FIJI - Christe Chen Dawson, 39, Memphis Pharmacist murdered on honeymoon, Yasawa Islands, 9 July 2022 ** Husband Arrest**

[chimpface]

Be interested to hear from his first wife...

 

[Mert]

Wow, so the divorce was finalized in January and he married Christe in February?

This is so terribly sad.

*My opinions

 

[Seattle1]

7/29/22

The night Chen died, she and Dawson had attended a party - dubbed 'family fun night' - with island staff and other guests on the beach where both were 'very drunk'. Witnesses told DailyMail.com that tensions arose between the couple when Dawson started acting inappropriately with someone else at the party.

'They were enjoying themselves and drinking quite a lot but towards the end they looked troubled,' the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

It's understood the couple then left the party and their argument continued on the beach before they headed back to their private bungalow about midnight, where the fight continued.

'Not long after that, guests in the bungalow next door said they heard arguing, a loud scream, and then silence,' a source told DailyMail.com.

Newlywed pharmacist's last moments on luxury Fiji hideaway

Christe Chen, 36, was found slumped in the small space between the toilet and the wall of her luxury honeymoon bungalow at Turtle Island Resort in Fiji on July 9. Bradley Dawson is accused of murder.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A lawyer for Chen's family, Ronald Gordon, said earlier this week that her body was so badly beaten that she was unable to be embalmed and her parents had to cremate her before bringing her ashes back to the United States. He added that she suffered such deep lacerations to both sides of her head, near her eyes, that the embalming fluid would have leaked.

On the night Chen was killed, Dawson was seen walking the length of Turtle Island in the early hours of the morning by the night watchman, before he went back toward the private bungalow.

Dawson left his GPS watch and mobile phone in the bungalow, but took his wallet and passport before fleeing across the water, 1.2 miles away to a secluded beach on Matacawa Levu Island. Gordon said it suggested that he'd been headed toward the mainland - which is about a two or three hour boat ride away - in the hopes of fleeing Fiji.

But Dawson never made it that far, and he was discovered - with cuts and bruises - about 3pm on July 10, by a local man as he walked toward the island's village. Manoa Ratulele, 49, told DailyMail.com that Dawson told him that he used a kayak to paddle to the island between 2am and 3am on Saturday morning after having a fight with Chen.

The kayak Dawson claimed he'd traveled on has never been found, according to Chen's family lawyer.

 

[Charlot123]

7/29/22

The night Chen died, she and Dawson had attended a party - dubbed 'family fun night' - with island staff and other guests on the beach where both were 'very drunk'. Witnesses told DailyMail.com that tensions arose between the couple when Dawson started acting inappropriately with someone else at the party.

'They were enjoying themselves and drinking quite a lot but towards the end they looked troubled,' the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

It's understood the couple then left the party and their argument continued on the beach before they headed back to their private bungalow about midnight, where the fight continued.

'Not long after that, guests in the bungalow next door said they heard arguing, a loud scream, and then silence,' a source told DailyMail.com.

Newlywed pharmacist's last moments on luxury Fiji hideaway

Christe Chen, 36, was found slumped in the small space between the toilet and the wall of her luxury honeymoon bungalow at Turtle Island Resort in Fiji on July 9. Bradley Dawson is accused of murder.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A lawyer for Chen's family, Ronald Gordon, said earlier this week that her body was so badly beaten that she was unable to be embalmed and her parents had to cremate her before bringing her ashes back to the United States. He added that she suffered such deep lacerations to both sides of her head, near her eyes, that the embalming fluid would have leaked.

On the night Chen was killed, Dawson was seen walking the length of Turtle Island in the early hours of the morning by the night watchman, before he went back toward the private bungalow.

Dawson left his GPS watch and mobile phone in the bungalow, but took his wallet and passport before fleeing across the water, 1.2 miles away to a secluded beach on Matacawa Levu Island. Gordon said it suggested that he'd been headed toward the mainland - which is about a two or three hour boat ride away - in the hopes of fleeing Fiji.

But Dawson never made it that far, and he was discovered - with cuts and bruises - about 3pm on July 10, by a local man as he walked toward the island's village. Manoa Ratulele, 49, told DailyMail.com that Dawson told him that he used a kayak to paddle to the island between 2am and 3am on Saturday morning after having a fight with Chen.

The kayak Dawson claimed he'd traveled on has never been found, according to Chen's family lawyer.

