A man on trial for murdering Charlise Mutten claims it was the nine-year-old’s mother who shot the schoolgirl rather than him, a court has been told.

Justin Laurens Stein, 33, is accused of murdering Charlise on or around January 12, 2022, at Mount Wilson, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Charlise was shot in the head and back, and her body was later recovered from a barrel dumped near the Colo River.

Stein was in a relationship with Charlise’s mother, Kallista Mutten, at the time of the alleged murder, a jury was told as his trial started in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.

He had changed his account several times, the court heard, initially telling Mutten her daughter was missing and pretending to search for her, before telling a corrections officer it was the girl’s mother who shot and killed the nine-year-old.

But Stein’s lawyer, Carolyn Davenport SC, told the jury her client had changed his story because he had initially been trying to protect Mutten.

She said evidence would show it was Mutten who had motive to carry out the killing, rather than Stein.

Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC told the jury the pair had met while they were both serving jail sentences.

Mutten was in prison for the crime of dangerous driving occasioning death.

In his opening statement, McKay told the jury Stein had transported the barrel containing Charlise’s body on the back of his ute with the intention of dumping it.

CCTV footage captured Stein stopping once to buy five 20-kilogram bags of sand from Bunnings and on another occasion to purchase a can of Coke, a slushie and a Snickers bar before the body was disposed of, the court was told.

Stein had previously served a jail sentence for drug-related offences and was being treated for heroin addiction. He was also on medication for schizophrenia, the court was told.

At some time prior to Charlise’s death, Stein and Mutten committed a break-and-enter together, during which two firearms were taken, the jury heard.

“One of them … is of importance in the case the Crown brings on the murder charge,” McKay said.

While her mother was in custody, Charlise was being cared for by grandparents who lived in Tweed Heads, where she also attended school.

She flew to Sydney on December 21, 2021, with plans to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve with her mother and Stein.

On January 14, Mutten contacted police and reported her daughter missing.

Police found Charlise’s body four days later. She had suffered two gunshot wounds, one to her face and the other to her left lower back.

“The crown case will be that Stein shot Charlise Mutten,” McKay said.

Justice Helen Wilson informed the jury some aspects of the case could be confronting and reminded them of the importance of remaining impartial.

“This is a trial in which it is alleged a nine-year-old child was shot to death,” she said.

“Some people find evidence of the death of a child particularly confronting.

“You will need to be assured that you can look at such evidence and … maintain complete impartiality.”

The trial is expected to run for six weeks.

-AAP