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.

READ MORE: He called police to his home. Officers shot him dead within two minutes

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 a number of 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 Charlise.

READ MORE: Palliative care nurses share laments of the dying

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 Charlise's mother 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.

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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 purchase five 20kg 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 undergoing treatment 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.

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A teen who murdered a mother of two during a burglary has been sentenced to 14 years in youth detention after a judge found his offending was "particularly heinous".

The teenager, aged now just over 19, faced Brisbane Supreme Court today for sentencing having earlier pleaded guilty to murder.

The teen also pleaded guilty to armed burglary at night while in company, committing a malicious act with intent and assault in company causing bodily harm.

READ MORE: 'No evidence' driver hit and killed her partner deliberately: coroner

Justice Tom Sullivan reserved his decision on sentencing for more than a week following submissions from the prosecution and defence.

The teen and another teenage co-offender were charged after Emma Lovell was fatally stabbed in her home north of Brisbane in 2022.

Police alleged the two boys, then 17 years old, broke into a North Lakes house and attacked Emma and her husband Lee about 11.30pm on Boxing Day.

The mother-of-two died after being stabbed in the chest while Lee was treated in hospital for a knife wound.

Justice Sullivan previously heard he could sentence the teen to a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment or up to 14 years if he found the crime to be "particularly heinous".

Today, Justice Sullivan found the teen met this threshold due to his prior criminal history and making two attempts to stab Emma and Lee before landing the fatal blow.

"This offending was atrocious and would create outrage in the community," Justice Sullivan said.

Crown prosecutor David Nardone previously said the teen stabbed Emma with such force the knife blade snapped.

Security footage previously played to Justice Sullivan showing the teen testing the front door and finding it unlocked before entering ahead of his accomplice.

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The teen soon after engaged in a physical altercation with Emma and Lee while holding a knife.

The couple's two teenage children, Kassie and Scarlett, were also sleeping in the house when the co-offenders broke in.

The teen stabbed Emma in the heart and Lee in the back, before kicking him several times in the head.

Justice Sullivan said the Lovells' teen daughters were standing over their mother's body sobbing when police and paramedics arrived and open heart surgery was performed on the front lawn in an attempt to save her life.

Defence barrister Scott Lynch previously said the teen grew up in a chaotic environment, exposed to domestic violence and finding his only close friend dead after he took his own life.

Justice Sullivan said the teen had an extensive but previously non-violent criminal history that included 16 break-ins.

"You were not placed in custody for any of those offences," Justice Sullivan said.

Justice Sullivan said the victim impact statements had revealed a "devastating" impact.

"The Lovells were ordinary citizens enjoying family life in their home where they are entitled to feel safe. What occurred violated that completely," Justice Sullivan said.

The teen will be required to serve at least 70 per cent of the detention order with credit for 500 days in custody on remand.

Temuera Paul also broke into a Kāinga Ora house and took a shower.

A Chinese zoo has come under fire after visitors realised baby pandas on display were actually two dogs dyed black and white.

Chow Chow dogs had their ears, eyes and paws painted black and exhibited at Taizhou Zoo in the eastern Jiangsu Province, according to videos posted on Chinese social media Douyin.

The tickets, which are believed to have gone public late last week, read "Xiong Mao Quan" which translates to "panda dogs", Chinese newspaper The Global Times reported.

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A staff member at the zoo, Liu Qiuming, told the publication the panda scheme was used to attract more visitors and better their experience.

The zoo does not have any pandas of its own.

The display has reportedly raised concerns of fraud but another staffer has insisted the zoo has not tricked or manipulated its visitors.

"This is just a new display we offer to visitors. We are not charging extra," a ticket seller told The Global Times.

"The wording featuring Chow Chow dogs is correct and exactly describes what they are, so we are not cheating our visitors."

Almost half of Australian households are spending more on groceries than last year, a new study found.

Research from Monash Business School also found 58 per cent of Australians viewed grocery prices as unfair and deferred purchasing certain products until sales.

It comes as the public's trust in supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles plummeted to a seven-year low following a Senate inquiry into price gouging.

READ MORE: He called police to his home. Officers shot him dead within two minutes

Dr Eloise Zoppos said the research showed that cost-of-living remained at the top of mind for many Australians.