JMO: the worst case of domestic violence. Christe’s poor parents, they bought the tickets for newlyweds.

Everyone can imagine the impact of the “toilet cistern lid” against the skull. It is hard to move it, but Dawson, drunk, could lift it? JMO - he was not that drunk, just enough to get disinhibited, and in his mind, was “punishing” Christe for his “humiliation” at the party.

If getting into a MVA while drunk is a huge guilt aggravator, the same should apply here.

I wonder how people from the next bungalow who heard a loud scream are feeling now…in hindsight, probably, awful.

I hope that the trial in Fiji will be fair; nothing will return the Chens their only child, but at least, justice should be meted out.

 

[scdiv]

Deadly Fiji Honeymoon: Ex-Girlfriend Says Accused Killer Hubby Who Murdered Pharmacist Wife was Violent, Volatile

The ex-girlfriend of a Tennessee man accused of killing his wife on their Fiji honeymoon says he was volatile and abusive toward her during their time together. As CrimeOnline previously reported, nurse Christe Chen was excited about her honeymoon to Fiji, according to her friends and family...

www.crimeonline.com

 

[Herat]

So this was in 2018

He married a different woman in 2019

Divorce from that woman finalized in Jan 2022

Re-marry in Feb 2022

I sense a pattern here. High turnover in relationships. Big love-bombing, it sounds like. Then the truth comes out, the DV starts. Christie's case it was only 5 months. Either you either get out or you die.

 

[Seattle1]

8/2/22 -- Woman details former relationship with US man charged with killing wife in Fiji l GMA

 

[Seattle1]

So this was in 2018

He married a different woman in 2019

^^rsbbm

No, it was not 2018 but around 2005 when the defendant and former girlfriend KB were students at Univ of Tenn.

(Crimeonline report is poorly written-- incorrectly describes Christe as a nurse at the beginning of the article, and a pharmacist, at the end)!

 

[asmi106082]

^^BBM

It was MSM that provided the 2015 connection at Christian Brothers University (CBU), Memphis, TN.

CCD's LinkedIn corroborates she received her undergraduate degree from CBU before leaving Memphis for grad school in Denver - albeit she does not include the years of her education.

Perhaps it would be valuable to have some SM links for BD if anybody here has this talent -- at least to corroborate if BD attended CBU.

Also from LinkedIn is CCD's membership- Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, (charity focus) while attending CBU.

Reportedly, BD's last employment:

Dawson worked as an IT specialist for Youth Villages, a “private, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families live successfully,” according to the Memphis, Tennessee-based organization.

IMO, it's reasonable to think they at least knew of each other -- especially if both were involved in altruistic activities on campus.

Fast forward to the current date -- based on their ages (late '30s), it's possible one or both had been off the market and recently came together.

For example, this would not be the first partnership/marriage I've heard about after COVID lockdown where many connections/reconnections were made via social media apps. For many, COVID proved a lonely time. JMO

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christe-chen-7a002643/

Tennessee man accused of killing his new wife while on vacation in Fiji

Christe Chen and Bradley Dawson married earlier this year and were vacationing in the South Pacific when her body was found at Turtle Island Resort.

www.today.com

I feel like this source was trying to say that the person they’re quoting in the article who didn’t want to be named, was the 2015 connection, not Dawson. I could be wrong but I read it the first time and thought the same as you, that she had met Dawson in 2015 but it didn’t make sense with the rest of the story so I reread and I think it’s just worded really poorly in this article. MOO

 

[Seattle1]

Memphis man accused of killing wife to remain jailed in Fiji until at least Aug. 18

Christe Chen's death has drawn international attention due in part to where it took place: a luxury resort.

www.commercialappeal.com

7/27/22

[..]

Fiji is a former British colony and its legal system incorporates elements of English law.

Dawson faces one count of murder and is accused of killing his wife at a resort on July 9, Farisha Ahmed, a spokeswoman for Fiji's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, wrote in an email.

He appeared before Justice Riyaz Hamza at the High Court in the city in Lautoka on Wednesday morning local time — Tuesday afternoon in Memphis, the prosecutor's office said in a subsequent news release.

"The State served disclosures this morning (Wednesday) to the Defence," the news release says. "The case has been adjourned to 18 August 2022 for review by the Director of Public Prosecutions and a decision on the Information (Indictment). The accused has been further remanded in custody."

