the right hand side, I got to the back of the shed. That's when I heard Charlise scream 'Mummy no' and then, bang, there was a second gunshot.
"I saw Kallista, I walked up to the fence and that's when I saw Charlise on the ground."
Mr Stein said Ms Mutten had a rifle in her hands, which he recognised as being from a previous robbery.
"I said: 'What the f*** have you done?'," he told the jury.
"She turned around, looked at me, and said: 'You did this'.
"She kept screaming 'You did this' … she said 'You made me do this'."
Mr Stein said Ms Mutten yelled at him to find a tarp.
He went to the shed and retrieved a blue tarp, estimating it took him around 10 minutes.
Mr Stein said when he went back to where Charlise had been, both the schoolgirl and Ms Mutten had gone.
Mr Stein admits to lying to police
When Ms Mutten gave evidence last week, Mr Stein's lawyers accused her of being responsible for the shooting, which she tearfully denied.
On Monday, Mr Stein said he went back inside the property that night, rolled himself a joint "to calm myself down", broke down in tears for 10 to 15 minutes, and then fell asleep after smoking.
The jury was told that the following day, he heard Ms Mutten driving off in his ute, claiming she nearly ran him over as he tried to stop her.
He said at this point, he had "no idea" where Charlise was.
Mr Stein said he called police to report his vehicle stolen. He claimed that at the time he was intending to "give her up for what she'd done".
"Why didn't you give her up to the police?" his counsel, Carolyn Davenport SC, asked.
"I honestly don't know," Mr Stein replied.
"I've asked myself that question a lot … I just couldn't get myself to speak."
Mr Stein later told the court of driving around with the barrel on the back of his ute, intending to go to the Lower Portland caravan park to do renovation-type work.
The jury heard he went to Bunnings to buy sand and later realised the ratchet straps used to secure the barrel had been touched since he fastened it.
He also realised the barrel was heavy and opened it to see Charlise was inside wrapped in a tarp.
"I threw up," Mr Stein told the jury.
"I just started driving in the car. I started panicking. I didn't know what to do, where to go."
He said he felt his mental health getting worse and "the voices were getting louder … I couldn't think properly", before he left it near the river.
Mr Stein admitted he lied to police by recounting a story about an auctioneer.
"I knew dumping that barrel would catch up with me, so I just went along with Kallista's story."
'I told her that no-one would believe it'
Ms Mutten previously told the court Mr Stein went back to Mt Wilson with Charlise on January 11 to be there for an auctioneer who was expected to visit.
She claimed that the following morning, Mr Stein told her Charlise was unwell and would stay at Mt Wilson under the care of the auctioneer while he returned to the caravan park.
According to Ms Mutten, it was only when they went back to Mt Wilson after buying drugs in Surry Hills that she realised Charlise was missing.
On Monday, Mr Stein told the court it was Ms Mutten who raised a "story" about an auctioneer.
"I told her that no-one would believe it," he said.
Mr Stein has claimed around January 2022, he was intending to end the relationship, saying Ms Mutten was jealous of the good relationship he had formed with Charlise and they'd often argued about her Ms Mutten's drug use.
Under cross-examination by Crown Prosecutor Ken McKay SC, Mr Stein denied ever giving Charlise any of his medication for schizophrenia – a condition he said means he sometimes hears "voices", especially when stressed.
He agreed he had previously called triple-zero for Kallista Mutten when she experienced a psychotic episode, but didn't call authorities in relation to Charlise's alleged shooting.
Ms Stein was questioned about why he left the house unlocked that night when he fell asleep, in the knowledge that – according to him – Kallista Mutten may be armed.
"I didn't think about it," Mr Stein said.
Mr McKay pressed Mr Stein about why he would "go along" with the story about an auctioneer knowing it would mean he was the last person to see Charlise alive.
He replied: "I can understand what you're saying but I didn't think about it at the time, I just went along with her."
The trial continues on Tuesday.
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