Lilie James: How a street with some of the best views in Australia will forever be linked to her murder – and the reason her killer Paul Thijssen ‘came back’ there

EXCLUSIVE

When Lilie James showed up to visit her old high school friend Kristina at a clifftop house with her new boyfriend, Paul Thijssen, they seemed like any other young couple.

Just three weeks after the visit, Thijssen would kill the beautiful 23-year-old water polo instructor before taking his own life not far from Kristina’s home in Vaucluse, in Sydney’s east.

Ms James and Thijssen had met at St Andrew’s Cathedral School and had been dating for about five weeks.

Kristina’s father told Daily Mail Australia there were no signs of trouble when they stopped by to catch up with his daughter for what he described as a “10 minute chat.”

Their home is located on the street above Diamond Bay Reserve and has fantastic views of the Pacific Ocean.

View from the family home where Thijssen arrived with Lilie of the cliff with multi-million dollar homes and panoramic views of the ocean, which may have given Thijssen the idea to return there in his final hours

But in a chilling turn of events, CCTV cameras in the same house captured the Dutch-born hockey coach walking past the house three weeks after his first visit as he tried to throw away the gun. he had killed Mrs. James.

The footage shows him arriving on the street in a borrowed white Lexus at 8.47pm, an hour after Ms James was murdered and dumped in the indoor gym with serious head injuries. Thijssen drove to the end of the street and was seen walking back onto the street at 9:04 p.m. before dumping the hammer he used to kill her.

Thijssen then returned to his car and sat there for two hours, calling Triple-0 just before midnight to report his crime.

Kristina’s father said they never suspected the helicopters over their house or the sirens on the street at 5 a.m. on Oct. 25 were intended. Thijssen.

Thijssen walked past Kristina’s house the night he killed Lilie, dumped the gun and then fell to her death

But now, weeks later, Kristina’s family believes the brief visit to their home on the scenic and windswept cliff gave Thijssen the idea to return there after committing his heinous crime.

Emergency services arrived outside Kristina’s house, because Thijssen called triple-0 just before midnight to say that Lilie’s body was in the school gym.

After her body was discovered, the call was traced, but Thijssen had disappeared.

Police Air Wing returned at dawn to search the sea, Diamond Bay Reserve and the rocks below by helicopter.

Thijssen is caught on CCTV in the driveway of the parental home and drives past at 8:47 pm before dumping the murder weapon and ultimately committing suicide.

After Ms James was found with serious head wounds late on Wednesday evening, police looked at CCTV footage filmed from St Andrew’s School.

The footage showed Thijssen following Mrs James to a gymnasium at the school around 7pm on Wednesday.

The footage shows Thijssen leaving the area over an hour later, while Ms James never emerged from the bathroom.

Thijssen alerted the police about four hours later. When police got there, they found the Lexus, a backpack, some of his belongings and the alleged murder weapon.

A day-long search in the Vaucluse did not yield Thijssen. Then, early Friday morning, traders working on the boardwalk being built on the edge of the cliff above Diamond Bay spotted an object stuck in the rocks below and being pounded by waves.

It was Thijssen’s body. Police and rescue services attempted to retrieve the remains by jet ski and boat, eventually the body was recovered and carried down a path to road level.

Paul Thijssen, above with his father Stef, was cremated two weeks after killing Lilie and falling to his death from the Vaucluse clifftop

Lilie James (left, graduating from school) dropped by to see her friend Kristina (right) while in the company of Paul Thijssen, about three weeks before Thijssen killed her and was captured on CCTV from Kristina’s home

The remains were taken to a mortuary and later identified as belonging to Thijssen through medical records from the Netherlands, where he was born and lived before moving to Australia in 2015 and attending St Andrew’s school for years 10-12.

Thijssen’s parents, Esther and Stef, have reportedly made the decision not to repatriate their only son’s remains back to Europe and Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that he had been cremated on November 8.

It is unclear if anyone, including his parents, attended the service. Thijssen’s ashes remained uncollected this week at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Gardens.

Mrs. James will be farewelled at a special celebration of her life attended by family, friends and students to remember “our dear and dearly beloved Lilie James, whose joy was palpable, infectious smile and remarkable service to her community.”

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