Australian reality TV star charged with decapitating boyfriend

Telegraph

28-06-2025

Police are seeking the head of an alleged murder victim after a former reality television star was accused of murdering and decapitating her boyfriend.
Officers discovered the burnt and dismembered remains of Julian Story, 39, on the bathroom floor of an apartment in the coastal city of Port Lincoln last Tuesday when responding to reports of a small fire.
Tamika Sueann-Rose Chesser, a 34-year-old former contestant on Beauty and the Geek Australia, was arrested two days later and charged with murder.
Police found Ms Chesser sitting in the back garden of the property 'in a catatonic and unresponsive state,' according to court documents.
Ms Chesser, a model and actress, is also charged with disposing of human remains to pervert the course of justice and assaulting a police officer.
Detectives have issued an appeal to the public to find Mr Story's missing head which they said was removed after his alleged murder on June 17 at approximately midnight.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke, in a press conference on Friday, said: 'While I won't provide any further detail about that at this time, I can tragically say that we have not recovered the head of Julian Story.'
'I can only imagine, and I want you to imagine, the grief this news is causing Julian's family.
'Recovering Julian's head to return it to his family so they can have a peaceful outcome, have a funeral and lay him to rest is a really important aspect for us.'
Detective Superintendent Fielke said there was no obvious motive at this stage and Ms Chesser was compliant at the time of the arrest.
Police have released CCTV footage and still images to the public of a woman alleged to be Ms Chesser walking through Port Lincoln with her dogs after the alleged murder in the hope of determining where the head may have been hidden.
The woman can be seen dressed in full body black dress and a black head covering, and walking down the pavement with three dogs.
'I'm appealing to local residents to review CCTV or dash cam footage which they may have, which may assist the investigation,' Superintendent Fielke said.
A court order anonymising the identity of Ms Chesser was lifted on Friday in Adelaide Magistrates Court by Magistrate Ben Sale. The suppression order, which had also prevented the publication of the alleged circumstances of his death and the investigation.
Ms Chesser, who appeared in court via video link on Friday, was refused bail when she first appeared last week and is being held under a mental health detention order.
She will next appear for a committal hearing in December.
The bereaved family of Mr Story has thanked police, emergency workers, family, friends and the community for their support.
'We are navigating an unimaginable loss, and your care has brought comfort amid the chaos,' the family said in a statement.
Kiya-May Chesser, the defendant's sister, said her family has been left reeling from reports their loved one had been charged with her murder.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, she said: 'Please report how my sister is in a mental psychosis... This is not her... She would never do these things.'
She added that her sister had experienced a 'life of trauma and abuse, and now this – it has fried her brain'.
Ian Parrott, the South Australia Police assistant commissioner, said there were a lot of unanswered questions in the investigation and it was a complex crime scene 'so it will take some time to understand the exact nature of what's occurred'.