EXCLUSIVE
A forthcoming 60 Minutes story about a young water polo coach beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend at a Sydney private school is so distressing that parents are being urged not to let their children watch it.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the headmaster of St Andrew’s Cathedral school, where Lilie James was brutally murdered by fellow coach and former lover Paul Thijssen a year ago, has issued a stern warning over the confrontational episode.
The ‘unrecognizable’ body of the popular 21-year-old was found with horrific head injuries in the gymnasium bathrooms of an elite inner-city school just before midnight on October 25, 2023, after her father received a text message asking him to come pick her up. above.
Although the text was sent from Ms James’s phone, it is believed to have been written by Thijssen moments after savagely beating her to death with a hammer.
60 Minutes will air an interview with Ms. James’s parents publicly discussing the gruesome details of their daughter’s murder for the first time this Sunday.
“If you knew what he did that night, I think you would understand why we…why we can’t forgive what he did,” James’ mother, Peta, tells 60 Minutes star reporter Tara Brown in a online clip. promoting the story.
“The monster followed her into the bathroom,” says her father, Jamie.
Lilie James was savagely beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend in the gymnasium toilets of an elite inner-city private school in Sydney a year ago.
Paul Thijssen then used his victim’s mobile phone to send a text message to her father, asking him to come to school to pick her up.
Brown questioned the couple about the text that led to the discovery of their daughter’s battered body.
‘Do you now believe that text message was from Lilie?’ she asked.
‘No. No,” Mr. James replies, before adding: “He can rot in hell.”
The show will air just days after the first anniversary of Ms James’ death.
Despite Lilie’s parents’ brave decision to speak out about their daughter’s horrific murder, St Andrew’s headteacher Julie McGonigle has advised parents not to allow their children to watch the interview.
“We are aware that 60 Minutes will be focusing on this story on Sunday night,” he wrote in an email to parents and caregivers at the school on Thursday.
“We strongly recommend that you prevent your children from viewing it.”
Lilie James, who was studying sports business at the University of Technology, has been described as “vibrant, outgoing and much loved by her friends and family”.
Dr McGonigle added that she had already spoken to students about the impact the anniversary of Ms James’ murder was likely to have on members of the school community.
“We continue to support the James family in their grief,” he wrote in the email.
‘This first anniversary will be a challenging period for our community, especially as it coincides with the HSC and IB exam period for many of the students most affected.
‘We are focused on supporting our students, staff and families now and in the future and are very grateful to the wider community for the deep attention the school has received.
‘We hope there will be media attention over the next week.
Thijssen, who was also a sports coach at St Andrew’s, had been setting up desks in the school gym for students’ upcoming HSC exams when Mrs James agreed to come and see him.
The couple had entered into a brief romantic relationship that failed after about five weeks and were meeting for a final exchange of belongings.
Paul Thijssen attended St Andrew’s for two years before graduating in 2017 and then working as a sports coach at the school.
Lilie James was a popular water polo coach at St Andrew’s before she was murdered.
CCTV footage from the school allegedly shows Ms James and her 24-year-old killer entering the gym bathroom, with Thijssen leaving alone more than an hour later.
Thijssen was captured again on CCTV, this time 12 kilometers away, in the affluent eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, about two hours later, at 8.45pm.
He was seen parking his rented white Lexus near Diamond Bay Reserve, perched on a rocky coastal cliff, before throwing the hammer he used to kill Ms James into a nearby rubbish bin.
Thijssen then returned to his car and sat in it for two hours, before calling triple-0 to report his sickening crime.
Police traced the triple-0 call to the reservation, where they found an abandoned backpack containing some of Thijssen’s belongings, but no sign of the killer.
His body was discovered two days later, trapped in the rocks below the park, by traders working on a boardwalk along the reserve’s cliff edge.
Daily Mail Australia revealed this week that parents and staff at St Andrew’s had been informed that the school would not be considered “an interested party” in the coroner’s inquest into the former couple’s deaths when it begins next March..
Thijssen drives his rented white Lexus through Vaucluse, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, at 8.47pm after leaving Mrs James’ battered body in the school gymnasium toilet.
Emergency services recover Thijssen’s body after he was seen trapped between rocks beneath a clifftop park, two days after he murdered Ms James.
This despite the teachers and The students had intimate knowledge and involvement with the two young coaches in the lead-up to the murder, and school staff assisted in the discovery of the gruesome crime scene.
Dr McGonigle made the announcement in her latest bulletin for headteachers, stating: “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 Forensic Law”.
James remembers his daughter as an “independent and vibrant” young woman who had always lived life to the fullest when she was farewelled during a moving funeral in Sydney last November.
‘As well as working and studying, Lilie loved training and playing water polo. “She loved to dance,” he said.
‘Even with his busy schedule, he always found time to support his brother Max, his friends and his family.
‘We cannot thank the community enough for their thoughts, prayers, generosity and messages during this difficult time.
Lilie James is laid to rest after her father Jamie spoke of his immense pride in all she achieved before her short life was cruelly cut short.
The gym where Thijssen was seen on CCTV following Ms James to the bathroom before leaving alone before driving to Vaucluse and plummeting to his death.
‘From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for the fantastic memories we all shared of Lilie.
“Lilie James, we are so proud of you and thank you for sharing 21 wonderful and full years together.”
The school demolished the gymnasium bathroom where Ms James was killed following the horrific murder and installed a memorial to her young life.
Students at the school will mark the one-year anniversary of his death on Friday and will be given black armbands to wear in his memory at sporting events this weekend.
