Police investigating murder of woman at Sydney school
Police in Sydney are searching for a school sports assistant after the murder of a woman at a private school overnight. The body of Lilie James was found in a staff toilet at St Andrews cathedral school with severe head wounds. A second crime scene has been established at a park in the city's east where items relating to the woman's death have been found.
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00:00 Lily James was a gifted athlete and a former dancer.
00:06 At just 21 years old, she was working as a water polo coach at St Andrew's Cathedral
00:11 School in Sydney's CBD.
00:13 That is where her life was brutally taken.
00:16 The actual scene itself was quite confronting for the police who turned up.
00:21 They arrived around midnight after a housemaid reported that Ms James hadn't come home.
00:27 Police found her body inside a bathroom in the gym area.
00:30 She had suffered significant head injuries.
00:32 "A very sad time for everybody, not only the families, the students also who are turning
00:38 up today to be confronted by this."
00:40 Shortly after her body was discovered, police were called to a cliff top park in Vaucluse
00:45 in Sydney's east, where they found items connected to the attack.
00:49 They spent the day searching the area for 24-year-old hockey coach Paul Tayson, who
00:54 is still missing.
00:55 "We don't want to make any assumptions of the fact that that person may have taken his
01:00 own life, but that's just another long inquiry."
01:02 Paul Tayson was a former student at the school and had recently been working there in the
01:06 sports department.
01:08 It's understood the pair had just been in a brief relationship.
01:11 Police are now trying to work out what happened between them in the lead up to Lily James's
01:16 violent death.
01:17 Friends have posted tributes on social media, with one writing "Thank you for being so incredibly
01:23 kind and caring to everyone around you.
01:26 You'll be missed by everyone.
01:28 You've made such an impact on not only my life, but those around you."
01:32 Year 12 students had to sit their exams elsewhere as the school community learned of Ms James's
01:37 horrific death on their own campus.
01:40 It also left the premier shocked.
01:42 "One of the worst that I've seen in my public life and I can only imagine what the family
01:48 is going through."
01:49 As police continue searching for Paul Tayson, the school remains a crime scene and will
01:54 be closed for the rest of the week.
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