A man from Memphis in the US state of Tennessee was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife during their honeymoon in Fiji in 2022, a court official said on Friday.
Advertisement
Bradley Robert Dawson, 40, will have to serve at least 18 years in prison before he can be considered for release, a Fiji High Court registry official in Lautoka said.
Dawson was convicted in December of murdering his wife, Christe Chen, who was then 36, at the exclusive Turtle Island resort in the Yasawa archipelago two days after the newlyweds arrived in the South Pacific nation. He then fled by kayak to a nearby island.
He was sentenced by Justice Riyaz Hamza on Wednesday.
Hamza told Dawson he had shown disregard for Chen’s right to life and her personal liberty.
Advertisement
“Your conduct after the incident was appalling. Having inflicted serious and life-threatening injuries to the deceased you fled the scene of the crime, leaving the deceased alone and helpless,” Hamza said, according to The Fiji Times newspaper.
Chen’s body was discovered in the couple’s room by resort staff with multiple blunt trauma wounds to her head after the couple was heard arguing and did not appear at breakfast or lunch the next day.