‘Trouble’: Chilling texts killer sent on day Lilie James was murdered

Lilie James’ killer sent chilling text messages to her family from her phone the night she died in a high school bathroom.

The family of Lilie James have revealed the chilling texts sent from her killer on the night she died.

Lilie James, a beloved 21-year-old water polo coach at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, was murdered by her ex boyfriend Paul Thijssen just days after the pair broke up.

Thijssen, 24, brutally beat her to death in the school’s gym bathroom on October 25 last year, before committing suicide at Vaucluse in eastern Sydney.

Moments earlier he had text Lilie’s dad Jamie from her phone, luring him to the school to find her.

Her parents, Peta and Jamie, have revealed the chilling text messages sent from Lilie’s phone the night she was killed.

Her father received a text saying “Don’t ask why or call please come to the school now and pick me up”.

Lilie James was killed by her ex-boyfriend days after they broke up. Picture: 60 Minutes

Texts sent from Lilie’s phone to her father the night she was killed.

When he replied “Are you OK?”, he received the reply “come to school trouble”.

When he asked again, the reply was “yes, yes”.

The pair believe the alarming text were from Thijssen, not their daughter.

The messages were sent at about 8.30pm, police believe she was killed shortly after 7pm.

Unware of what had happened, Jamie went to the school following the text, with Peta attempting to call Thijssen at the same time.

She sent two frantic text messages – one at 10.31pm, the other at 12.35am – asking if he might know where she was.

“Hi Paul it’s Peta James here Lilie’s mum. You wouldn’t know where she is or able to get in contact with her,” the first message read.

“Hi Paul any chance you’ve seen Lilie tonight,” the second message read.

She never got a response from Thijssen.

Peta James sent a text message to Paul Thissjen on the night her daughter was found dead in a Sydney private school. (Nine)

Hours after she sent the text messages, Jamie returned home with the heartbreaking news.

“I’ll never forget it,” Peta told 60 Minutes.

“I’ll never forget that one moment in time, [that] realisation that she’ll never walk through that door again, will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Jamie spoke of the heart wrenching moment the police told him what had happened.

Lilie's father Jamie James. Picture: 60 Minutes

Lilie's mother Peta James. Picture: 60 Minutes

“I feel like we let her (Lilie) down,” Jamie said.

“I’ll never forget that one moment in time,” Peta added.

Lilie’s friends told 60 Minutes there was no indication of Thijssen’s innate viciousness.

“He was well mannered, composed. Just a normal guy,” one friend said.

The friends said Lilie had told them the decision to break-up was a “mutual” one.

But a forensic psychologist, speaking with 60 Minutes, warned Thijssen likely possessed a narcissistic personality disorder, and could not cope with the rejection the break-up entailed.

Lilie James was murdered on October 25, 2023. Picture: 60 Minutes

“He felt degraded, humiliated and with that, came a flood of intense angry, and heated emotion, which boiled into his rage,” he said.

“It smacks of psychopathy to a degree.”

A former girlfriend of Thijssen also spoke to 60 Minutes, revealing the fear she felt from her relationship with the Dutch national.

She said when they broke up, Thijssen was “very upset” and “punched a tree”.

When she asked him why he had punched a tree, she said he replied to her: “Because I cant punch the one thing I want to.”

In a haunting reflection, Jamie says he received a text at about 8.30pm from Thijssen pretending to be Lilie, asking the father to come and pick her up from school.

Lilie’s friends talk to 60 Minutes about the shock and impact of the horror crime. Picture: 60 Minutes

“It was from the monster,” he said.

“We know that Lilie passed shortly after 7pm.”

“Shows the character the person is … just an evil, evil monster.”

Thijssen made an anonymous phone call to the police that night, telling them where to find Lilie’s body.

Towards the end of the segment, Lilie’s parents and friend called for change in Australia’s domestic violence scourge.

“We need to do more,” Jamie said.

“To me it just needs to stop.”

One of Lilie’s friend said: “if we want to leave (a relationship), we should be able to leave.”

Originally published as ‘Trouble’: Chilling texts killer sent on day Lilie James was murdered