Parents of Lilie James talk to 60 Minutes one year after horror murder

The parents of Lilie James have broken their silence one year after her heinous murder, revealing their anguish and a haunting text they received from the killer.

The parents of Lilie James have opened up about their anguish and anger one year after losing their daughter to a vicious killer.

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, before committing suicide at Vaucluse in eastern Sydney.

In an emotional segment on 60 Minutes, Lilie’s parents Peta and Jamie, and a group of Lilie’s close friends, open up about what the horror crime has done to them.

“We don’t have a lot of stuff where we hear her voice and sometimes I just like hearing her voice,” mum Peta said.

“That’s the stuff that I miss the most.”

Lilie's father Jamie James. Picture: 60 Minutes

Lilie's mother Peta James. Picture: 60 Minutes

Jamie spoke of the heartwrenching moment the police told him what had happened, and then relaying the horrific news to Peta.

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

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

“The realisation she will never walk thorough that door again. It will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

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 Parents of Lilie James talk to 60 Minutes one year after horror murder