Day two of coronial inquest into brutal school killing of Lilie James

The shocking extent of Lilie James’ injuries has been revealed, with a court hearing that she was not “immediately identifiable” when her bludgeoned body was discovered by police.

Shocking evidence detailing the extent of Lilie James’ injuries has been revealed, with a court hearing that she was not “immediately identifiable” when her bludgeoned body was discovered by police.

The court heard the distressing details of Ms James’ murder at the NSW Coroners Court on Wednesday morning as part of a three-day inquest.

The inquest was told that the 21-year-old vibrant water polo coach was bludgeoned by her killer Paul Thijssen, 24, with a hammer more than 25 times to the head and neck.

Ms James’ injuries were so extensive she was not immediately identifiable.

Her post mortem attributed her death to “multiple blunt force injuries on the head and neck”.

The disturbing evidence included Ms James having so much blood in her hair that she looked of “Asian appearance” and appeared “black”, when emergency services discovered her body in the bathroom at St Andrews Cathedral school on the evening of October 25, 2023.

Forensic medical experts are set to take the stand on Wednesday as part of the three-day inquest into Lilie James’ death.

A chilling triple-0 call was also played to the court revealing Thijssen told the operator there is a “body in the bathroom” at the school.

Emergency services, assisted by a security guard, found Ms James’ body inside a bathroom at 11.59pm.

Her father, Jamie, was waiting outside the school when police arrived.

A diagram illustrating the resting place of Ms James’ bloodied body upon police discovering it was shown to the court.

“The use of violence went far beyond what would be necessary to cause death,” Ms Single said.

The court was shown a photo of a text message, which was sent by Thijssen from Ms James’ phone to her father Jamie at 8.23pm.

“Don’t ask why or call, please come to the school now and pick me up,” the text message read.

Mr James replied: “Are you okay?”

Moments later, Thijssen then left the murder scene and picked up the cleaning sign he had placed outside another bathroom and put it outside the bathroom where Lilie’s body lay.

Mr James again tried calling his daughter and then received another message, sent to by Thijssen saying “All good just came trouble”.

He frantically texted, “can you call please?”

It’s understood the message was meant to say “just come” and “came” was a typo.

Moments later, Thijssen left the school.

He then walked to the car park and drove off at 8.33pm.

He drove to Diamond Bay Reserve at Vaucluse and then closer to the cliff edge.

Just after 9.50pm he made a bank transfer of $9100 to each of his housemates, with the description message “six months rent”.

Then at 11.15pm, Thijssen walked into Diamond Bay Reserve.

Thijssen body was found by police two days later.

Chilling CCTV footage shown to court

The horrific final moments of much-loved water polo coach Lilie James were captured on CCTV while her killer waited outside a bathroom to ambush her at a prestigious private school.

Chilling new footage was played at the NSW Coroners Court on Wednesday morning as part of a three-day inquest.

The video details the final moments of Ms James before she is brutally murdered to death with a hammer in the bathroom by her colleague Paul Thijssen at St Andrew’s Cathedral School just after 7pm on October 25, 2023.

The video shows the disturbing lengths Thijssen went to as he practised how he would ambush Ms James outside the gym’s bathroom just moments before she arrived back at the school after water polo training.

The court heard that before she was murdered by Thijssen, a vibrant Ms James was speaking to students on the bus about their favourite music.

Her final words to her students were: “I’ve got to go to a game”.

In the video, Thijssen locks the school sports centre sliding door with a swipe card, so he wouldn’t be disturbed while undertaking the brutal murder.

A female cleaner is seen being unable to enter through the locked doors at 7.50pm, leading her to call security for assistance.

In her final moments, Ms James is seen walking into the sports centre with Thijssen.

Counsel assisting the NSW Coroner, Jennifer Single SC told the inquest that Ms James was “smiling” and interacting with Thijssen.

“There was no indication of what he was going to do,” Ms Single said.

Ms James is seen entering the bathroom at 7.12pm.

With a right hammer in his hand, Thijssen pushes the door open to ambush Ms James at 7.14pm.

Ms Single said Thijssen attacked and killed Ms James.

He remained in the bathroom for more than an hour.

Ms Single, whose voice broke while addressing the court, said “no matter how many times you see that footage it is not easy to watch”.

The eSafety commissioner is among several expert witnesses set to give evidence as the coronial inquest into the brutal killing of “much-loved” water polo coach Lilie James continues.

Their evidence will follow an explosive first day on Tuesday, when coroner Teresa O’Sullivan was told Ms James’ killer rehearsed how he would ambush her at least three times before he beat her to death with a hammer in the bathroom of an elite Sydney private school.

The inquest is expected to delve into broader issues, such as coercive control and unacceptable behaviour in relationships, in an attempt to prevent similar deaths.

New details of Ms James’ appalling murder at the hands of her colleague and ex-boyfriend Thijssen, 24, were revealed for the first time in the NSW Coroners Court on Tuesday.

Paul Thijssen‘s body was recovered off water in Vaucluse.

The court heard how Thijssen, a Dutch citizen, had stalked a previous girlfriend, lied to friends about what he was doing in Australia and had forged documents in order to obtain a working visa to stay in the country.

Thijssen was “calculated” in his preparations before he set upon Ms James with the hammer inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in the CBD on October 25, 2023.

He died by suicide shortly after murdering Ms James, 21, in an act described to the court as “overkill”.

The inquest detailed Thijssen’s disturbing history of stalking Ms James on at least seven occasions in the week leading up to her murder, including taking photos of cars outside her home and tracking her on social media using the “Snap Map” feature on the Snapchat messaging platform.

CCTV footage shows Paul Thijssen at Vaucluse in the hours following the death of Lilie James.

Ms James had ended their two-month relationship just days before her murder.

She met him while working as a water polo coach at St Andrew’s, where he was employed as a sports coach.

“Paul stalked Lilie, Paul carefully planned his attack, and … in the hours before the attack, he rehearsed the attack, making a number of dry runs,” counsel assisting the coroner, Jennifer Single SC, told the inquest.

“The preparation was calculated, it was not a momentary loss of control, it was a premeditated killing.”

St Andrew's Cathedral School students lay flowers outside the school in memory of Lilie James after her death. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Chilling videos played to the court showed how Thijssen prepared how he would kill Ms James on at least three occasions prior to her murder.

In the footage, Thijssen was seen pushing doors of the bathrooms to test how he could quickly ambush her.

“After practising entering both bathrooms, Paul had at this stage decided to attack Lilie in bathroom one,” ­Ms Single said.

“Paul placed the ‘cleaning in progress’ sign outside of bathroom three to ensure Lilie did not use that bathroom and to force her into the larger disabled bathroom – where the attack in fact occurred.”

The inquest was told how Thijssen had also stalked another ex-girlfriend, only identified as “Freya”, in 2021.

Ms James had ended her two-month relationship with ex-boyfriend Paul Thijssen just days before her murder.

The relationship ended after Freya’s parents grew concerned about his habit of checking up on the 18-year-old.

The court heard he stalked Freya on Snapchat just as he did Ms James.

Thijssen also had a history of lying to family and friends about his reason for being in Australia, telling them he was there to study a master’s in teaching. However, Ms Single said he was never enrolled in a master’s course.

He also embellished his role at St Andrew’s on the school’s letterhead and sent forged pay slips to the Department of Home Affairs to fit the requirements for a working visa.

A dramatic video was shown to the court where Thijssen grabbed Ms James’ shoulders and pushed her into a wall on school grounds less than a week before her death.

It was also revealed Ms James told her ex-boyfriend, Lachlan, she “didn’t feel safe with (Thijssen)”.