‘He stole her from us, he took everything, ripped us to pieces’
Family and friends of Lilie James have broken their silence after the body of alleged murderer Paul Thijssen was found.
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“Everyone who has been graced with the presence of Lilie will be broken forever,” close family friend Daniel Makovec wrote on a GoFundMe page raising money for the grieving family of Lilie James.
Ms James, a water polo coach at St Andrews Cathedral School in Sydney, was allegedly murdered in the school on Wednesday night by an ex-boyfriend just days after their break-up.
Paul Thijssen, 24, who also worked at the school with the 21-year-old coach was named as the alleged killer.
Makovec told The Daily Telegraph the family was “numbed by the non-understanding of why”, adding that Thijssen had “stolen everything from us.
“She broke it off by the sounds of things, so he stole her from us, he took away everything, ripped us to pieces.”
Following two days of searching the Vaucluse area, police found a body at the base of cliffs at Diamond Bay on Friday and on Saturday confirmed it was Thijssen.
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Lilie James found murdered at St Andrews Cathedral School
Lilie James’ body was found just after midnight on Wednesday in a bathroom at the school’s Sydney CBD campus.
Police described a "confronting" scene as they discovered the allegedly murdered young woman with “serious head injuries”.
According to The Daily Telegraph, it’s believed that Ms James met Thijssen in a school building when a fight broke out.
Police secured CCTV footage showing Thijssen following James into the gym bathroom and then leaving alone one hour later.
After another four hours had passed, Thijssen reportedly called police and told them there was a body on the school grounds.
Police traced the call to Vaucluse where a second crime scene was established. Property associated with the homicide including a pair of Apple AirPod earbuds and a hammer were found at the second crime scene.
Thijssen moved to Australia from the Netherlands in 2015 and studied at St Andrews until he graduated in 2017. He went on to work as a cricket and hockey coach at the school where he worked with Ms James.
Who was Lilie James?
Lilie James grew up in south Sydney and was the eldest daughter of Peta and Jamie, and older sister to Max.
Before working as a water polo coach at St Andrews Cathedral School, Ms James attended University Technology Sydney after graduating from Danebank Anglican School for Girls in 2020.
The 21-year-old was an avid sportswoman and thespian. Peta proudly shared Facebook posts and photos celebrating her eldest child's achievements in the pool and on the stage.
Prestigious Sydney school scene of horrific murder
St Andrew’s Cathedral is a private day school for children from Kindergarten to Year 12.
The Anglican school charges tuition fees up to $36,770 a year.
More than 1400 students attend the school, which was founded in 1885 as a choir school for nearby St Andrew’s Cathedral.
It is ranked 157th in NSW in the 2022 HSC, with 660 exams sat by year 12 students and 72 distinguished achievements awarded.
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Originally published as ‘He stole her from us, he took everything, ripped us to pieces’
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