Dawson had previously appeared before a lower-level court. Dawson is represented by a local defense attorney, Iqbal Khan, The Fiji Sun newspaper reported. The Commercial Appeal was unable to reach the lawyer via phone and email.

Dawson's divorce​

Born in Middletown, New York, Bradley Dawson is now 38 and was married for the first time at Yaro, Fiji in September 2019, according to a Shelby County Chancery Court divorce filing related to that first marriage.

He filed for divorce about two years later, in September 2021. His filing cites "irreconcilable differences" as grounds and says no children were born of the marriage.

The husband and wife quickly reached a settlement to divide property. The court issued a final decree of divorce on January 11.

The publicly available records make no mention of violence or similar problems.

The Commercial Appeal's efforts to reach Dawson's first wife were unsuccessful.

The date of his new marriage to Chen wasn't immediately available.

 

[realanastasia]

Bradley Dawson in court for wife Christe Chen's murder in Fiji

Bradley Dawson appeared at the Lautokoa High Court in Fiji on Wednesday evening (ET). He is accused of murdering his wife, Christe Chen, while they were on honeymoon at Turtle Island Resort.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Seattle1]

Bradley Dawson in court for wife Christe Chen's murder in Fiji

Bradley Dawson appeared at the Lautokoa High Court in Fiji on Wednesday evening (ET). He is accused of murdering his wife, Christe Chen, while they were on honeymoon at Turtle Island Resort.

www.dailymail.co.uk

From the link:


The couple's personal butler found Chen's body squashed and slumped between the tiny space between the toilet and the wall, badly beaten and covered in blood. The lid of the toilet's cistern was cracked

A lawyer for Chen's family, Ronald Gordon, told DailyMail.com that her body was so badly beaten that she was unable to be embalmed and her parents had to cremate her before bringing her ashes back to the United States. He added that she suffered such deep lacerations to both sides of her head, near her eyes, that the embalming fluid would have leaked.

On the night Chen was killed, Dawson was seen walking the length of Turtle Island in the early hours of the morning by the night watchman, before he went back toward the private bungalow.

Dawson left his GPS watch and mobile phone in the bungalow, but took his wallet and passport before fleeing across the water, 1.2 miles away to a secluded beach on Matacawa Levu Island. Gordon said it suggested that he'd been headed toward the mainland - which is about a two or three hour boat ride away - in the hopes of fleeing Fiji.

But Dawson never made it that far, and he was discovered - with cuts and bruises - about 3pm on July 10, by a local man as he walked toward the island's village. Manoa Ratulele, 49, told DailyMail.com that Dawson told him that he used a kayak to paddle to the island between 2am and 3am on Saturday morning after having a fight with Chen.

The kayak Dawson claimed he'd traveled on has never been found, according to Chen's family lawyer.

 

[Seattle1]

MSN

8/18/22

Bradley Robert Dawson, a Memphis man police say fatally beat his wife last month at an exclusive resort in Fiji, told ABC News the couple "never had any physical arguments in [their] relationship."

[..]

In an exclusive interview Tuesday with ABC News from a jail visiting room, Dawson said he fled on a kayak to a neighboring island on July 8, the day police said Chen died of multiple blunt trauma wounds to her head.

"I just wanted to give her some space. It was normal for me to take a walk," he said. He added that the couple was drunk at the time of their argument.

[..]

Dawson was arrested two days later. The police did not tell him of his wife's death, Dawson said. Authorities, however, told ABC News that Dawson initially confessed to the murder but stopped cooperating once he secured legal representation.

Incarcerated since his arrest, Dawson appeared at a preliminary bail hearing at Fiji's Lautoka High Court Wednesday wearing a red collared shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and was handcuffed to another man. Judge Riyaz Hamza rejected a request from Dawson's attorney to release his client on bail before his trial.

[..]

Dawson, an IT specialist, said he is "praying every day" for Chen, whom he described as "my everything."

"What I can say is I am so sorry for the situation we are all going through now. We were supposed to have amazing holidays and I lost my wife," he said.

"Just thinking she is not here anymore is so painful. I am thinking of her all the time," he said. "We were supposed to have an amazing life."

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I hope the judges see right through this lame attempt to gain some sort of sympathy -- for himself.

