It is arguably one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in Fiji. The case dates back to December 10, 1970 when the body of Phyllis Ada Furnivall was found in a pool of blood inside her quarters at Lelean Memorial School in Davuilevu, Nausori.
Who killed this middle-aged principal of Lelean Memorial School in Davuilevu, Nausori remains a mystery. Her killer or killers may have either died by now or are living the last days of their life/lives.
Ms Furnivall was an Australian missionary teacher and one of the youngest principals of schools run by the Methodist Church in Fiji. She was born in Australia on July 23, 1929. Prior to being appointed as the principal of Lelean Memorial School, she was the principal of Dudley High School in Toorak, Suva.
The 41-year-old school principal could have been murdered on the day her body was discovered or the previous night. It was a gruesome murder – there were several stab wounds on her chest and there was blood everywhere.
There were no fingerprints or footprints at or near the crime scene and the murder weapon was also not found, according to earlier media reports. Whoever killed the missionary teacher did not leave any evidence behind, thus making police run around looking for clues.
During investigations, police heard that a school teacher who had left for his island home had suddenly become mentally ill and he became a suspect in the case. But police could not interview him because of the state of his mind.
Later on, police heard that a teacher at the school where Ms Furnivall was the principal had left for Australia soon after the murder. One of the top detectives in Fiji at that time, Govind Raju (now deceased) went to Australia to interview the teacher.
But he couldn’t get anything out of that teacher and returned to Fiji empty handed. Police had also interviewed all students and staff members of the school then to try and find some leads into the murder.
As days turned into weeks, months and years, police remained clueless and baffled on the murder of Ms Furnivall. Hundreds of people attended her funeral in Suva, where her grave remains. Furnivall Park in Suva is named in memory of the murdered Australian missionary teacher who had come to Fiji with the good intention of educating the locals.
In the book, “Tales From The Blackboard” which is about the experiences of missionary teachers in Fiji, a chapter is dedicated to the life of Ms Furnivall. While her murder may be the oldest known ‘cold case’, there have been other murders in Fiji that remain unsolved to this day.
To my knowledge, this is a list of unsolved murder cases in Fiji in the past 20 years:-
• The shooting deaths of four people at Wailada, Lami in August 2003, which included a young man from Wailevu in Cakaudrove. The rest were Asians.
• In 2009, Prabha Wati was found dead some distance away from her home in Toorak, Suva. Her death was classified by police as murder and remains unsolved.
• Eliki Suka Kolinisau is wanted by the police for questioning in connection with his wife’s death at Coral Coast in December 2013. Police dogs had tracked his scent on the hills behind the restaurant but at one spot they couldn’t go any further. Only God knows how he disappeared from there as the dogs could no longer follow his scent.
• Sometimes in 2014, a 12-yearold Asian girl was found dead inside her home at Samabula in Suva. Her parents had gone out and when her father returned home after a short while, he claimed that he found her stabbed to death.
• Then in January 2015, prominent businessman Holland Seeto was stabbed to death inside his office at Laucala Beach Estate in Suva early in the morning.
• In June 2016, Salesh Chand’s charred body was found inside his burnt company vehicle in Lautoka. His wife is still knocking on doors seeking justice but to no avail so far.
• A month later in 2016, body parts of a Russian couple were found at Natadola Beach in Sigatoka. Who killed them is yet to be known.
• On Christmas Eve in 2018, a young university student who had gone missing from her home a few days earlier was found dead at Muanikau in Suva. Her face and legs, below the knees, were burnt.
• Jiya Janvi, a high school student, was stabbed to death in the flat she lived in with her mother at Namara in Labasa on July 22, 2020.
• Edward Anil Raj, a taxidriver of Suva was brutally killed on November 22, 2020. His taxi was found abandoned at Jittu Estate in Suva the same night and his body was found at Toga in Nausori the next morning.
• SITERI SAUVAKACOLO is a senior reporter and is based in Lautoka.
