Sunrise host Nat Barr has raised chilling questions in the wake of Lillie James’ tragic death.
Dutch-born Paul Thijssen, 24, is believed to have bashed Ms James, 21, to death with a hammer in the gym bathroom at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD last Wednesday after she recently called off their brief relationship.
After Thijssen killed his ex-girlfriend, it’s believed he then used Ms James’ phone and pretended to be her to text her dad, Jamie, telling him to come and pick her up from the school where she worked as a water polo coach, Seven News reported.
Thijssen later phoned police to confess before plunging to his death from the cliffs above Diamond Bay in Vaucluse in Sydney’s east.
After harrowing new details about the text emerged, Barr had a disturbing question for internationally renowned criminologist Xanthe Mallett on Tuesday’s program.
‘Why do you think Paul Thijssen sent a message to Lilie James’s dad after he allegedly killed her?’ she asked.
‘The only reason I can really think of that he would have sent that message was to get the father to attend the school,’ Dr Mallett said.
Jamie James (pictured with his family) received a text message from his daughter Lilie’s phone after she was killed by her ex-boyfriend
‘In essence, either he hoped the father would find Lily or be there when the police found Lilie because he called them.’
‘He showed signs that he wanted Lilie to be found. I’m not sure exactly what point Lily died.
‘That may indicate he was hoping someone would find her and call an ambulance for example.
‘Alternatively he may have been wanting to potentially change the time at which the police thought she had died by sending those proof of life messages to her father and then later calling the police.’
Barr also pondered whether Lilie’s father would have also been in any danger had he’d gone to the school after receiving the text message.
‘Potentially,’ Dr Mallett replied.
‘I’m not sure exactly when he (Thijssen) left the scene but he was there, he did have a weapon and obviously he did commit a very violent act, so anyone else attending that scene could have been in danger.’
Nat Barr (left) pondered whether Lillie James’s dad would have been in danger had he’d gone to the school after receiving a text message from his daughter’s phone
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Paul Thijssen (pictured) killed his ex-girlfriend Lilie James and then used her phone to text her dad Jamie, telling him to come and pick her up from the school
Barr commented that many unanswered questions remain at the end of the segment.
‘Just a horrific story all around,’ she said.
Police divers recovered Thijssen’s bloated and battered body from the rocks below after it was spotted by tradies working nearby on Friday morning.
His high-flying corporate parents, Esther and Stef Thijssen, now face an agonising decision over what to do about their only child’s funeral arrangements.
It’s not yet clear if they will fly to Australia to hold a service in Sydney or arrange for their son’s body to be airlifted back to his native Netherlands.
The family first arrived in Australia in 2015 when his father moved to Sydney for work, with Thijssen attending St Andrew’s for two years before graduating in 2017.
Many unanswered questions regarding the tragic death of Lilie James (pictured)
He reportedly stayed on to carry on a ‘Year 13’ paid-role at the school, helping out in the school’s sports department, before returning with his parents to the Netherlands.
However, he later returned to Australia to rejoin St Andrew’s sports department and moved in with a friend at a home in Kensington, in Sydney’s east.
He also joined the UNSW SL3 ‘Whalies’ men’s hockey team in 2020 where he was a regular first-team player, and was featured in promotions for the team’s games.
The whirlwind romance with Ms James is believed to have started five weeks ago, about the same time his side lost their Sydney league grand final on September 9.
But the relationship was short-lived and he is believed to have confronted her on Wednesday evening when she returned sports equipment to the school gym after calling things off.
Lilie James, 21, was a water polo coach at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD
Students and staff at St Andrew’s Cathedral School laid flowers and embraced each other on Monday after students returned to school for the first time
