A Memphis man is convicted of killing his bride during their honeymoon in Fiji in 2022

Wellington, New Zealand A judge in Fiji has convicted a man from Memphis, Tennessee He killed his wife during their honeymoon in 2022The Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday.

Bradley Robert Dawson, 40, killed his wife, Christy Chen, 36, at the exclusive Turtle Island resort in the Yasawa Archipelago, two days after the newlyweds arrived in Fiji, then fled by kayak to a nearby island. Chen was discovered in the couple’s room by resort staff with several severe wounds to her head after the couple were heard arguing and did not show up for breakfast or lunch the next day.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said Dawson was convicted by Judge Riyad Hamzah in the Lautoka High Court last Thursday after a week-long trial. Dawson denied the charge.

Hamza said, according to the Fiji Times, that the fact that Dawson had his passport and other possessions with him when he was arrested indicated that he intended to flee. The judge said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Dawson and no one else committed the crime.

The US citizen, who remains in custody in Fiji, faces a mandatory life sentence when he is sentenced in January. Fiji law allows the presiding judge to set a minimum period of time before considering a pardon.

Dawson’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2022, an attorney representing Christy Chen’s parents said their daughter’s body was so badly damaged that she could not be embalmed for return to the United States and her remains were cremated. Chen worked as a pastry chef before returning to school to become a pharmacist, working in that capacity at a Kroger supermarket in Memphis.

The family’s attorney, Ronald Gordon — who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday — said Chen and Dawson were heard arguing over dinner the night before the murder.

Dawson worked in the IT department at Youth Villages, a Memphis-based child care and support nonprofit, the organization confirmed when he was arrested. A search of 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 500-acre island that accommodates only 14 couples at a time. Yasawa is a group of about 20 volcanic islands in western Fiji, an idyllic island nation in the South Pacific with a population of 930,000.