‌"Compared to the same time last year, many Australian shoppers report that they are spending more across essential categories," she said.

"For example, over half of shoppers reported that they spent more on housing, insurance and groceries than at the same time last year – and the latter had increased from 49 per cent when we asked the same question in 2023.

‌"The essential categories were the most likely to be seen by Australian shoppers as unfairly priced, with over half viewing housing costs, groceries and related products and insurance costs as being unfair."

READ MORE: Palliative care nurses share laments of the dying

The research found that more than half of shoppers hold off or defer purchases until they are on sale more now than they did at the same time last year.

‌"It is clear that many Aussies are revisiting their usual spending habits, so this year we also asked Australian shoppers about their saving habits," Zoppos said.

About 82 per cent of people surveyed also saved at least a portion of their monthly income. 

Peter Jenkin has worked as a palliative care nurse for almost 30 years and it's taught him a lot about death, but also about life.

It's often said that there is nothing like the prospect of dying to help a person realise what is important in their lives, and also perhaps reflect on opportunities missed.

"You do get a lot of 'I wish' statements," Jenkin, who works in Canberra aged care homes and community settings, said.

READ MORE: Arrest made in cold case murder of law school student

Jenkin said while he sometimes heard his patients lament that they had worked too much, the most common regrets were often connected to people, or loved ones.

"It's generally about people," Jenkin said.

"It's, 'I wish I'd told my wife I loved them more than I did', or their daughter, or husband.

"Or, 'I wish I had taken that leap and asked that person out when I was younger, because life would have been different.'" 

Patients also sometimes reflected on how their fears had held them back, Jenkin said. 

"They will say, 'I wish I hadn't been so hung up or so self-conscious, that I had danced more or went and sang in that choir, because I didn't think I'd be good enough.'"

Having had the "pleasure and privilege" of caring for countless patients in their final weeks, Jenkin is one of two palliative care nurses who have shared the wisdom they have gleaned from the job with 9news.com.au as part of National Palliative Care Week, which begins on May 19.

Jenkin said the one indisputable thing that working in palliative care had done for him was make him very aware of life's impermanence.

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"Life is finite, and death – it's inevitable," Jenkin said.

"It just makes you recognise your own mortality and I don't think you can do this sort of work unless you feel comfortable with that.

"I don't know when I'm going to die. But, the more we think about and talk about dying and death, the less scary it becomes." 

As a palliative care nurse, part of Jenkin's job is to help guide close friends and relatives through the process of saying goodbye to their loved ones.

People were often hesitant to talk about dying with his patients, but it was usually helpful if they were open about it, Jenkin said. 

"They don't want to upset them. But it's so important, people need to be heard. They want to be heard," Jenkin said. 

"I can't remember the last time I tried to bring up a conversation with someone who was dying, who said, 'I don't want to talk to you about that.'

"We've really got to listen, actually properly listen. 

"We are not good at this in general, but I think it's just about holding space with someone." 

Jenkin said it was sometimes children who were the best at breaking the ice in these sorts of situations.

"I think children are fantastic, they don't have the hang-ups about death and dying that we do as we get older."

Jenkin said he once heard a six-year-old ask his grandpa, "When you're in the coffin underground and the worms are there, what do you think will happen?"

"The grandfather said, 'Sure, let's talk about it. What do you think will happen?'"

Over the years, Jenkin has seen many of what he considers to be "good" deaths. 

"Humour and joy are just way more present than you would think," Jenkin said.

"I've seen families en masse in somebody's room, ordering pizza, putting on the person's favourite music that they knew they absolutely loved and sharing memories. 

"I think that would be the most lovely way to pass away."

In another case, Jenkin's patient was a winemaker aged in his 70s.

His family decanted a bottle of vintage wine he had made and shared it around. They even soaked the winemaker's oral swab, used to moisten a patient's mouth, with the same wine.

"That was probably the last thing that he tasted," Jenkin said. 

Kat Hooper has been a Queensland palliative care nurse for 13 years.

A Woromi woman, she specialises in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Over the past decade palliative care nurses had navigated some huge changes, including the introduction of voluntary assisted dying laws and the use of medicinal cannabis, Hooper said.

READ MORE: Four arrested after police chase allegedly stolen Maserati and Porsche

Recently, challenges had arisen from dealing with international painkiller medication shortages, Hooper added.

