Bradley Robert Dawson, 40, has been found guilty of murdering his wife, Christe Chen, 36, during their honeymoon at the exclusive Turtle Island resort in Fiji in 2022. The verdict was delivered last Thursday by Justice Riyaz Hamza in the Lautoka High Court after a weeklong trial.
The murder occurred two days after the couple arrived at the resort in the Yasawa archipelago. Resort staff discovered Chen’s body in their room, bearing multiple blunt trauma wounds to her head. She had been missing from breakfast and lunch the following day, and an argument between the couple had been overheard.
Dawson fled the scene by kayak to a nearby island. He was arrested while carrying his passport and other belongings, which the judge noted indicated that he planned to escape.
Dawson, who worked in the IT department at Youth Villages in Memphis, faces a mandatory life sentence when sentenced in January 2025. Fiji law allows the judge to set a minimum term to be served before a pardon is considered.
Chen, a former pastry chef who was studying to become a pharmacist, had worked at a Kroger supermarket in Memphis. Her family has described the severity of the injuries to her body, which prevented embalming and led to her cremation.
The case has drawn attention to the isolated luxury of Turtle Island, where only 14 couples are accommodated at a time, and has left the family seeking justice for their daughter’s tragic death.