St Andrew’s Cathedral School makes painful decision about the gym where 21-year-old Lilie James was murdered by Paul Thijssen – as her family make a touching gesture to all her classmates

EXCLUSIVE

The school where 21-year-old Lilie James was tragically murdered last week will demolish the gym where the young water polo coach was brutally beaten to death.

The gruesome crime scene left by 24-year-old killer Paul Thijssen will be razed in the aftermath of the murder, according to an email to parents of students at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

Thijssen is said to have lured Ms James to the gym on the pretext that she had returned sports equipment to him, and then attacked her with a hammer in the gym’s bathroom just after 7pm last Wednesday.

Police and school staff made the horrific discovery of her body after Thijssen confessed to his crime during a Triple-O call.

The gruesome crime scene left by killer Paul Thijssen in the bathroom of the school’s gymnasium will be razed to the ground in the aftermath of the murder, according to an email to school parents (photo: the gymnasium)

In the aftermath of the murder and the overwhelming response from teachers and students, a mountain of flowers, cards and gifts have been left at the school.

The tribute was attended this week by Lilie’s family – including parents Jamie and Peta and brother Max – who viewed the heartfelt messages written about their beloved daughter.

“As every time I spoke with them, they expressed deep concern and compassion for how our students are coping during this time,” Principal Dr. Julie McGonigle said in a message to parents on Friday.

“That in itself is a testament to the caliber of the family, please continue to keep them high in your prayers.”

Dr. McGonigle said the flower memorial will remain at the school for the rest of the week before being moved to the memorial gardens in Kirrikee, south of Sydney.

In the aftermath of the murder and the overwhelming response from teachers and students, a mountain of flowers, cards and gifts have been left at the school.

She also thanked teachers for getting students through their HSC exams ‘in unimaginable circumstances’.

Mrs James had broken off a fledgling five-week romance with Thijssen in the days before her death.

Investigators now believe the sickening crime was premeditated after it emerged the baby-faced killer had bought a hammer and borrowed a car before luring Ms James to her death.

It is understood that the hammer was not the one used to kill Mrs James. The police suspect that Thijssen had two hammers with him, the other of which may have come from a school storage room.

He drove a borrowed 2003 Lexus sedan to work the day Ms. James died. A source close to the investigation told the Daily Telegraph that the car would have allowed the sports coordinator to ‘get away quickly afterwards’.

Four hours after Ms James was killed in the gym bathroom, he also called the police to let them know she was there.

‘Informant says there’s a body in a bathroom to the right of the reception. Through the reception and to the left. The informant says he was there a few hours ago. Female body,” the counselor explained.

It comes as exclusive photos from Daily Mail Australia revealed the inside of Thijssen’s home just hours after he allegedly killed Ms James.

Pictures of his messy bedroom show a pile of pills, a broken cupboard, half-used toilet roll and clothes on the floor.

Thijssen, a former St Andrews graduate who grew up in the Netherlands, moved into the cramped semi-detached house in Kensington in Sydney’s south-east in August with a young female housemate and a fellow male hockey player.

Neighbors said the three roommates were courteous but “kept to themselves” and were not aware of Thijssen’s identity until after the horrific events of October 25.

Leading criminal psychologist Tim Watson Munro told Daily Mail Australia that Thijssen was a control freak who demonstrated ‘next level cruelty’.

In Paul Thijssen’s bedroom, hours after he murdered Lilie James, there was a hockey shirt from the Dutch brand ‘Stag’ on a rolled-up duvet, tablets with paracetamol and Nurofen and a men’s shaver on the bed. Thijssen moved into the house in August

Paul Thijssen’s body is wheeled to a mortuary van after being recovered from the rocks beneath the Diamond Bay Reserve on Friday afternoon

“He knew exactly what he was doing,” said the renowned crime expert.

‘These kind of guys are bad, they are not angry.

‘This does not appear to have been a spontaneous act of violence. There is a clear intention: if you bring a weapon to a meeting, you are allowed to use it.’

Last Friday morning, traders working on the coastal cliff face spotted a body stuck in the rocks below, where it was believed to have washed up after Thijssen jumped from the Diamond Bay reserve.

Thijssen’s parents made the grim decision on Wednesday not to return his remains to their native Netherlands, but will instead have him cremated before scattering his ashes in Sydney.

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