Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Bradley Dawson And The Honeymoon Murder In Fiji
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. When
- 0:04Speaker 1: you marry somebody, usually that means you love them and
- 0:08Speaker 1: that you want to be with them for the rest
- 0:10Speaker 1: of their lives. Well, today we have a story about
- 0:14Speaker 1: a husband who was accused of murdering his brand new
- 0:17Speaker 1: bride while on a honeymoon in Fiji. Now, I don't
- 0:23Speaker 1: know what in the hell would possess somebody to think
- 0:25Speaker 1: it's a good idea to murder anyone in the best
- 0:28Speaker 1: of times, but on your honeymoon? Isn't there something supposed
- 0:33Speaker 1: to be called the honeymoon period? Where, you know, you're
- 0:36Speaker 1: not mad at each other, you're not fighting, nothing's wrong
- 0:39Speaker 1: with the relationship. But here, doesn't look like there was
- 0:43Speaker 1: any honeymoon period at all, does there? So let's dive
- 0:47Speaker 1: into this story and let's see just what in the
- 0:50Speaker 1: hell happened. Headline, Husband Accused of Murdering New Bride on
- 0:55Speaker 1: Luxurious Fiji Honeymoon. This article was published in the Daily Beast,
- 1:01Speaker 1: and the author is Justin Roerlich. On February 18th, Bradley
- 1:07Speaker 1: Robert Dawson and Christy Chen got married after what one
- 1:11Speaker 1: acquaintance described as a whirlwind romance. The next day, they
- 1:15Speaker 1: threw an intimate party for about 20 people at a
- 1:18Speaker 1: historic inn in their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. So this
- 1:24Speaker 1: couple meets, and according to their friend, they had a
- 1:26Speaker 1: whirlwind romance. My guess is it was hot and heavy,
- 1:31Speaker 1: but not for a very long period of time. And
- 1:34Speaker 1: then they decided to get married. How many times do
- 1:37Speaker 1: you see that? I know I've had some friends in
- 1:39Speaker 1: my life that have went on vacations. And then they
- 1:42Speaker 1: come back with this whole entire I'm getting married thing.
- 1:45Speaker 1: So it does happen. Thank you to all the amazing
- 1:50Speaker 1: vendors who helped us put this gorgeous little ceremony in
- 1:53Speaker 1: just 26 days. Their wedding planner wrote in a now
- 1:57Speaker 1: deleted Facebook post. Thank you to Brad and Christy for
- 2:00Speaker 1: trusting hashtag Bella Baxter events with your special day. Now
- 2:05Speaker 1: imagine this lady's posting all this stuff about their special
- 2:10Speaker 1: day and all of their friends come to celebrate them,
- 2:14Speaker 1: and then on the honeymoon, this dude kills his brand
- 2:18Speaker 1: new wife? What in the hell could bring that about?
- 2:23Speaker 1: How is it that all of a sudden, you think
- 2:26Speaker 1: it's a good idea to murder your wife? But just
- 2:31Speaker 1: over five months later, Dawson sits in jail, accused of
- 2:34Speaker 1: murdering his new bride while on their South Pacific honeymoon.
- 2:38Speaker 1: How tragic, Joelle Scholl, who sold Chen her wedding dress,
- 2:42Speaker 1: told the Daily Beast on Tuesday. Our brides are like family.
- 2:47Speaker 1: Dawson allegedly killed Chen on July 9th at a luxury
- 2:50Speaker 1: resort in Fiji's Yasawa Islands, the Fiji Sun reported. He
- 2:55Speaker 1: was uncooperative with authorities after Chen's death, said police, who
- 2:59Speaker 1: asked a judge to order Dawson to submit to a
- 3:02Speaker 1: DNA test after initially refusing, according to the outlet. So look, anytime...
- 3:08Speaker 1: That your significant other goes missing or is found dead
- 3:13Speaker 1: or murdered. Just know that you're going to be the
- 3:16Speaker 1: person that everyone's looking at right away. So if you
- 3:20Speaker 1: didn't do it, you better be very cooperative with the police.
