Mental health defence in ex-reality TV star’s murder case
Former Beauty and the Geek contestant Tamika Chesser has been charged with the murder of her former partner, Julian Story. Photo: Seven Network
A reality TV contestant accused of beheading her partner has pleaded not guilty to murder, flagging a mental health defence.
Tamika Sueann Rose Chesser, the runner-up on Beauty and the Geek in 2010, is accused of decapitating Julian Story, 39, and disposing of his body in June 2025.
She was charged with murder and destroying human remains to pervert the course of justice after Story’s dismembered body was found at the couple’s home at Port Lincoln on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula on June 19, 2025.
Chesser appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link on Tuesday to enter pleas to the charges.
Her lawyer, Rosie Denny, conceded there was a case to answer and entered not guilty pleas on her client’s behalf.
Part 8A investigations were to take place, the court was told, referencing the process in which a defendant can raise a mental impairment that affects their criminal responsibility or fitness to stand trial.
Magistrate John Clover committed the former reality TV star to the Supreme Court for arraignment on November 2.
Late last year, Chesser was reported to have been pregnant at the time of her arrest. She gave birth in early 2026.
She is being held under a mental health detention order at an Adelaide psychiatric facility.
Julian Story’s dismembered body was found in his Port Lincoln home. Photo: SA Police
The charges were finalised earlier after prosecutors received an autopsy report, crime scene analysis, including fire examination and blood pattern analysis, DNA evidence and forensic analysis of phones owned by Chesser and Story.
Police found Story’s body after firefighters were called to his Flinders Highway property home to investigate reports of a blaze.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke issued a plea for public help on June 27, 2025, “because tragically, we have not recovered the head of Julian Story”.
Police released still images and video of a woman they allege was Chesser walking on Port Lincoln streets recorded after the killing, which investigators allege occurred about midnight on June 17.
The images show a woman wearing a black headscarf and black full-body coverings, carrying a bag.
A Port Lincoln resident told police on July 31, 2025 that they had found a skull in scrub while pursuing a wandering dog.
Forensic tests later confirmed it was Story’s skull.
-AAP
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