When a Vengeful Killer Refused to be Caught...

there is no emotion more delicate than love opening your arms and exposing your heart to someone can quite bluntly be terrifying especially if you inadvertently give it to a reckless partner when Lily James crossed paths with Paul fan she likely hoped that the two would be a perfect match for each other sadly she soon learned that he was not the kind of man she was looking for the fragility that I spoke about works both ways it's a sad reality that while many doors to new relationship ships open most of them will eventually close and while many accept this cold and harsh fact the rare few never do Paving the way to stalking denial anger violence and even murder and sadly Paul Fan's actions in the following days would shock the city of Sydney beyond belief welcome or welcome back to Coffee House crime folks my name is Adrian and today we're in Sydney to look at a case that gripped the city for all of the wrong reasons Paul fian was a seemingly good person and Lily James she was extraordinary but following a chance encounter in the year 2023 their brief relationship would end in the most brutal of ways as you can tell this video is slightly different to the usual but Coffee House crime posts International True Crime cases here weekly so if that does sound like a kind of thing please consider subscribing and now with that said please grab yourself a coffee and come along with me for the Deep dive this is the case of Lily [Music] James good day folks and welcome to Sydney despite losing the title of Australia's most populated city to Melbourne in 2023 Sydney is likely still seen as Australia's most iconic and with the Opera House Sydney Harbor Bridge and darling Harbor it is easy to see why the city's never ending desire to build around the bay makes it extremely unique as a result Sydney is left with Incredible views from many angles and also has one of the busiest waterways on the planet with the Blue Mountains to the west and dozens of beaches on its eastern Coastline anyone with an affinity towards outdoor activities is spoiled for Choice here and although Sydney's coffee couldn't possibly live up to Melbourne's golden standards I do admit it's not bad at all Sydney's love of coffee stems from the 18th century when the First Fleet brought coffee beans to Australia's Shores and this coupled with the arrival of immigrants from Italy France turkey and Greece during the 19th century led to the first coffee houses in Australia opening in Sydney making way to give rise to the city's now Ardent Cafe culture coffee aside our story today begins in the suburb of sans suusi which can be found around 10 Mi south of Sydney's Central business district the rather odd name comes from a French term which can be translated to without care deliberately a perfect representation of Australia's chilled out way of life with just over 10,000 residents sansi is a primarily residential area with multiple beaches and a small shopping strep it's a great place to settle down and have a family and scaling back just a year this is where we could have found Lily James and the James family born on May the 21st 202 Lily James was the daughter of her beloved parents Jamie and Peter and alongside her brother Max the two were quite close to their grandmother Barbara growing up in such an Eclectic City Lily was exposed to a high quality of life she was known to be an independent and vibrant young woman who was always on the go and lived each day to the fullest loyal fun and bright these are three words commonly used to describe her and Friends relatives colleagues and acquaintances all agreed she was an absolute joy to be around after graduating from D Bank Anglican School for Girls in 2020 she went on to study Sports business at the University of Technology Sydney Lily was naturally ambitious and worked hard to achieve her goals and dreams she loved to dance and despite her busy schedule she still made time to support her brother Max her friends and family now outside of working and studying she also loved to play water polo so much so that she was even employed as a part-time water polo coach by St Andrew Cathedral School and this school was where she would meet someone extremely crucial to this case and his name was Paul fian born in 1999 Paul was the son of an affluent Dutch family in the Netherlands his mother Steph and father Esther were high-flying corporate parents and despite their ever demanding corpo lives they loved their only child his father was a consultant in marketing and Communications and following an opportunity to move from the NE lands to Australia the family relocated to Sydney in 2015 this paved the way for Paul to attend St Andrew's School in Sydney where soon enough he soon became a sports captain and part of the school leadership team and although he would return to the Netherlands with his parents in 2018 he soon returned after graduating from University by 2020 he once again found himself living in one of the world's most exciting albeit expensive cities Sydney's high price tag comes with the promise of son excellent Healthcare and sports and Stellar education which actually was perfect for Paul because he planned to become a sports teacher he continued to work at St Andrews Cathedral School as a cricket and hockey coach in addition to this he also became an after hours coordinator while studying for a masters of teaching living in a semi- detached house in Kensington he hardly knew his other three housemates they described him as polite and courteous yet sometimes messy not that it mattered too much as he was hardly ever [Music] in many adults saw Paul as a high achieving young man who was bound to become successful but sadly that is where the compliments end allegedly some of the students around Paul felt rather uncomfortable around him with some even reporting to their friends that he was behaving quite creepily apparently he was rather flutacious with the younger female students and had a wondering eye and this made many of them feel unsettled in their environment he was also described as arrogant by former peers objectified women and was not liked by many of the men around him unfortunately Paul bore all of the typical red flags most of which were seemingly well hidden he was quite narcissistic had a fragile ego and wanted to control all of his relationships again many