Charlise Mutten’s mother charged

THE mother of schoolgirl Charlise Mutten has been charged as part of the investigation into her child’s horrific death.

Nine-year-old Tweed Heads schoolgirl Charlise was allegedly killed by a gunshot while staying with her mother Kallista Mutten’s fiance, Justin Stein, at a multimillion-dollar property in the Blue Mountains, in January.

The little girl was first reported missing before a massive police search found her body stuffed inside a barrel near the Colo River four days later.

Stein, 31, has been charged with her murder.

Mutten – who is undergoing treatment at a drug rehabilitation centre – was charged this week over a home invasion where two guns were allegedly stolen.

Police would not say whether one of the guns was used in Charlise’s alleged murder, but confirmed a post-mortem examination found she died from a single shot from a small-calibre firearm.

Police will allege Mutten, 39, accompanied Stein on a home invasion at Mount Wilson in August last year, where two guns and ammunition were allegedly stolen.

Mutten has not been charged over Charlise’s death.

“A woman’s been charged over her alleged role in a home invasion that was uncovered as part of ongoing investigations into the alleged murder of a girl in the Blue Mountains earlier this year,” a NSW police spokesman said.

Homicide squad detectives carried out a search in bushland at Mount Wilson soon after Charlise’s death, where two guns and ammunition were found.

Investigations and ballistic testing revealed the items were allegedly stolen from a nearby property five months before Charlise’s death.

Mutten will face Campbelltown Local Court on August 4.