Tennessee man who murdered wife on luxury honeymoon ripped by judge at sentencing
2025-02-13
Category: america

A Memphis man who smashed his bride through a toilet water tank on their honeymoon at the exclusive Turtle Island Resort in Fiji has been sentenced to life in prison for her murder. Bradley Dawson, a 41-year-old IT specialist, was arrested on July 10, 2022, after police in the Pacific island nation found Christe Chen Dawson, a 36-year-old pharmacist originally from Denver, dead in their private cabana: Bure 15. They had married five months earlier and arrived in Fiji two days before hotel staff found her dead. After a night of partying on the beach, a drunken argument ended with Dawson beating her to death in a bathroom and fleeing the island on a stolen kayak, according to trial testimony. AMERICAN WOMAN KILLED ON FIJI HONEYMOON HAD 'HORRIFIC' INJURIES THAT WERE NO ACCIDENT: LAWYER  "What should have been a truly joyous and memorable vacation was turned into a nightmare for the deceased and her family, causing much pain and sorrow to them," Judge Riyaz Hamza wrote in his sentencing decision. ROBERT DAWSON, ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE ON FIJI HONEYMOON, ORDERED HELD WITH NO BAIL I hope the memories of what you did to her in her last moments haunt you – because you are a monster. The life sentence is mandatory. Dawson will be eligible for parole, also known as pardon in Fiji, after 18 years.  "No mother should have to know this is how her daughter's life ended, and by the hands of the very person who took a vow to love, honor and cherish her," Chen's mother, Xiao Wei Liu, told Dawson in a victim's impact statement. "I can only hope that the rest of your life is filled with misery, loneliness and despair." Chen's father, Tao Chen, said his daughter was "the center" of his family and their lives.  "She was my only child, my little girl, and my reason for living," he said. "Each day since her death has been a struggle to find meaning in a life that now feels empty." FIJI HONEYMOON MURDER: AMERICAN BRADLEY DAWSON 'NOT IN GOOD HEALTH,' ASKS FOR BAIL IN WIFE'S BRUTAL MURDER Dawson was convicted after an eight-day bench trial before the Lautoka High Court last year.  Hotel workers testified that Chen seemed upset at the resort's floating bar on the evening of July 8 and into the following morning. The couple had been drinking and briefly danced with staff members before an argument broke out. A pair of security guards reported that the couple left together and headed toward Bure 15. They both saw Dawson alone on the beach around 2 a.m.&nbsp; SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER The following morning, hotel staff saw a "Do not disturb" sign on the couple's cabin. After the couple missed breakfast and lunch, a manager asked a housekeeper to check on them.&nbsp;  Hotel worker Tomasi Mawi found Chen in the blood-spattered bathroom, propped up against the toilet and not moving. She was covered in blood and broken glass, with one arm "caught" in the water tank. Dr. Carolyn Murti, the local medical officer, pronounced Chen dead at the scene. An autopsy conducted later by Dr. Avikali Mate described the extent of her injuries in grisly detail: she had severe swelling around both eyes and across her mouth; her right arm was covered in bruises and cuts; and she had a "large gaping" wound on the back above several smaller incisions. Her cause of death was recorded as homicide by traumatic brain injury.  GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB Mark Andrew Breaskey, an Australian businessman who was staying with his family in the cottage adjacent to Dawson's, testified that he heard banging and a scream coming from Bure 15 around 12:40 a.m. on July 9, about 15 minutes after he saw Dawson and Chen returning from the beach. Then there was silence. Dawson showed up on a neighboring island the following day, wearing wet clothes and asking locals to call police, according to trial testimony. He was covered in bruises and cuts. A witness who ran into him there testified that Dawson told him he "had a fight." Dawson told police he argued with Chen about his ex-wife at dinner before they went back to the cottage drunk.  "We then went to bed, and I turned to her to hug her and cuddle – when she got angry and started to say that I hurt her, and she does not know whether she wanted to be with me," he said, according to a transcript of his police interview. "Our argument moved towards where the toilet was, and that was when Christe pushed me, and that was when I lost it." FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X He told them the toilet and window both broke in the scuffle and that he left and came back. She hadn't moved, so he grabbed a kayak and paddled off into the night. When police asked if he would show them where the fight happened, he said he didn't want to go back and face the other guests.  Although Dawson pleaded not guilty, he declined to testify in his own defense and called no witnesses to the stand. Instead, the defense argued that Chen fell down while drunk and inflicted her own fatal injuries. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "This Court cannot accept this version of the accused," Hamza said at the end of the trial. The injuries were too extreme, and a reasonable person would have tried to help rather than left her body propped up against the toilet. Dawson has 30 days to appeal.&nbsp; The Turtle Island Resort is on a 500-acre private island off the Fiji mainland and is known for idyllic reefs, a pristine beach and as the backdrop for the 1980 movie "Blue Lagoon" starring Brooke Shields.