Hooper said end-of-life planning was something people often put off, but when done right could allow for a meaningful experience.

For First Nations people, this often meant connecting with Country, Hooper said.

"I've had people's water, their salt water from their lands, running through a water feature. We've had pictures of their Country on the walls," Hooper said.

"We've had photos of their family fishing with a barramundi, or their totems flowing across the room."

Working in palliative care had given her an appreciation of how precious life was, Hooper said.

"No moment is promised," she said.

Hooper said the strong connections she built with patients could often be extremely powerful and moving.

"There's been moments, that might sound crazy, where I've been having a shower and all of a sudden I'll feel a thought that my patient has passed.

"And I have this thought … of someone saying 'thank you' to me. 

"Then I'll hop out of the shower and the page will come through where that person has passed."

Four people are in custody after police chased two allegedly stolen luxury cars through the streets of the Gold Coast. 

Police spotted and begun following a Maserati SUV after it was allegedly stolen from a Broadbeach Waters home at 1pm.

The car mounted a median strip at Nerang, which officers used as an opportunity to swarm the vehicle and drag out two youths.

READ MORE: Man, 22, stabbed to death in Brisbane park

The pair were arrested and taken into custody. 

Shortly later and further north, a second luxury car was allegedly stolen. 

Police begun tracking a black Porsche Macan through Arundel on the M1, where it allegedly weaved in and out of traffic.

The car also allegedly swerved into emergency lanes and sped through traffic before it made a wrong turn into a cul-de-sac.

READ MORE: Three charged after 300 cows worth $250,000 allegedly stolen

The driver and passenger allegedly hopped out the car but police arrested the pair.

They were also taken into custody as police investigate both incidents.

9News understands police are searching for anyone else potentially involved. 

Police are hunting down an alleged killer after a young man was stabbed to death at a park in Brisbane's south.

Emergency services were called to a park on Mortimer Road in Acacia Ridge around 12.10am to find a man with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the 22-year-old victim died.

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The man has been identified as Bosco Minyurano.

His devastated family visited the park as police hunt down his alleged killer, who fled before authorities arrived.

A relative told 9News Minyurano was a nice and caring person who had a number of sporting achievements.

Detective Inspector Craig McDonald said Minyurano is believed to have known his alleged killer and said they were both part of a large group who had gathered at the park overnight.

READ MORE: Extradited man behind bars more than a decade after alleged murder

"It appears an altercation has taken place and a person has been stabbed," he said at a press conference.

"We have a number of people assisting detectives."

A witness told 9News there appeared to be six people in the group.

"There was alcohol on the scene, they were drinking," Taryn Loudon said.

"There's sort of been a bit of lead up to something."

9News understands police have identified a house of interest in their investigations. 

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Aucklanders have received a stroke of luck regarding glimpsing the aurora tonight.

Three men have been charged over an alleged cattle stealing and export operation that saw more than 300 cows valued at more than $250,000 taken from a remote part of Western Australia.

Police allege a camp was set up at Louisa Downs Pastoral Aboriginal Corporation station near Broome.

Earth moving machinery was allegedly used to create a road to the neighbouring Mount Pierre Pastoral Aboriginal Corporation station in Louisa Downs in October 2022.

READ MORE: White spot virus found in wild NSW prawns for the first time

The road was allegedly used to muster 306 cows from Mount Pierre Station to a portable cattle yard.

Two helicopters and bull catching buggies were also allegedly used in the weeks-long operation to steal the cattle, before they were trucked to the Northern Territory.

"There were no permissions sought or granted to muster cattle from Mount Pierre Station," police said.

An extensive investigation led authorities to a property on the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, which police stormed in January.

Officers identified some of the cattle had allegedly been sold and exported.

READ MORE: Extradited man behind bars more than a decade after alleged murder

"The average price for the cattle sold at the time was $827.09 per head multiplied by 306 cattle taken, equalled $253,089.54," police said.

Police alleged some of the money made from the cattle sales had been deposited into the accounts of three men over several months. 

Two men, aged 39 and 41, from Fitzroy Crossing and a third man, aged 42, from the Northern Territory were all charged with stealing.

The Fitzroy Crossing men will face Fitzroy Crossing Magistrates Court on Tuesday while the Northern Territory man appears on July 9.