Posted: Monday, October 20, 2025. 11:02 pm CST.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Christopher Bradley, 28, who is serving a life sentence for the brutal 2018 murder of beloved tamales vendor Martha Gonzales, appeared before the Court of Appeal today seeking to overturn both his conviction and sentence.
Gonzales, 68, a hardworking businesswoman from Orange Walk, traveled daily to the Pomona Valley area in the Stann Creek District to sell tamales, cheese, and clothes. But her usual route turned deadly when she was reported missing in late November 2018. Days later, her decomposing body was discovered stuffed inside a latrine in Bradley’s yard. She had been stabbed once in the chest.
Investigators said Bradley took Gonzales’s bucket of tamales home after killing her, fed his mother from it, and later gave his girlfriend the victim’s gold chain as a “gift.” Police later recovered Gonzales’s personal items near Bradley’s home, including her handbag and the tamales bucket.
Bradley, who was 21 at the time of the crime, was convicted in 2021 and sentenced in 2022 to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole until after serving 28 years. Today, his attorney, Dr. Lynden Jones, argued three grounds of appeal before Justices Minnet Hafiz-Bertram, Sandra Minott-Phillips, KC, and Melissa Balderamos-Mahler, SC.
Dr. Jones contended that the trial judge erred by relying on evidence relating to the victim’s chain and blood found at Bradley’s home, noting that the chain was never presented as an exhibit, lacked photos or chain of custody, and that no DNA testing linked the blood to Gonzales. He further argued that the 28-year parole restriction was excessive given mitigating factors.
Representing the Crown, DPP Sheiniza Smith maintained that the sentence was fair and within the lower range for a life term. She reminded the court that Bradley had five prior convictions for violent offenses and disciplinary issues while on remand.
Smith also defended the trial’s evidentiary rulings, saying the prosecution lawfully relied on witness testimony to establish the existence of the victim’s chain and that circumstantial evidence—including the blood trail and recovered items—was sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
During trial, Bradley claimed he was not home on the day Gonzales was killed, but testimony revealed he had been seen cutting a neighbor’s yard, contradicting his alibi.
The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on whether Bradley’s conviction or sentence will be overturned.
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The post Christopher Bradley was convicted of killing beloved tamales lady in 2018; stabbed in the chest and stuffed in his latrine, he fed his mother her tamales and gave his girlfriend her chain now he wants his conviction and sentenced overturned appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Monday, October 20, 2025. 11:02 pm CST. By Breaking Belize News Staff: Christopher Bradley, 28, who is serving a life sentence for the brutal 2018
The post Christopher Bradley was convicted of killing beloved tamales lady in 2018; stabbed in the chest and stuffed in his latrine, he fed his mother her tamales and gave his girlfriend her chain now he wants his conviction and sentenced overturned appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
