Christe Chen: Newlywed murdered by husband Bradley Dawson on honeymoon was SO INJURED she had to be cremated
The body of a newlywed Memphis pharmacist who was beaten to death by her husband during their honeymoon in Fiji was found so brutally injured that it could not be embalmed. Thirty-six-year-old Christe Chen's body had to be cremated before her parents could take her home to the US. Chen was found dead on July 9 in the bathroom of the secluded Turtle Island Resort. She and her husband Bradley Robert Dawson had checked into that hotel two days earlier. The two had tied the knot in February, three months after they met. While Chen worked as a pharmacist at Kroger, Dawson worked as an IT professional for Youth Villages, a non-profit that helps children.
The post-mortem report revealed that Chen had suffered multiple traumatic injuries to her body, as well as blunt force trauma to the head. Dawson has maintained that his wife's death was an accident. A lawyer representing Chen's estate and her parents, Ronald Gordon, told the Daily Mail that they will take civil action against Dawson if he is not held criminally liable for her death. They could also take legal action against Turtle Island Resort and will oppose any bail application.
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"The family will follow the proceedings to ensure justice is served for Christe given the horrific injuries she endured," he said. "The deceased was unable to be taken back to her home because of the nature of her injuries … so she had to be cremated here in Fiji and her ashes were taken back." He confirmed that Chen suffered major blows to her body.
Gordon said that Chen's parents were told of her murder two or three days after she died. They received a midnight phone call from the State Department and came to Fiji on July 13. "They thought it was a prank call," Gordon said. "She is the only child of her parents and obviously they are quite devastated and they want to ensure that justice at the end of the day is given to her." Chen was Dawson's second wife and just two years earlier, he had come to Fiji on a vacation with his first wife.
Dawson had told a local man that he had an argument with his wife and left Turtle Island in the night. He had left his GPS watch and phone at the hotel, Gordon said. Meanwhile, Dawson's lawyer, Iqbal Khan, claimed that his client was too stressed to talk for days after he was charged with Chen's murder. "Something surprising happened," Khan said. "Bradley's okay now but he was really distressed when it happened. Last week he was in a desperate condition but he's picking up now. It is a horrendous thing to happen on your honeymoon."
An alarm was reportedly raised on the day Chen was murdered when neither she nor Dawson turned up for breakfast. Their personal butler turned up at their bungalow and found a "do not disturb" sign on the door. However, when they failed to come for lunch, the butler, known as a 'House Papa', unlocked the door with a spare key. He entered and found Chen's bloodied body inside the washroom. He alerted hotel management, who subsequently called the Fiji Police Force in the nearby city of Lautoka. Dawson was later nabbed by a team of three police officers on Matacawalevu Island, about 1.2 miles across the water from Turtle Island. He was taken to Lautoka on Fiji's main island Viti Levu, and charged with murder.
A local man who met Dawson after he fled to Matacawalevu Island said he was bleeding from his palms and feet. "At first he kept refusing food and water and insisted he was ok, but I insisted he had some water and after that he said - Please, I need to call the police," the man, Manoa Ratulele, 49, said. "He didn't tell us he had killed his wife but I could still smell alcohol on him. He continued to repeat that 'we had a fight' and offered no start or end to that story, just kept saying 'we had a fight'."
Turtle Island Resort said in a statement, "We can confirm that an incident took place between a couple at the Island on July 9th, which has resulted in a tragic outcome and charges being laid. We cooperated fully with the police who conducted a thorough investigation and have now left the Island. Out of respect for those impacted and given it is an open legal matter, we cannot provide any further comment at this time. We are deeply saddened by the event and send our sincerest condolences to Ms. Chen's family and friends."