An investigation into the death of murdered water polo coach Lilie James and her ex-boyfriend start on Tuesday, almost 18 months after their bodies have been found.
The three -day hearing in Lidcombe in western Sydney is expected to investigate the circumstances that lead to both deaths and is chaired by state coroner Teresa O'Sullivan.
Mrs. James was found dead in a gymnasium bathroom at St Andrew's Cathedral School in the Sydney CBD on October 25, 2023.
The body of the 21-year-old was discovered after her father James received an SMS from her phone and asked to be picked up late from the school in the evening.
The police were warned and a school employee left officers to the building on Stadhuisplein, where Lilie's 'unrecognizable' body was with serious head injury.
Murder detectives launched an immediate search for 24-year-old hockey coach Paul Thijssen, who had had in a short, failed relationship with Mrs. James.
The couple had agreed to meet a final exchange of possessions on the night that Mrs James died.
While the identity of Mrs. James was confirmed, the police searched the coastline in Diamond Bay, Vaucluse for Thijssen and carried out searches on the cliff above.
An investigation into the death of murdered water polo coach Lilie James and her ex-boyfriend start Tuesday, almost 18 months after their bodies have been found
Mrs. James was found dead in a gymnasium bathroom on the St. Andrews Cathedral school in the Sydney CBD on October 25, 2023. Students are depicted outside the school
Around 5 pm that afternoon they found Thijssen's backpack with a hammer in a waste bin on Kliffenstraat above the bay.
On the morning of Friday, October 27, trader who worked on a Clifftop walk saw a body in rocks and battered by the surf below.
Police divers managed to restore the bloated body, and after a difficult operation was impeded by rough weather conditions, it was picked up and later identified as Thijssen around noon and later.
Later it turned out that Thijssen and Mrs. James had been dating for five weeks when she broke things off.
The investigation is expected to investigate whether Thijssen's death was deliberately inflicted and whether it could have been stopped.
It will probably also study the role of technology in modern relationships, and also compulsive control and the perception of the public about what that means and what it looks like.
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed that the cathedral school of St. Andrew would not play an official role as a 'interested party' at the Coronial Inquiry.
Director Dr. Julie McGonigle referred to the upcoming study in one Head of the school newsletter at the end of last year.
Two days after Mrs. James was murdered, the body of 24-year-old hockey coach Paul Thijssen, with whom she had had a short relationship, was found in Vaucluse
Dr. McGonigle wrote that 'at this stage the state coroner does not consider as St. Andrew's Cathedral School as a sufficient interest in this case to be considered an interested party, in accordance with the Coroners Act'.
The school confirmed at the time of the death of Mrs. James, it knew about the relationship after both employees of her sports department had made them aware of this.
Relations were allowed between employees, on condition that they followed the protocol and informed the school.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the school made plans to create a permanent memory of Mrs. James' short life in the form of a memorial or prize that celebrated her memory.
The James family said in a statement: 'We were destroyed and deeply saddened by the loss of our beautiful Lilie James.
“She was lively, extroverted and very loved by her friends and family.”
The school broke down the Gymnasium bathroom where Mrs. James's body was found.
Since then it has made a memorial made of a framed wreath made of the ribbons attached to the mountains of flowers that have been left outside the school.
The wreath is permanently displayed at the sixth level of the school and 'quietly displayed sometimes important for Lilie' from time to time in the foyer.
On the first birthday of Mrs. James' death, students were given black bracelets to wear in her memory at sporting events.