of these red flags were not Apparent from the outset so Paul would have had plenty of opportunity to catch a woman's attention before they noticed is who he really was and tragically Lily was one of those people with Lily and Paul working at St Andrew's Cathedral School it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths and fast forward several months to September of 2023 and the two had began dating now it isn't precisely clear why but the two began their relationship secretly perhaps in an effort to prevent rumors spreading at school close friends and family knew that the two were dating but in General the relationship was kept Under Wraps despite their Newfound relationship Lily was quick to find both discomfort and concern where a new partner is usually filled with excitement and happiness she simply wasn't feeling it and so after 5 weeks of being together she decided to call a Tom this decision clearly was the best for her but that doesn't mean that Paul was ready to accept Lily's choice and the breakup was sure to leave him upset in fact he was Furious now the average person apparently goes through three to four major breakups in their lifetime but we can't even call this a significant one Paul and Lily were only seeing each other for around 5 weeks before breaking up and the way that Paul emotionally reacted was Far Beyond acceptable even for the most serious of relationships students and friends always assumed that Paul had a fragile ego sadly he was about to prove it and one of the most deplorable ways possible and tragically it would all come at the expense of Lily's life October 26th 2023 over the course of the evening concern grew in the James household Lily who usually made her way home on time was nowhere to be found furthermore she wasn't replying to her phone calls or messages with her unexpected absence both of of Lily's parents were becoming worried in fact her father had become so nervous that he called the police to report her missing and sadly their fears would only escalate from here Lily's disappearance would be shortlived as the news began to spread around family and close friends her father received a strange text message although this message came from Lily's phone it didn't sound like her she had asked him to pick her up from school which was unusual at this time of night by now her father had become desperate he wanted to make sure that his daughter was okay and so in a bid to find Comfort he headed out the front door to pick her up at St Andrew's Cathedral School tragically he would be met with devastation after arriving at the school jimie immediately sensed that something was wrong the school itself was surrounded by police cars with multiple areas cordoned off and no way to to get in something bad had happened here but the details were not yet clear that is when ja's world came crashing down the authorities had been tipped by an anonymous caller declaring that a body could be found on the school grounds and that it should be investigated officers soon arrived at the school shortly before Lily's father and they were met with a confronting scene the body of a young woman was found in the bathroom of the school's gymnasium upon entering they realized there were evident signs of a struggle the victim had been bludgeoned to death had tragically been hit many times with a hammer that victim was soon identified to be Lily James this news would be sure to rip a hole into the local community of Sydney Lily was a much-loved teacher now callously murdered on the very grounds she worked on and was supposed to feel safe as for her killer whoever they were they were nowhere to be [Music] found amid this unfolding tragedy parents and teachers found themselves deeply concerned about the well-being of their students murder in a downtown School in Sydney sent shock waves throughout the community this sort of tragedy was simply unheard of and many were wondering how such a thing could happen as the news circulated speculations and rumors spread like wildfire and many wondered who would Target such a g gent and compassionate young woman close friends and family found themselves contemplating her various connections and it didn't take long for them to think about Paul and his various motives but the authorities were already aware that he may have something to do with his now exgf friend's death and even more suspiciously he was nowhere to be found the authorities were able to establish Lily's murder to be between the time of 7 and 8:00 p.m. with the anonymous call coming into the authorities around 4 hours later at midnight with knowledge of her death it was likely that the caller was responsible or related to her murder with four to 5 hours to spare the caller could have long disappeared into the expansive Regional area of Australia however interestingly enough analysts were soon able to trace the call to v clu that being an Eastern suburb only 5 m away from the sko now vuse is a beautiful part of Sydney and of Al one of the most expensive suburbs to live in it overlooks the harbor to the west and more notably the expansive sea to the east the Anonymous phone call was traced to Diamond Bay Reserve located along the eastern coast of v cluse and with its steep Cliffs and Rocky drop this place is known to be particularly dangerous and as you will soon come to find out later in this video my personal experience determined that it's a gorgeous yet very dangerous place to be went off the beaten path more specifically the Gap is Infamous for being a place where many people take their own lives and while being here I could feel a lot of sadness found behind its beauty eventually police officers determined that the call originated from Paul's phone however by the time they arrived he was long gone after digging through surveillance footage which was recorded by a private home detectives were met with more concerning clothes as it turns out a security camera of one of the local houses picked up more than Paul had bargained for at 847 p.m. roughly 1 hour after Lily's murder a Lexus vehicle parked along the curb of Chris bank crants with the street being found right next to diamond Bay reserve and the Gap at 9:04 p.m. the driver emerged from the vehicle before walking Westward the man appeared to be holding a bag and was carrying a relatively calm posture after identification it is confirmed that this man