E57 | Jason Rigby (Aus/Fiji)

On the morning of 14 December 2024, Jason Rigby put on a suit, went to a meeting, and told colleagues in the lobby of the Fijian resort he had helped build that he would see them in half an hour. He was forty, the resort's executive assistant manager, living in staff quarters a hundred metres away. Within that half hour he was stabbed in the chest. His scene was cleared by four o'clock that afternoon — before his family in Australia had been told he was dead. Twenty months later they have obtained exactly one document about how he died, and somebody had already crossed a word out of it.

IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING

Jason's family want to hear from anyone who worked at, or stayed at, the Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa on 14 December 2024. There were hundreds of guests and hundreds of staff on the property that day, and almost none has ever been asked what they saw. No detail is too small.

LINKS

Justice for Jason Rigby — on Instagram and Facebook

Or message anonymously via theguiltpodcast.com and it will be passed to the family.

Jessica Rigby's account of the case, WHILE THE BABY SLEPT: A Family's Fight for Justice in Fiji Over the Unsolved Death of Jason Rigby (Hembury Books), publishes 24 November 2026. Ebook pre-orders are open now: amazon.com/dp/B0HGL7VG7P

A NOTE ON SOURCING

Nobody has been charged with any offence in relation to Jason Rigby's death, and no court or coroner has made any finding about how he died. The Fiji Police Force's public position, stated by Assistant Commissioner Mesake Waqa in June 2025, is that they could not establish foul play and that there was no cover-up. Everyone who was near Jason that morning is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and nothing in this episode should be taken as suggesting otherwise. None of them is named in this episode.

Almost nothing about this death has been released. There were two post-mortem examinations — one in Fiji, one by the Queensland Coroner after Jason was repatriated — and his family has been permitted to read neither. The reason given for withholding the Queensland report is that the matter forms part of an open investigation in Fiji. No wound count, no toxicology beyond a single alcohol screen, no scene examination and no witness statement has been made public.

Accounts of what happened inside the flat come from Jason's family, and are their understanding of what they have been told rather than established fact. The published record on this case amounts to three things: the Fijian reporting of December 2024, the 60 Minutes broadcast of June 2025 and the police response to it, and Mamamia's interview with Jess Rigby in June 2026. The rest comes from the family.

Fiji Police referred the file to a Resident Magistrate in March 2025 recommending a full inquest. As at the end of August 2026, no inquest finding is on the public record.

SOURCES

The Fiji Times, 16 Dec 2024 — the resort's statement that there was no criminal investigation

FBC News, 17 Dec 2024 — ACP Mesake Waqa's first statement

fijivillage / FBC News, 22–23 Jun 2025 — "We could not establish any foul play... there is no cover up"

60 Minutes Australia, "Murder in Paradise", 22 Jun 2025

Mamamia, Gemma Bath, 30 Jun 2026

True Crime Conversations (Mamamia) — "A Families' Fight For Answers After A Death In Paradise"

Interview with Jess Rigby, 26 Aug 2026

SUPPORT

This episode concerns a death officially recorded as suicide. If it raises anything difficult for you:

New Zealand — 1737, call or text any time. Safe to Talk 0800 044 334.

Australia — Lifeline 13 11 14. Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636.

While some dramatic license is taken during the retelling of these stories, but you can be sure that these true crime stories are all based 100% on real events and facts.

If you would like to suggest a case, you can message us via our website at www.brevityplus.com

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This podcast is researched, and written by the Brevity Studios team using AI tools, and is narrated in its entirety by - Ryan Wolf.

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