 

[Gardenista]

Tennessee man accused in Fiji murder of wife Christe Chen confessed to killing before getting lawyer: Reports

Tennessee man Bradley Dawson allegedly initially confessed to killing his wife, pharmacist Christe Chen Dawson, before changing his tune one he got a lawyer, reports say

www.foxnews.com

 

[Charlot123]

MSN

8/18/22

Bradley Robert Dawson, a Memphis man police say fatally beat his wife last month at an exclusive resort in Fiji, told ABC News the couple "never had any physical arguments in [their] relationship."

[..]

In an exclusive interview Tuesday with ABC News from a jail visiting room, Dawson said he fled on a kayak to a neighboring island on July 8, the day police said Chen died of multiple blunt trauma wounds to her head.

"I just wanted to give her some space. It was normal for me to take a walk," he said. He added that the couple was drunk at the time of their argument.

[..]

Dawson was arrested two days later. The police did not tell him of his wife's death, Dawson said. Authorities, however, told ABC News that Dawson initially confessed to the murder but stopped cooperating once he secured legal representation.

Incarcerated since his arrest, Dawson appeared at a preliminary bail hearing at Fiji's Lautoka High Court Wednesday wearing a red collared shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and was handcuffed to another man. Judge Riyaz Hamza rejected a request from Dawson's attorney to release his client on bail before his trial.

[..]

Dawson, an IT specialist, said he is "praying every day" for Chen, whom he described as "my everything."

"What I can say is I am so sorry for the situation we are all going through now. We were supposed to have amazing holidays and I lost my wife," he said.

"Just thinking she is not here anymore is so painful. I am thinking of her all the time," he said. "We were supposed to have an amazing life."

Two things come to mind.

1) “give her space” - poor Christe was found wedged in a tiny space between a toilet and a wall.
2) “praying for her every day”, what does it remind me of? Chris Watts, who got a portrait of slain wife and daughters and was praying for them every day.

 

[mewmew]

MSN

8/18/22

Bradley Robert Dawson, a Memphis man police say fatally beat his wife last month at an exclusive resort in Fiji, told ABC News the couple "never had any physical arguments in [their] relationship."

[..]

In an exclusive interview Tuesday with ABC News from a jail visiting room, Dawson said he fled on a kayak to a neighboring island on July 8, the day police said Chen died of multiple blunt trauma wounds to her head.

"I just wanted to give her some space. It was normal for me to take a walk," he said. He added that the couple was drunk at the time of their argument.

[..]

Dawson was arrested two days later. The police did not tell him of his wife's death, Dawson said. Authorities, however, told ABC News that Dawson initially confessed to the murder but stopped cooperating once he secured legal representation.

Incarcerated since his arrest, Dawson appeared at a preliminary bail hearing at Fiji's Lautoka High Court Wednesday wearing a red collared shirt, shorts and flip-flops, and was handcuffed to another man. Judge Riyaz Hamza rejected a request from Dawson's attorney to release his client on bail before his trial.

[..]

Dawson, an IT specialist, said he is "praying every day" for Chen, whom he described as "my everything."

"What I can say is I am so sorry for the situation we are all going through now. We were supposed to have amazing holidays and I lost my wife," he said.

"Just thinking she is not here anymore is so painful. I am thinking of her all the time," he said. "We were supposed to have an amazing life."

What in the….? Is he honestly trying to make people feel bad for him?! “We were supposed to have an amazing life” uh yeah, but then you murdered her. UGH!

(JMO)

 

[Erutan]

Two things come to mind.

1) “give her space” - poor Christe was found wedged in a tiny space between a toilet and a wall.
2) “praying for her every day”, what does it remind me of? Chris Watts, who got a portrait of slain wife and daughters and was praying for them every day.

^^^ I have no words I would want to say here that wouldn't need to be in asterisks.
Ugh.
The absolute narcissism.

And I hate it so much that poor Christe spent the final moments of her life in a possible panic, pain and fear from someone who married her and had (I'd imagine the vows went something like this) vowed to love and cherish her !
Really hope he gets the book thrown at him.
My .02.

 

[scdiv]

"We were supposed to have amazing holidays and I lost my wife," he said.

WTF. What a sociopath.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Husband accused of murdering pharmacist wife in Fiji pleads NOT guilty

Bradly Dawson, 39, from Tennessee, appeared in the High Court in Lautoka over the killing of Christe Chen, 36, on July 9 to deny the charges on Wednesday.

www.dailymail.co.uk