A radio host has been criticised after holding an on-air prize giveaway about alleged murder victim Charlise Mutten (pictured)
A radio host has been heavily criticised after hosting an on-air prize giveaway about alleged murder victim Charlise Mutten.
Sydney 2SM host Marcus Paul on Thursday asked his listeners to correctly guess which school the nine-year-old went to for a chance at winning singer Adele’s new CD.
The segment came just two days after Charlise’s body was found in a barrel on the banks of the Colo River north-west of the city. Her stepfather Justin Stein, 31, has been charged with her murder.
Paul on Wednesday said Charlise’s death shouldn’t be used as ‘political fodder’ against Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The DJ began the competition by saying the schoolgirl was a ‘beautiful young girl who was allegedly tragically murdered’.
‘Give us a call if you happen to have the answer to that question… if you get it correct you get the goodies,’ he said.
He then took calls from listeners trying to guess the correct answer.
‘Can’t remember the name, do you want to have a guess, time’s ticking,’ Paul told one listener who struggled to remember where the little girl went to school.
Sydney 2SM host Marcus Paul on Thursday asked his listeners to correctly guess which school Charlise went to for a chance at winning an Adele CD
Multiple other listeners called in, with one finally guessing correctly and winning the prize – a double CD pack.
‘Mate, thank you for playing and well done to you,’ Paul said.
The segment was labelled ‘disrespectful’ by a victims of crime advocate who said holding competitions about an alleged murder was completely inappropriate.
‘Holding competitions relating to what school she went to is completely inappropriate and disrespectful,’ crime advocate Howard Brown told The Daily Telegraph.
Charlise’s body was found in a barrel on the banks of the Colo River north-west of the city on Tuesday
‘The people who arranged this competition have clearly never walked a day in the footsteps of victims.
‘I feel so much for the custodians of Charlise, her grandmother and grandfather… it is just so disrespectful.’
A 2SM spokesman said it was looking into the segment but declined to comment further.
Homicide detectives have meanwhile yet to identify a motive behind the alleged murder of the nine-year-old.
Charlise’s accused killer was educated at the prestigious Cranbrook School in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and is engaged to her mother Kallista Mutten.
NSW Police homicide squad detectives are still trying to establish why Charlise was in the care of Stein between January 11 and January 12, when she died.
Charlise’s stepfather Justin Stein, 31, has been charged with the little girl’s murder and refused bail
Pictured are flowers left at Tweed Heads Public School , where the little girl went to school in northern NSW
Police allege Charlise Mutten, 9, was murdered and her body encased in a barrel which was towed for hours in a boat before being dumped on a lonely riverbank in dense bushland
The girl and her mother had been staying at the Riviera Ski caravan park at Lower Portland on the Hawkesbury River, about a 90 minute drive from where Stein lived at Mount Wilson.
It’s understood Charlise and Ms Mutten had been spending time at the caravan park and at Stein’s luxurious property Wildenstein.
Detectives hope Ms Mutten can shed light on why her daughter was alone in Stein’s care the night she was allegedly murdered.
However, they have been unable to interview her due to her mental state, and she remains in hospital under close medical supervision.
Ms Mutten – who is pregnant with Stein’s baby – suffered a ‘medical episode’ about the time she contacted police on January 14 to say her daughter was missing.
Entrance gates to the caravan park along the Hawkesbury River Ms Mutten had been living in
A cabin at the Riviera Ski Garden caravan park Ms Mutten had been staying at on Hawkesbury River
A view of several cabins set up along the waterfront of the Hawkesbury River at the caravan park
The mother is understood to have been staying at the Riviera Ski Park, at Lower Portland, when her nine-year-old daughter was allegedly murdered 80 kilometres away at a lavish wedding venue in Wildenstein
As police continue to build a picture of what happened, residents claimed they saw Stein with Charlise and Ms Mutten at the park in the days before she was reported missing.
‘The daughter was there for a couple of days, she was playing around with the daughter of a friend of mine,’ one person told The Daily Telegraph.
Detectives were seen taping off a an area of the caravan park earlier this week, before leaving the scene carrying evidence bags.
It comes after Stein’s mother defended her son and made extraordinary comments aimed at the nine-year-old’s biological mum, calling the situation ‘a headache’.
Annemie Stein revealed she didn’t approve of the whirlwind relationship between her son – who went to Cranbrook, one of Sydney’s most elite private schools – and the girl’s mother Ms Mutten.
Social media posts show the pair shared a rapid romance, announcing they were in a relationship about a year after Ms Mutten, a former ice addict who has served jail time, walked free from prison.
‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink, or choose their partners, and sometimes it ends up in a headache like this one,’ Ms Stein told the Telegraph.
Detectives have yet to identify a motive behind the alleged murder after charging the girl’s stepfather Justin Stein, 31, over her grisly death on Wednesday
The area next to the Colo River (pictured) where Justin Stein allegedly dumped Charlise’s body in a barrel five days before the nine-year-old’s decomposed remains were found
Kallista Mutten and Justin Stein (pictured) had a whirlwind romance before becoming engaged and inviting her daughter on the tragic trip to Mount Wilson
The 56-year-old said it would be painful for any parent to have a child go through what her son was experiencing because ‘parents know their children’.
Mrs Stein defended her privately-educated son revealing he had a ‘tortured life’ despite his wealthy upbringing.
On Wednesday, the alleged killer appeared in Central Local Court where he did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.
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