- 3:25Speaker 1: And you better not be an asshole. Because you're going
- 3:27Speaker 1: to set yourself up for disaster then. If they're asking
- 3:30Speaker 1: for DNA tests, give up the DNA tests. Especially if
- 3:34Speaker 1: you're concerned about moving the process along and getting your
- 3:38Speaker 1: loved one the help that they need or finding the
- 3:41Speaker 1: person who killed your loved one. I would think that
- 3:44Speaker 1: if you really cared, you wouldn't be resisting a DNA test.
- 3:49Speaker 1: You wouldn't be resisting any of the things that the
- 3:52Speaker 1: authorities are asking you. Because if you're innocent, then the
- 3:57Speaker 1: only goal should be either A, to find your loved
- 4:00Speaker 1: one if they're missing, or B, find the person who
- 4:02Speaker 1: hurt your loved one. Iqbal Khan, Dawson's lawyer, did not
- 4:08Speaker 1: immediately respond to the Daily Beast's request for comment on Tuesday.
- 4:12Speaker 1: No further details have been released about the circumstances of
- 4:16Speaker 1: Chen's death or how she died. But Khan confirmed to
- 4:20Speaker 1: local Fox affiliate WHBQ-TV that Chen's remains were discovered inside
- 4:26Speaker 1: the newlywed couple's hotel room. So yeah, you're cooked, bro.
- 4:31Speaker 1: What do you mean you're not going to give up
- 4:32Speaker 1: any DNA? Your brand new wife, her body's found in
- 4:37Speaker 1: your hotel room, and you think you're just going to
- 4:40Speaker 1: act like you didn't do anything and you're not going
- 4:42Speaker 1: to cooperate or anything like that? That's not going to
- 4:44Speaker 1: work out for you. Dawson, who is charged with one
- 4:51Speaker 1: count of murder, maintains his innocence according to Khan. You know,
- 4:56Speaker 1: it's always the same with these people who proclaim their innocence, right?
- 4:59Speaker 1: They never act like innocent people, though. You can say
- 5:02Speaker 1: whatever you want. Oh, I'm innocent. I didn't do that.
- 5:05Speaker 1: I had nothing to do with it. But if you
- 5:07Speaker 1: can't prove that, if you don't have any evidence to
- 5:11Speaker 1: prove that, then people are just going to have to
- 5:13Speaker 1: take you at your word. And unfortunately, that's never really
- 5:17Speaker 1: going to work out so well for you. So being
- 5:22Speaker 1: obtuse and not helping the investigation automatically puts you directly
- 5:28Speaker 1: in the crosshairs. Chen, 36, trained as a pastry chef
- 5:34Speaker 1: and once owned a bakery in Denver, according to her
- 5:37Speaker 1: LinkedIn profile. She then went back to school and graduated
- 5:41Speaker 1: from the University of Tennessee's Health Center's College of Pharmacy
- 5:45Speaker 1: last year. subsequently getting hired on as a pharmacist at
- 5:49Speaker 1: a local Kroger supermarket. So she went back to school,
- 5:54Speaker 1: reinvented herself, and was ready for the next part of
- 5:57Speaker 1: her life. But according to authorities, this dirty son of
- 6:01Speaker 1: a bitch, he killed her instead. She was a standout student,
- 6:07Speaker 1: receiving an academic award of excellence in 2021 for her
- 6:10Speaker 1: superior verbal and written clinical communication skills. So again, what
- 6:16Speaker 1: would possess somebody to do this? Why would a man
- 6:19Speaker 1: who supposedly loves this woman go on vacation out to
- 6:24Speaker 1: Fiji and then murder her? Dawson, 38, has been suspended
- 6:31Speaker 1: from his job as an IT specialist at Youth Villages.
- 6:34Speaker 1: A Memphis nonprofit, Connie Mills, a spokeswoman for the organization,
- 6:39Speaker 1: said in an email, well, probably a good idea to
- 6:42Speaker 1: suspend this guy. And if I was the nonprofit here,
- 6:45Speaker 1: Youth Villages, I'd be looking for a replacement because chances
- 6:49Speaker 1: are this dude is going to go to prison for
- 6:50Speaker 1: the rest of his life. If your significant other is
- 6:55Speaker 1: murdered and then found in a hotel room that the
- 6:57Speaker 1: two of you were sharing and you're not being cooperative
- 7:00Speaker 1: during the investigation, you better expect a whole hell of
- 7:04Speaker 1: a lot of heat coming your way. In a statement
- 7:10Speaker 1: released to the media, Youth Villages, which provides services to
- 7:14Speaker 1: at-risk youth, said, It is our understanding Miss Chen was
- 7:17Speaker 1: his wife, and our condolences go out to her family.
