“Body found on rocks near Sydney is that of Dutch murder suspect” | Abroad

The murder case revolves around 21-year-old Lilie James. She was found dead at Sydney’s prestigious St Andrew’s Cathedral private school on Wednesday. Like the 24-year-old Dutchman, she worked in the school’s sports department: he worked as a hockey coach and extracurricular coordinator, Lilie James was a water polo coach. Australian media reported that the two had a brief relationship and that the woman had recently ended it.

According to Australian media, Lilie James was found in the toilet area of ​​the gym after the Dutchman called the emergency number with information about the location. Loved ones had previously raised the alarm that she had not returned home. The young woman was said to have been killed “brutally”, Sky News Australia reported, citing police. She suffered serious head injuries, among other things. A hammer is said to have been used in the murder.

“This is a horrible, horrible crime. It’s one of the worst I’ve seen in my life,” said Chris Minns, political leader of the Australian Labor Party. “An incredibly horrific turn of events,” is how Education Minister Pru ​​Carr described the school tragedy.

After the discovery of James’ body, Australian police hunted 24-year-old hockey coach Paul Thijssen. At some point, police managed to track down the location of his call: the Diamond Bay Reserve in the Vaucluse was the suspect’s last known location.

There, somewhere near a cliff in a Sydney suburb, officers found the man’s belongings. His body was also found there on Friday, at the foot of the cliff. Traders working in the area alerted police early Friday morning after spotting the body on rocks in the Diamond Bay Reserve. An operation was then launched to recover the remains.

According to the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ newspaper, the police previously said they were taking into account the possibility that the young Dutchman had committed suicide.

The 24-year-old Dutchman Paul Thijssen quickly emerged as a suspect. According to ‘9News’, he and James were dating for a few weeks, but she recently broke off the relationship. The Dutchman came to Sydney alone at the age of 16 and finished high school at St. Andrews, a friend told the news channel. His family is said to have remained in the Netherlands. After his final exams, he temporarily returned to the Netherlands to study at the University of Utrecht, before returning to Sydney. He reportedly complained on Facebook that it was very difficult to get a visa on his own.

The young man recently started a new course in Sydney to gain more qualifications as a private school teacher. He was not known to the police and has no history of violence. “There was nothing at all to indicate these problems,” an acquaintance of his told The Sydney Morning Herald. “We are shocked and dismayed.”