Former Beauty and the Geek contestant Tamika Chesser’s murder case took a new turn this week, according to ABC News. A private psychiatric report, supplied by the defence, was put before South Australia’s Supreme Court and described her as provisionally mentally incompetent to commit the offences she is accused of. The court has now ordered a further assessment before the case can move forward.

Ms Chesser appeared by video link on Monday and pleaded not guilty to two charges. The first is murdering her partner, Julian Story. The second is destroying his remains to pervert the course of justice. A not guilty plea is a formal entry by the accused. It is not a finding about what happened, and it does not settle whether she is fit to stand trial, which is the question now before the court.

What happened to Julian Story?

Mr Story was 39. According to the ABC’s reporting, his dismembered body was found in the couple’s unit at Port Lincoln, on the Eyre Peninsula, in June 2025. Emergency services had responded to reports of a fire at the unit when the body was discovered. About a month later, a member of the public found his head in scrubland east of the regional city. His remains were found across two locations in 2025.

The prosecution and the defence jointly asked the court for a further report into Ms Chesser’s mental competence and fitness to stand trial. Prosecutor Eilis Noone told the court the defence had recently supplied a private psychiatrist’s report dated November 2025, and she read out its central view.

“The opinion is that Ms Chesser is unfit and provisionally mentally incompetent to commit the offences,” Prosecutor Eilis Noone told the court.

The word provisionally signals that the view is preliminary. That is why both sides agreed a further report was needed before any decision on the trial can be made. Ms Noone said the joint application was made in those circumstances.

Is Tamika Chesser fit to stand trial?

Not yet. The court has ordered a further report into her mental competence and fitness to stand trial, so no final answer exists at this stage. Fitness to stand trial generally refers to whether an accused person can understand the proceedings and take part in their own defence. Mental competence is a related question, and the new report is meant to address both.

Justice Adam Kimber, who presided over the hearing, made the order. The report was expected to take four to five months to complete. The court heard it might be closer to three months, and Justice Kimber described that possibility as good news, while adding that he hoped it would come to pass.

For readers following the case, the timeline is the key thing to track. The body was found in June 2025, the head about a month later, and the private psychiatric report is dated November 2025. Ms Chesser entered her not guilty pleas on Monday, and the matter is scheduled to return to court in February.

Until then, the case rests on the new assessment, and no ruling on her fitness has been made. Ms Chesser’s name became familiar to many viewers through her appearance on the reality series Beauty and the Geek. The court hearing, however, focused on her legal position and mental health rather than on that earlier television work.

Readers should note that this court reporting contains content some may find distressing. The ABC’s original reporting, which this article draws on, is the place to check the full details of the hearing.

Quick answers

Has Tamika Chesser pleaded guilty?
No. According to ABC News, she pleaded not guilty to murdering Julian Story and to destroying his remains to pervert the course of justice.

When does the Tamika Chesser case return to court?
The matter is scheduled to return to court in February, after a further report into her mental competence and fitness to stand trial is completed.

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Source: abc.net.au