Jason Rigby’s family believe he died in suspicious circumstances – and they want the truth.
Aussie hotel manager Jason Rigby was a force of nature. He was outgoing, kind and the life and soul of family gatherings. A golf fanatic and surfer, Jason was also the fun uncle to his brother’s children.
“Jason was charismatic, charming and a free spirit. We were always fighting when we were growing up, as brothers do,” remembers Chris Rigby. “But Jason was a great brother. I looked up to him and he looked out for me and always had my best interests at heart.”
LOVING LIFE
Chris, 41, last saw Jason in August 2024 when he visited the Gold Coast from his adopted home of Fiji where he was working as executive assistant manager at a hotel in Nadi. Jason wanted to spend time with his newest nephew, Rocky, now two.
“I remember Jason being really proud of Chris,” says Chris’ wife, Jess, 37.
“Chris and I had both been married before and have children from those marriages and Jason was genuinely stoked that Chris had found happiness. I’m glad he got to see Chris in the life he’s living now.”
Jason, who was 40 when he died, had spent his life in the hotel industry and after years of hard work, his career was on the rise and he was loving life.
Which is why the family were distraught and confused when, on December 14, 2024, Surfers Paradise police left a note for Jason’s mum, Robyn, asking to see her in person.
Robyn immediately rang around the family to make sure everyone was OK – Chris and Jess first and then Chris tried to reach his brothers, Jason, and Ben who was in LA.
There was no reply from Jason. Robyn had Jason’s girlfriend’s phone number and rang her next. Shivani Siwan had been dating Jason for around six months and when she finally answered her phone, the news was devastating.
Shivani told Robyn that Jason had taken his own life. She explained that Jason had arrived home, gone to the bathroom and stabbed himself to death. Shivani had been present at Jason’s home in staff quarters when it happened.
The family was shattered. Chris and his 71-year-old father, Peter, flew to Fiji immediately. And very quickly, they grew suspicious about what may have unfolded in Jason’s apartment the morning he died.
“The way the hotel staff acted towards us, the lack of any incident report about what happened and Jason’s personal phone was – and still is – missing…Things just didn’t add up,” says Chris.
Furthermore, the family believe the knife that killed Jason didn’t belong in his apartment.
The family’s suspicions grew as Fiji police initially put Jason’s death down to suicide, then labelled it a suspicious death and then a suicide again.
Over the coming months and years, the Rigby family kept pushing for answers, certain that Jason would never have taken his own life. No suicide note was ever found and initial tests done in Fiji found no alcohol in his system.
Jason had made plans for future holidays, was planning on buying a property in Australia and had never experienced any mental health challenges. He was, the family insisted then and now, a very happy man who enjoyed life.
Then, earlier this month, Fiji Police Force Assistant Commissioner Loraini Seru confirmed authorities in Fiji are now treating Jason’s death as a murder investigation.
CLOSER TO THE TRUTH
In an interview with 60 Minutes, the assistant commissioner confirmed the Fijian police had spoken to Shivani.
“She is treated as a suspect… we have interviewed [her],” Ms Seru told the Nine program. “She is the only one that we’ve interviewed so far.”
Jason’s best mate, the hotel’s executive chef Ian Lovie, was in the same room as Jason while paramedics battled, and failed, to save his life.
Ian has given a statement to the Fijian police but he hasn’t talked to the Rigby family.
“Ian and Jason met when Jason moved to Fiji and they hung out socially. We’ve been told that the first person Shivani called when it happened was Ian,” says Jess.
It was previously reported that a third colleague, Arushi Arora, arrived after getting a call from Ian and later told how she’d found Jason in pain, with a large bloodied knife on a table nearby.
Ian and Arushi are not suspects, nor are they accused of any wrongdoing.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was recently handed the police brief of evidence so it is possible charges may be laid.
After almost two years of investigating and hiring a private investigator and lawyer, Jason’s family hope they’re edging closer to the truth.
The investigation continues with the family and Fijian police waiting on tech experts at the AFP to extract data from Jason’s work phone.
“We believe the data is crucial. It will show where Jason was and who he was speaking to. We hope it will give us answers,” says Jess, who’s written a book, While The Baby Slept, about the family’s fight to uncover the truth.
“Someone knows what happened to Jason,” says Jess. “I can’t remove Chris’ grief or love him harder to make any of this easier, but answers may make life more bearable. Jason could have done anything with his life. It’s sad that was taken away.”
Chris hopes to discover the truth so he can finally grieve.
“We want the truth for Jason’s legacy and to see everyone responsible, and everything that stood in the way of that truth, held to account,” he says.
“We went public so no other family has to fight this hard just to find out what happened to someone they love.”
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