was Paul thisan 8 minutes later at 9:12 p.m. he was once again spotted walking eastwards towards his car he remained there for 36 minutes before turning it on at 9:49 he then drove away into the nights it is noted that Paul only called the authorities 2 hours after being captured by the surveillance footage on this road he was then seen driving off in that direction never to be seen again before driving away he was spotted walking in that direction towards the Cliffside and a nearby bin by daylight his vehicle was found in a nearby car park but as for the man himself he was nowhere to be found for the next 24 hours police frantically searched for Paul by now he had been identified in the surveillance footage found at the skull indicating that he was likely involved with the Le's murder but sadly officers would never have the opportunity to interview him because the very next morning on Friday the 27th of October Tradesman found his body at the bottom of these Cliffs coincidentally the Gap had already been sectioned off for routine Renovations looking across the Gap they spotted what appeared to be a body amongst the rocks found at the bottom of the cliffs and sadly they were correct in their assumptions at 9:00 a.m. police helicopters and boats arrived to retrieve the unidentified body strong winds on the day made the operation extremely challenging the ocean was rough and as you can see large swells were at the base of the cliff after sectioning off the area the authorities found a bin that contained Paul's items and a hammer by noon the body had been retrieved and identified to belong to a white male identification would take a while though the body was bloated and shattered from The Cliffs and harsh Waters soon enough though through fingerprint technology and Records held at the Dutch Embassy see the body was identified to belong to Paul fion it appeared that the cowards had decided to take the easy way out instead of face the consequences to add to the already incomprehensible feelings of pain and frustration Lily's family and friends were now faced with the prospect of never finding closure and instead of finding the closure they so desperately needed from Paul they were left with more questions than before with no way of answering them Paul's death almost certainly confirmed that he was the one to blame he seemingly had a deep issue with control and wanted to maintain it right until his final breath in a world where he survived Paul would have likely faced his trial here at the Supreme Court of New South Wales where he could have faced Life Behind Bars over the following days officers constructed a timeline of what precisely happened on that fateful night of October the 25th let's begin in mid-september after crossing paths Paul and L Lee started to secretly date in the middle of this month 3 weeks later Paul thisen and Lily James visited a friend and wore clothes not only did this location hold some sort of sentimental significance to the relationship but this is also likely how he knew of the Gap sadly though the relationship would not last very long it is reported that Paul was controlling and aggressive towards Lily and knowing that he was no longer someone that she wanted in her life she called the relationship off roughly 2 weeks after visiting for Clos Paul's anger and frustration simmered for multiple days after the breakup he was devastated but instead of focusing on how he could become a better partner in the future he refused to allow Lily control over her own life on the day of Lily's murder Paul traveled to local hardware store and purchased a hammer clearly displaying premeditation and killing or at least harming his former girlfriend he then rented out a silver 2003 Lexus sedan and drove it towards St Andrew's Cathedral School at around 700 p.m. that night and following her shift at school Lily James was spotted by a surveillance camera entering the gymnasium toilets although this surveillance footage is not currently available to the public Paul was spotted following her with multiple Witnesses reviewing this surveillance footage and confirming his identity an altercation followed sadly ending in Lily's death she was beaten and bludgeoned to death with a hammer and tragically had been assaulted so badly that her face was no longer recognizable all spent over an hour in the bathroom before leaving shortly after 8:00 p.m. he then jumped in his car and drove to Diamond Bay Reserve known as The Gap that is when a surveillance camera captured him at 8:47 p.m. as we know he made a short trip away from the car before returning it is believed that he dumped the hammer and his belongings in this bin in that time frame Paul then drove away and parked his car in a nearby car car park he then phoned the authorities to inform them of her body anonymously confessing that she had been murdered and her body was in one of the school's bathrooms after that Paul callously messaged Lily's father pretending to be her as he asked him to pick her up from the sko criminologists speculate that Paul's motive for sending those text messages was either to ensure that Lily's body would be found or to potentially alter the time at which the police believed she had died it isn't known what Paul was up to in the two hours between the surveillance votage and calling the authorities but we do know that in the hours after his phone call he made his way to the Gap walked to the Cliff's Edge and then jumped the authorities found his airpods on this rock nearby by 4:30 a.m. St Andrew school emailed all students parents to inform them that the school would be closed for the rest of the week due to a critical incident the school also brought in professional therapist ists to provide support to students teachers and parents and all exams happening at the time were moved to separate buildings by 11:00 a.m. Lil's death had been confirmed by the authorities and what also became glaringly apparent was that Paul was nowhere to be found however what they didn't know at the time is that he too was dead meanwhile Paul's body remained undetected for just over 24 hours before being discovered by Tradesmen working on the past Renovations behind me follow her death the former Headmaster of St Andrew's Cathedral School received heavy criticism after describing Paul of all people as an absolute delight and not a monster but context is important