Melbourne, Australia – A MEMPhis man, Tennessee, was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife during his honeymoon at Fiji in 2022, a court official said on Friday.
Bradley Robert Dawson, 40, will have to turn at least 18 years in prison before he can be considered for liberation, said a registration official of the Superior Court of Fiji in Lautoka.
Dawson was convicted in December for killing his wife, Christre Chen, who was 36 years old, in the exclusive Turtle Island complex in the Yasawa archipelago two days after the newly married arrived in the South Pacific Nation. Then he fled from kayak to a nearby island.
He was sentenced by Judge Riyaz Hamza on Wednesday.
Hamza told Dawson that he had demonstrated contempt for Chen’s right to life and his personal freedom.
“His behavior after the incident was terrible. After having inflicted serious and potentially mortal injuries to the deceased, he fled the crime scene, leaving the deceased only and helpless, ”said Hamza, according to the Fiji Times newspaper.
Cen’s body was discovered in the couple’s room by the complex staff with multiple wounds of blunt trauma in the head after the couple was heard arguing and did not appear at breakfast or lunch the next day.
Dawson declared himself innocent of the position and was tried for eight days.
His lawyer Anil Prasad told the court that prosecutors had not provided enough evidence to condemn Dawson, Fijian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Prasad said that while the Prosecutor’s Office claimed that Dawson planned to flee Fiji, the authorities did not recognize that many of the couple’s personal belongings remained in the complex.
Prasad also said that Dawson had no injuries to suggest that he had been involved in a physical altercation with his wife.
But the judge said he was satisfied beyond the reasonable doubt that Dawson and no one had committed the crime.
According to Fiji’s law, prisoners can request probation after complying with a minimum mandate established by a court, although the probation board currently does not have personnel. Critics argue that the lack of an effective probation option is the cause of prison overcrowding.
David Naylor, an expert in law and regulation of the National University of Australia who has conferences in Fiji, said that after completing 18 years in prison, Dawson could ask the National Misericordia Commission to be released with a forgiveness of the president of Fiji
You could also request your life imprisonment to reduce a fixed term, which would establish a release date, Naylor said.
Dawson worked in the Information Technology Department on Youth Villages, a non -profit organization of well -being and child support based in Memphis. A search for online records showed no criminal arrests for Dawson in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
Turtle Island Resort, where the couple stayed, is an exclusive and remote island that accommodates only 14 couples at the same time. Yasawa is a group of approximately 20 volcanic islands in western Fiji, a nation of 930,000 people.
