EXCLUSIVE
A terrifying photo from the inside of Paul Thijssen’s home, just hours after he murdered Lilie James reveals his chaotic bedroom containing a pile of pills, a broken cupboard, a half-used toilet roll and clothes strewn across the floor.
Thijssen, 24, 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 the horrific events of the evening of October 25.
Last week, Ms James, 21, was found murdered in the gym at St Andrews Cathedral School, where she worked as a water polo coach. It is believed that she met Thijssen, a hockey coach, and had a brief romance.
Thijssen, a former St Andrews graduate who grew up in the Netherlands, lived in nearby Zetland before moving to the Kensington house.
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
His last known address before he did the unthinkable looked hastily abandoned after the tragedy.
A rolled-up duvet, green and yellow shirt from the Dutch hockey label Stag, packs of Panadol, Nurofen and Strepsils, an electric shaver, personal items in storage bins including sunglasses, a sweatband the size of a wrist and a multi-task tool were dumped on the floor. the bed in the middle bedroom that was probably occupied by Thijssen.
A bottle of air freshener sat above his bed and clothes were scattered around the room, which also contained a flat-screen TV and a white wardrobe with a broken door.
A yellow Spirax notebook was wedged under another storage box, while the adjacent living room and kitchen seemed more organized.
There was toilet paper and tissues within reach, which, combined with the presence of over-the-counter medications, suggests he may have had a cold.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said Thijssen’s untidy room was not necessarily indicative of a “shambolic state of mind”, and that the killer had instead shown order in committing his heinous act.
“I don’t think his thinking was that shabby. He planned it. I suspect he went there with the gun to intimidate Lilie James or give her another chance,” Dr. Watson-Munro said.
“Which wouldn’t work. He had a murder on his mind. It’s a strange time to meet. It’s a strange place to meet. I’m sure she didn’t realize the danger of the situation.’
In the bedroom next to Thijssen’s, where his male roommate slept, the scene was much more orderly and tidy, with a work agenda full of tasks and items checked off.
There were no further messages after Wednesday, October 25, the day Mrs. James was murdered.
The 24-year-old lived at the address in Kensington where detectives arrived last Friday to search following the recovery of the (upper) body of Paul Thijssen from the rocks near the Vaucluse.
Lilie James was found brutally murdered in the gym at St Andrews Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD
Paul Thijssen moved into this Kensington share house a few months before the tragic romance began with Lilie James at St Andrews school and ended in her murder
Last Friday afternoon, the roommate let female detectives in when they showed up with brown evidence bags to search the property.
The sports physiology student has since left home and is on leave from work in the wake of Ms James’ murder and the death of his flatmate. There is no evidence that any of the housemates were in any way involved in Ms James’ death.
A search was underway on Thursday by land and sea for Thijssen, who is said to have alerted police to Ms James’ death from the clifftops of the Vaucluse around midnight.
On Friday morning, traders working the coastal strip of the Diamond Bay cliff spotted a body stuck in the rocks below, where it was believed to have washed up after Thijssen jumped from the Diamond Bay reserve.
Paul Thijssen’s body is wheeled to a mortuary van after being recovered from the rocks beneath the Diamond Bay Reserve on Friday afternoon
Detectives entered Paul Thijssen’s shared flat last Friday after his body was recovered from the rocks near the Vaucluse, about 36 hours after he was presumed dead
Police and rescue officers recovered the battered and bloated remains on Friday afternoon and brought them to the surface for removal by mortuary services.
The remains were later confirmed as those of Thijssen by matching fingerprints with data held at the Dutch embassy.
After police locked down St. Andrews Cathedral School late last week, principal Dr. Julie McGonigle welcomed back traumatized students on Monday and held a service at the cathedral.
Dr. McGonigle then provided counseling sessions for students coached by both Ms James and Thijssen.
Mrs James was described by St Andrews students as ‘nice and kind’ despite descriptions of Thijssen as ‘arrogant’ and ‘weird’ and a ‘control freak’. Two students who contacted Ny Breaking Australia defended him.
“What he did was disgusting and inexcusable,” one said, “and I’m in no way trying to validate his actions (but he) was a caring, enthusiastic coach.”
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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