Pastry chef Christe Chen, 36, was enjoying a paradise break after marrying the man of her dreams, but little did she know that’s where her life was about to end
Dressed in a flowing white bridal gown, Christe Chen looked the picture of happiness as she smiled at her new husband Bradley Robert Dawson on their wedding day. It was February 2022 and the couple had just got married in a small ceremony with close family and friends. Their romance had been a whirlwind.
They met in November 2021 and got married three months later, just a month after Dawson, then 38, finalised his divorce from his first wife. Some loved ones only met Dawson for the first time on the big day. The couple then lived together in a house they’d bought in Memphis, Tennessee, as they excitedly waited to go on their luxury honeymoon later in the year.
READ MORE: Man confesses to decapitating girlfriend but cops find someone else’s body at home
Pastry chef Christe, 36, had been running a successful bakery in Colorado before moving to Memphis to attend university to study pharmacy. After graduating, she started working at a supermarket pharmacy.
Dawson worked in the IT department of a children’s non-profit welfare charity. While some were surprised by the speed at which their relationship progressed, Christe’s friends knew how keen she was to get married and start a family, and they simply hoped she had found the love of her The couple certainly appeared to be deeply in love. In July 2022, they set off on their honeymoon, which had been gifted to them by Christe’s parents.
The destination was Fiji in the South Pacific. Dawson had married his first wife there in 2019 and Christe had previously been there with her parents. The couple had booked to stay at the luxury Turtle Island resort on an exclusive private 500-acre island in the archipelago of Yasawa.
The paradise location was featured in the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon, starring Brooke Shields. It was also where Britney Spears and her ex Kevin Federline went on their honeymoon in 2004.
The secluded, adult-only, $3,500-a-night hotel has a limit of 14 couples at a time, accommodated in villas just a few steps away from the crystal waters and white sands. Guests typically arrive by seaplane and enjoy highlights such as private chefs and butlers.
It’s a breathtakingly beautiful destination –the perfect location for a honeymoon. Christe and Dawson had been there for two days when staff noticed on 9 July that they hadn’t been for breakfast or lunch. In the afternoon, a member of staff went to their villa (known as a bure in Fiji) and made a horrifying discovery. They found Christe’s dead body in the bathroom, slumped in the small space between the toilet and the wall. The lid of the cistern was cracked.
Christe was covered in blood, with multiple injuries including blunt force trauma to the head and lacerations to the face. Dawson was missing. Making his escape. Other guests said the couple had attended an evening event the night before, where they had been drinking – and said they had been arguing as they left. Loud noises had later been heard coming from their villa.
The police discovered Dawson had taken a kayak and managed to make it to another island a mile away. He was apprehended. Officers found that he had his passport, cash and personal belongings in his possession and determined that he’d been fleeing from the scene.
After his arrest, the authorities said dead body in the bathroom, slumped in the small space between the toilet and the wall. The lid of the cistern was cracked. Christe was covered in blood, with multiple injuries including blunt force trauma to the head and lacerations to the face. Dawson was missing.
Other guests said the couple had attended an evening event the night before, where they had been drinking – and said they had been arguing as they left. Loud noises had later been heard coming from their villa. The police discovered Dawson had taken a kayak and managed to make it to another island a mile away. He was apprehended. Officers found that he had his passport, cash and personal belongings in his possession and determined that he’d been fleeing from the scene.
After his arrest, the authorities said been killed, they thought at first that it wasa sick prank call. When they realised the terrible news was true, they flew to Fiji.
To add further distress, Christe’s body was so badly injured, her remains couldn’t be embalmed for transportation back to the US, so she had to be cremated in Fiji.
The trial was held in Fiji in December 2024 .Dawson said he had taken the kayak to the nearby island to give his wife some time to“calm down” after they’d had an argument. But the prosecution said he had takenpersonal belongings as he intended toflee. He had left his GPS watch and phone deliberately so he couldn’t be traced. The defence said there was no credible evidence that Dawson had killed his wife and that he wasn’t fleeing.
They said her death was simply an accident. After a week-long trial, Dawson was found guilty of murder. The judge said he was satisfied that Dawson was the killer and no one else could have done it.“
Having considered all the evidence in its totality, I am of the opinion that the prosecution has proved the charge of murder against the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
In February this year, Dawson was sentenced to life in prison and told he would serve 18 years before a pardon can be considered, in accordance with Fijian law. “Your conduct after the incident was appalling,” said the judge. “Having inflicted serious and life-threatening injuries to the deceased, you fled the scene of the crime, leaving the deceased alone and helpless in your bure.”
Christe was beaten and killed by the man who had vowed to love and cherish her just months earlier. Her life ended in paradise, when she thought her future was just beginning.
