Lilie James death investigation: Warning signs before sports coach killed at school, CCTV footage released

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

The coroner has released surveillance footage of a killer looking at hammers in a hardware store then rehearsing his brutal act two days before he murdered his ex-girlfriend.

“As parents, if we’re not teaching our sons to believe in and respect a woman’s opinion and learn how to accept rejection, then we could be setting our daughters up for failure. In our case, a moment in time we will never recover from.

“Lilie sweetpea I am so sorry that we couldn’t protect you from what happened that night, the guilt will stay with us forever.”

“I’ve sat down to write this over the past week what feels like a hundred times

“I keep asking myself, how do you describe someone to people that have never had the chance to meet Lilie, our beautiful daughter, and won’t get to experience the joy that was Lilian James?

“Your presence in this courtroom this week has been so powerful,” NSW coroner Teresa O’Sullivan said. “Your participation in this inquest, I’m quite sure, will save lives. I just wish you never had to go through this.”

Hockey coach Paul Thijssen hit water polo coach Lilie James in the head with a hammer at least 25 times inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney on October 25, 2023.

The video, released on by the NSW Coroners Court on Thursday, shows Thijssen looking at hammers in a Mitre 10 store, then continues to show CCTV footage of Thijssen in a hallway outside a bathroom, rehearsing his movements two days before he killed Ms James.

The CCTV footage at a Mitre 10 store was recorded on October 10, 2023. The CCTV footage of Thijssen walking in a corridor and checking a bathroom, rehearsing his murder of Ms James was recorded on the day of her death.

Ms James had ended her casual two-month relationship with the 24-year-old five days before she was killed inside the gym bathroom.

The chilling footage comes as domestic violence expert Anna Butler told an inquest on Wednesday that patterns of coercive control were evident throughout their short relationship.

When Ms James had previously tried to break up with Thijssen, he used abusive, derogatory and gaslighting language to negate her autonomy.

He escalated his emotionally abusive behaviour when he shared an intimate image of the 21-year-old with friends and stalked her after she expressed doubts about their relationship.

Ms Butler said he felt growing anger and resentment that he no longer controlled their status so he used a cache of well-honed manipulative tactics to try to regain his control.

Noting that some of the behaviour around jealousy and location-sharing in relationships has been normalised, Ms Butler said it was an opportunity for his friends to call out his increasingly problematic behaviour.

Yet forensic psychologist Katie Seidler noted Thijssen had no history of aggression and there was probably nothing that could have been done to prevent the gender-based violence.

Although the 24-year-old wielded coercive control in his relationships, she found there were no obvious warning signs or indicators of violence to predict the tragic outcome.

Dr Seidler theorised Thijssen killed his 21-year-old ex-girlfriend because he was terrified the break-up would unravel his facade of perfection.

She opined he had a fragile sense of self and saw himself as inadequate and unworthy, which led him to lie to create a flawless public image.

Issues of coercive control and unacceptable behaviour in relationships are being examined by the inquest into the deaths of Ms James and Thijssen, who died hours after his ex-girlfriend.

Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan is assessing whether his death was self-inflicted.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is set to give evidence about the role of technology in relationships, particularly those involving young adults.

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- With AAP