The school where Lilie James was brutally murdered by her fellow sports coach will play no official role in the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of her and her killer Paul Thijssen.
Water polo coach Ms James, 21, was found dead inside the gymnasium bathroom at St Andrews Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD on October 25 last year after her father James received a text message from his phone asking to be picked up from school late at night. .
Police were alerted and a member of school staff let officers into the building in Town Hall Square, where Lilie’s “unrecognizable” body was found, with serious head injuries.
Inside sources have revealed to Daily Mail Australia that St Andrews Cathedral School principal Dr Julie McGonigle has been told the school will not be considered an “interested party” in the coronial inquiry into the deaths.
Lilie James was murdered a year ago in a toilet at St Andrews Cathedral school, where she worked as a coach alongside the man who beat her to death, Paul Thijssen.
The school (the gym pictured, where Ms James’s body was found in the adjoining toilet) has been told it cannot take part in the investigation into the deaths of her and her killer Paul Thijssen.
This is despite the fact that the teachers and students had intimate knowledge and an intimate relationship with Ms. James and the school’s hockey coach, Thijssen, before the murder, and with school staff who assisted in the discovery of the horrible crime scene.
The school’s headteacher, Dr McGonigle, revealed in her latest bulletin for headteachers that “at this time, the State Coroner does not consider that St Andrew’s Cathedral School has sufficient interest in this matter to be considered an interested party, in accordance with the Coroners Law”.
The inquest into the deaths of Lilie Anne James and Paul Thomas Stephan Thijssen will take place over three days from March 18 at Lidcombe Coroner’s Court in western Sydney.
Following the discovery of Ms. James’ body last October, homicide detectives launched an immediate search for Thijssen, 24, who had had a brief, failed relationship with Ms. James.
The couple had agreed to meet for a final exchange of belongings the night she died.
A year ago, the school sent an email at 4.30am to parents on October 26 last year, saying it would be closed for the week following the discovery of Ms James’ body.
At the time the email was sent, police had not yet located their “person of interest,” Thijssen.
Students at the school where Lilie James (above) worked as a sports coach, along with the man who killed her, Paul Thijssen, will be offered black armbands at sports matches this week on the first anniversary of the tragedy.
An inquest into the death of Paul Thijssen (above) and the young woman he killed will not hear from the school where they both worked before their murder-suicide.
Almost two days after Lilie’s murder, Paul Thijssen’s body was recovered from rocks in Diamond Bay, Vaucluse and brought to street level.
SACS brought in counselors for parents and students during the morning and relocated its HSC students who were due to sit their exams in the gymnasium to another building.
When Lilie James’ identity was confirmed, police scoured the coast of Diamond Bay, Vaucluse, looking for Thijssen and carried out searches on the cliff above.
Around 5pm that afternoon, Thijssen’s backpack containing a hammer was found in a rubbish bin on the street next to the cliff above the bay.
On the morning of Friday, October 27, a tradesman working on a clifftop trail saw a body trapped in rocks and being battered by waves.
Police divers managed to recover the swollen body and, after a complicated operation, made difficult by bad weather conditions, it was recovered around noon, transported in a van from the United States morgue and identified as Thijssen.
It later emerged that Thijssen and James had been dating for just five weeks when she broke up.
The school confirmed it was aware of the relationship after being informed by both staff members in its athletic department.
SACS said relationships between staff members were allowed, as long as they followed protocol and notified the school.
A permanent memorial of a framed wreath, made from ribbons tied around flowers left outside as a tribute to Lilie James, now hangs in the school and will occasionally be placed in the lobby.
Lilie James, 21 (right), water polo coach at St Andrews Cathedral School (left) will be remembered in prayers at the school this week, a year after her brutal murder at the hands of St Andrews’ hockey coach the school, Paul Thijssen.
In the wake of the tragedy, as Ms James’ family remembered their daughter, the school made plans to create a permanent reminder of her short life in the form of a monument or award celebrating her memory.
“We are devastated and heartbroken by the loss of our beautiful Lilie James,” the James family statement said last year, “she was vibrant, outgoing and much loved by her friends and family.”
It can now be revealed that the school demolished the gym bathroom where the crime occurred last November.
The new memorial created is a framed wreath made from ribbons attached to the mountains of flowers left outside the school after Lilie’s death.
The crown will be on permanent display on the sixth level of SACS and will be “quietly displayed at important moments for Lilie” from time to time in the school’s lobby, “given the complexity of the trauma and the ongoing grieving process.”
On the first anniversary of her tragic death on Friday, students at the school will be given black armbands to wear in memory of Ms James at sporting events this weekend.
Prayers for Lilie will take place on Friday, but due to HSC exams for Year 12, the school hopes to disrupt students’ schedules as little as possible “at such a critical time”.
“The athletic department will also be understanding to those students who do not wish to play that day,” Dr. McGonigle informed parents this week.
“The athletic department will also be understanding of those students who do not want to play that day.”
