Bradley Robert Dawson is maintaining his innocence — or at least attempting to.
In case you weren’t aware, newlyweds Bradley and Christe Chen went to spend their honeymoon at the famous Turtle Island Resort in Fiji last month — a venue known for hosting only 14 couples at a time that has been visited by the likes of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, as well as Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey in the past. It was also the location in which Brooke Shields’ 1980 film Blue Lagoon was shot.
Unfortunately, the Memphis, Tennessee couple’s trip ended in tragedy with Christe being found brutally murdered in their room by a housekeeper on July 9, and Bradley fleeing the resort via kayak following a “drunken argument” which began at a resort-hosted event. However, Christe’s husband was found later with “cuts and bruises” by a local man where he reportedly kept saying “we had an argument,” but would not offer further details. He was then taken into custody to await a court appearance, as we’ve previously reported. Now the nonprofit IT employee is speaking out on the matter.
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The 38-year-old spoke to ABC News from jail to explain that him and his wife, who he allegedly murdered, “never had any physical arguments in [their] relationship.” He continued:
“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. Just thinking she is not here anymore is so painful. I am thinking of her all the time. We were supposed to have an amazing life.”
He added that he’s “praying every day” for Christe, in addition to referring to her as his “everything.”
Additionally, Bradley claimed that when he was later found on another island, it wasn’t because he was fleeing the crime scene, but rather because he needed to “give her some space” following their heated argument, adding “it was normal for me to take a walk.”
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But it wasn’t just a walk — he reportedly fully left the island on a kayak!
While the husband claimed that police didn’t tell him news of his wife’s death at first, authorities told ABC News that he had allegedly already confessed to killing her prior to retaining lawyer Iqbal Khan.
Wait, WHAT?! How can you just take back a confession??
Now the accused has backtracked, which according to Fox News, his lawyer claimed:
“At the moment, it is complete denial — he did not murder his wife. As it is, there’s nothing implicating him.”
A Lautoka High Court judge in Fiji denied Iqbal’s Wednesday request to have Bradley released before his trial, which “may take two years,” he told the outlet. The judge also denied Christe’s family’s request to be formal parties of the case in order to see the evidence themselves, citing Fiji law which only allows the prosecutor to be the one who represents victims in criminal trials. The resort exclusively told People:
“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.”
Such a tragic and horrifying case. We truly hope justice is SERVED. What are your thoughts on the case? Sound off in the comments (below).
[Christe Chen/Facebook & Instagram & Fox 13 Memphis/YouTube]
