The parents of the man suspected of killing Lilie James, a 21-year-old staff member at a prestigious Sydney school, have reportedly made a decision about whether their son’s remains will be repatriated to his native Holland.
Ms James, a water polo coach at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD, was found with “serious head injuries” in the gym bathroom by police just after midnight last Wednesday.
She was reportedly beaten to death with a hammer.
Police then tried to track down her colleague, 24-year-old sports coach Paul Thijssen, who she recently broke up with following a brief relationship, and who was seen on CCTV leaving the gym also on Wednesday.
A body was recovered on Friday afternoon from cliffs at Vaucluse in Sydney’s east. Here, they found an abandoned backpack with some of Mr Thijssen’s belongings. Police are investigating if the body is that of Mr Thijssen, who was born in the Netherlands.
It was an option that Thijssen’s parents, Esther and Stefan Thijssen, could take their son back to the Netherlands following the conclusion of the police investigation.
However, 7News has reported that Mr and Mrs Thijssen, have decided that the body of their only child will not return home.
Rather, they have decided to cremate their son and scatter his ashes in Sydney. They will then return to Europe.
On Monday, it was reported that Thijssen had sent a text to Ms James’ father from her phone after she had been killed.
It’s said that he used the victim’s phone to SMS her father asking for him to pick up his daughter.
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Ms James’ father, Jamie, said the family was “devastated and heartbroken by the loss of our beautiful Lilie James”, in a statement read out to NCA NewsWire.
“She was vibrant, outgoing and very much loved by her friends and family,” he said, stopping multiple times to gather himself.
“She was vibrant, outgoing and very much loved by her friends and family,” he said, stopping multiple times to gather himself.”
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