here in full Dr Kia said what is chilling about the tragedy which unfolded at St Andrews the shock and grief of which will Cascade for a long time is that the young man concerned was in everybody's estimation an absolute Delight he appeared to be just like the best of us the important detail to take away here is that Paul seemed to be like everybody else people capable of monstrous actions are all around us and nobody would have ever suspected this from Paul I think it's important here to note that do Kia was not justifying Paul in any way but rather highlighting that he had masked his actual self around the public to this day nobody understands why Paul reacted in such an aggressive and permanent way to the breakup he was young successful and had a very prosperous future ahead of him and sure he may have been a douchebag but he had plenty of time to mature into a thoughtful and kind man some do speculate that the 18 months of isolation he had during covid-19 may have affected him badly but personal opinion that doesn't change anything most of us had to go through that it has left many students confused because although some of them do refer to him as a creep others say he he was a good friend who cared about his students quite honestly his behavior is simply incomprehensible it also appears that her murder was premeditated in the hours prior to her death he rented out a car and purchased a hammer before finding her in fact the car even suggests that he may have planned to dispose of a body in hopes that she would never be found for all we know he may have continued with his life afterwards as if nothing had happened following Paul's death his parents decided decided that they would not repatriate their only child's body to the Netherlands and would instead have him cremated before scattering his ashes in Sydney enough about Paul though who really matters here is Lily Lily's family who understandably still don't understand how Paul murdered their daughter in such a public place are considering suing the school for compensation over her death with this happening in a public bathroom they are currently trying to understand how he was able to conduct such violent assaults without anyone hearing or seeing the attack the James family will also question why the elite in a city scho where Annual fees exceed $40,000 Australian dollars still does not employ security guards overnight understandably there is a lot of frustration and anger Behind These extremely valid questions and I sincerely hope that they find the answers they so desperately deserve sadly like many other countries across the globe the number of intimate partner homicides has been increasing over the years however saying that the Australian Institute of criminology does come with some rather positive news the intimate partner homicide rate per 100,000 population in Australia is decreasing it's just that with an increase in population the overall number of intimate homicides is climbing yet of course we can always strive to push this figure to zero refocusing here from a broad to a personal lend it is easy to see that Lily's death was entirely avoidable and should never have happened sadly Paul's Behavior was not predictable but one could argue that the school should have had a security guard or system in place to protect Lily from Paul after all he was alone with her in that bathroom for more than 1 hour before fleeing it's terrible to realize that questions over security require a tragedy like this to happen first Lily's close friends remember her with fondness they continue to describe her as the nicest and kindest person they have ever met she is remembered as full of Vitality energy enthusiasm and a natural fit for the community she served Lily's bright bubbly personality will be dearly missed by those who knew her she was a vibrant smart compassionate young lady who impacted the lives of many at her school and hundreds including myself are utterly heartbroken by her death following her death Lily's friends left heartfelt messages both online and offline one friend said there was nothing that you couldn't do beautiful girl fly high liil we will miss you forever another wrote Lily was the most kind caring funny and supportive friend there is I could never think that we would lose our friend in these circumstances her funeral was Private to those who knew her with some sections being live streamed to the school where she worked I hope that those close to her will find peace in the coming years and I also hope that eventually her story will help protect others in the future with beautiful weather an Eclectic and vibrant culture and many things to do Sydney truly is a magnificent place to be in fact it is often ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world but just like everywhere that doesn't mean that it's exempt from danger Sydney will never forget Lily's name and while walking around this city it has become evid ENT to me that she has touched the hearts of many behind every tragedy there is a lesson to be learned and whether that be in the form of heightening security or improving mental health facilities we should never stop in our desire to make our cities a safer place for everyone to this day it isn't precisely clear what Paul plans to do with himself and with Lily was this his plan all along if it was then why did he rent out the vehicle did he plan to perhaps dump her body elsewhere and carry on with his life as if nothing had happened unfortunately Paul is the only one to know the answers to these questions questions which will never be fully understood and also as you likely notice this is a slight change to our usual format so with that in mind while you're in the comments section let me know what you think if you'd like to follow me in my Adventures then please check out my social media here most notably my Instagram and I think that's pretty much going to end this video today folks thank you again so much for watching and as always I'll see you again very soon for another one until that moment arrives though remember to look after yourself look after to each other and of course stay safe thank you and [Music] goodbye

Channel: Coffeehouse Crime

Views: 593,933

Keywords: coffeehouse crime, true crime, coffee house crime, crime

Id: xHDs0mrBcdY

Length: 27min 20sec (1640 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 15 2024