A Tennessee man has been found guilty of beating his wife to death while honeymooning at an exclusive resort in Fiji in July 2022.
Bradley Robert Dawson, 40, was found guilty of murdering Christen Chen 36, according to the Commercial Appeal. Chen died of multiple blows to the head.
"Having considered all the evidence in its totality, I am of the opinion that the prosecution has proved the charge of murder against the accused beyond reasonable doubt," The Fiji Times quoted Justice Riyaz Hamza in deciding the case.
The couple were honeymooning at Turtle Island Resort in Yasawa, a resort famous for having been the location of where the 1980 film 'The Blue Lagoon' was filmed, the Commercial Appeal noted. The Turtle Island resort is an exclusive and remote 500-acre island. It accommodates only 14 couples at a time.
Chen was found in one of the bungalows at the resort.
An attorney representing Chen's parents said that her body had been so badly damaged that she could not be embalmed and was instead cremated, CNN reported. The family's lawyer, Ronald Gordon preivously told CNN that Chen and Dawson were heard arguing over dinner the night before the murder.
Dawson married his first wife in 2019 and filed for divorce about two years later in September 2021. The divorce was finalized in January 2022 and he married Chen in February of that year. He worked for the Memphis non-profit Youth Villages in the information department. Chen was a pharmacist at Kroger's, the Commercial Appeal reported.
Dawson will receive his sentencing on Jan. 27, 2025.
