Julian Story horror story revives old nightmares for Port Lincoln
It’s one of South Australia’s true gems, but Port Lincoln is in shock as a horrific death cracks the facade of a city locals say looks far nicer than it really is.
Walking along the pristine coastline of Boston Bay, it’s easy to see why so many people love calling Port Lincoln home.
It’s South Australia’s hidden gem of tuna, oysters, shark diving, where fishing families reel in big bucks.
It’s also been the training ground for some of Australia’s most iconic athletes – Olympic gold medallist Dean Lukin, three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva and AFL legend Eddie Betts.
But this seaside city is currently home to a grisly search – one that has sent shockwaves across the Eyre Peninsula, Australia and the world – and locals say, a dark underbelly lies beneath Port Lincoln’s picturesque surface.
Just two weeks ago, police allege Tamika Chesser – a former Beauty and the Geek contestant and OnlyFans content creator – murdered her partner Julian Story inside their Flinders Highway flat.
She is accused of then dismembering his body.
Emergency services were first called to the couple’s unit after their neighbour rushed into their home to put out a smouldering pile inside the property.
It has now been revealed that the pile was the remains of Mr Story, a Port Lincoln local and much-loved son.
“I’m trying to get it out of my head, I’m trying to get a new house,” neighbour Jordan Ware said.
“I don’t want to live next door to somewhere where that happened.”
Only a couple days later, however, the hardworking town was hit with another gruesome update – Julian had been beheaded.
Police from across the state swarmed Port Lincoln, searching reserves, parks, bushland and a popular walking track – The Parnkalla Trail – for the missing head.
Specialist divers took to the waters, searching Boston Bay with the help of volunteer SES crews.
But despite those tireless efforts, SA Police has not yet been able to find Mr Story’s head.
They’ve now paused the search, scrolling through hours upon hours of CCTV, tracking Tamika’s movements in the days between the alleged murder and fire.
There is no timeline of when they will return.
The news rocked the tight-knit community of Port Lincoln, which only earlier this year was crowned South Australia’s most welcoming city.
But for some, the unsettling incident was only a matter of time, as the town battles a mental health and addiction epidemic.
Shop owner Leanne Clark lives just two doors down from where Julian was allegedly murdered.
Even before Julian’s grisly death, she was scared to leave her home.
“I go home, I shut my door and I don’t go out,” she says.
“Port Lincoln is a really pretty place, but it is drug infested.
“My son goes walking down the street and I’m stressed till he comes back home.
“It’s not a nice town, on the outside the scenery is wonderful, but underneath it’s not.”
Five years ago, Leanne was attacked by a man armed with a crowbar who had broken into her store, stealing thousands she had saved for a kitchen renovation.
He was jailed for the shocking crime, which left her bloodied, in shock and requiring a plate inserted into her skull.
Reliving the nightmare to The Advertiser, she was brought to tears.
“I came in the front door, went out there to go and check and he hit me with a crowbar a number of times,” she said.
“There was blood everywhere. I’ve still got a piece of metal in the back of my skull.
“I went into hospital for shock treatment to stop thinking about it, as you can see it’s still fresh.”
The man who brutally attacked is set for release on Monday.
The ordeal just scratches the surface on what is like for some in Port Lincoln, who live and try to earn a crust in the seaside town.
She says her deli is the target for thieves – some as young as five years old.
“It’s funny to them as they feel like they’re protected and untouchable,” she says.
“There’s no consequences to anybody in this world anymore if they are doing something wrong.
“The young ones get smacked on the finger, they think they can do it as long as they like.”
It is a sentiment echoed by Port Lincoln tuna king Hagen Stehr – one of South Australia’s wealthiest men.
The German native was just 18 years old when he jumped ship and started reeling in tuna in the Southern Ocean.
His family has called Port Lincoln home for more than 60 years, building a seafood empire that employs more than 75 people – with his personal wealth hitting $270 million in the mid 2000s.
Opening up his stunning home on ‘Millonaire’s Row’ – a nickname for the lavish homes owned by tuna families that overlook Boston Bay – the 84-year-old doesn’t mince his words.
“We haven’t got enough bloody police,” he says, overlooking the bay where specialist divers searched for Julian’s remains only days earlier.
“They can’t get enough people in the police force, but they need to be a lot, lot stronger.
“If you walk down in Port Lincoln and you can’t walk down in peace, then there is something wrong with our system – the system is f**ked.”
The multi-story mansion, which boasts a pool, car turntable and once a helipad, is only a minute’s drive from where the former Beauty and the Geek star allegedly beheaded her partner
The fishing magnate has rolled out a one-strike drug policy for his own workers in a bid to stamp out the town’s prevalent drug culture.
“People are just getting a slap on the hand,” he said.
“Crime has definitely gotten worse, anyone who tells you different is bulls**ting you, they’re not telling you the bloody truth.
“You need laws and regulations, if you do the right thing you need to be rewarded, and if you don’t do the right thing, you need to get a kick in the ass.”
It’s not the first time Port Lincoln has been hit with an unthinkable tragedy.
Almost 10 years ago, local man Damien Little shot his two little boys – Koda, four, and Hunter, nine months.
The 34-year-old tradie then drove the family car, with his sons inside, into the Port Lincoln pier.
Mayor Diana Mislov said both tragedies – while not linked in any way – highlighted the need for bolstered mental health services in the regions.
“Look out for your neighbours. If you see any behaviour that’s not usual, report it, take some action or ask if they’re okay?
“If we are connected to each other, we can step in and assist before anything reaches that kind of climax
“Sometimes it can take six weeks to see a doctor to get a referral to see a psychiatrist or a mental health professional and then that can take another six weeks.
“By then people have given up and have just gone back to their behaviour, their trauma and they just manifest more loneliness.
“We are actually not treating people quickly enough to make a difference and turn them around and put them on the right track.”
Originally published as Julian Story horror story revives old nightmares for Port Lincoln
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