- 7:21Speaker 1: So this dirty son of a bitch was working at
- 7:24Speaker 1: this non-prof, working with at-risk youth, and at the same time,
- 7:29Speaker 1: obviously harboring these murderous thoughts. Not very reassuring. The pair's
- 7:37Speaker 1: decision to tie the knot took many by surprise, according
- 7:40Speaker 1: to one person who knew Chen professionally. The person, who
- 7:44Speaker 1: asked not to be named in this article, told the
- 7:46Speaker 1: Daily Beast that he just found out about Chen's death
- 7:49Speaker 1: a day or two ago and said that everyone who
- 7:52Speaker 1: knew her is just still trying to absorb the news.
- 7:55Speaker 1: So again, the whirlwind love affair, right? Oh, I met
- 7:59Speaker 1: this guy. He's so great. We're in love. We're going
- 8:02Speaker 1: to get married. And more times than not, it doesn't
- 8:06Speaker 1: end in tragedy like this. It might end in divorce
- 8:08Speaker 1: or something like that. But more times than not, it
- 8:11Speaker 1: doesn't end up in murder. But remember, you really don't
- 8:15Speaker 1: know somebody when you're dating them just a few months.
- 8:19Speaker 1: It takes, you know, a couple years, in my opinion,
- 8:21Speaker 1: to really know somebody. And the mask that people wear
- 8:26Speaker 1: outside is not the same face that, you know, that
- 8:30Speaker 1: they have when the doors close. So somebody might have
- 8:36Speaker 1: this whole entire schtick that they're running where they seem
- 8:39Speaker 1: like a great guy or a great woman. They seem
- 8:42Speaker 1: very attentive and caring, but that's only to sink the
- 8:45Speaker 1: hooks in, right? And once the hooks are sunk in,
- 8:47Speaker 1: that's when the terrible behavior begins. the manipulation, the violence,
- 8:54Speaker 1: the lying, whatever it might be. It all starts with
- 8:58Speaker 1: somebody who is wearing that mask, though, right? Who fools people.
- 9:02Speaker 1: Has them thinking that, oh, this is a good guy.
- 9:04Speaker 1: This is a nice woman. This is somebody who's going
- 9:06Speaker 1: to take care of me. But these sociopaths, they can
- 9:11Speaker 1: play a good game. And they certainly have a mask
- 9:13Speaker 1: that they wear when they're out in public. It was
- 9:18Speaker 1: some kind of whirlwind romance, the person said, noting that
- 9:21Speaker 1: there was no way anyone could have spotted any potential
- 9:24Speaker 1: red flags about Dawson because few in Chen's circles ever
- 9:27Speaker 1: met him prior to the wedding. And that is a
- 9:30Speaker 1: red flag in itself. If you have a partner out
- 9:33Speaker 1: there and you're with somebody and they're not proud as
- 9:35Speaker 1: hell of you and they're not, you know, walking around
- 9:38Speaker 1: with you on your arm, and you meet their friends,
- 9:42Speaker 1: they meet your friends, all of that, then you have
- 9:44Speaker 1: to question what you're doing with that person, and if
- 9:47Speaker 1: they're really as serious about things as you are. Because
- 9:51Speaker 1: if you're in a serious relationship, you should meet some,
- 9:53Speaker 1: you know, meet their friends, you should know their family,
- 9:55Speaker 1: all of that stuff. At their wedding reception, guests dined
- 10:01Speaker 1: on Caesar's salad with Parmesan croutons to start, followed by
- 10:05Speaker 1: petite filet steak or sautéed shrimp in brown butter, according
- 10:09Speaker 1: to video from the event obtained by the Daily Beast.
- 10:13Speaker 1: There was wedding cake for dessert and the happy couple
- 10:16Speaker 1: seemed to be over the moon. And again, with these sociopaths,
- 10:19Speaker 1: you don't know. You really don't know what their psyche is.
- 10:22Speaker 1: They could, you know, look like they're having the time
- 10:26Speaker 1: of their life, like they're over the moon, as the
- 10:28Speaker 1: article says here. But the reality is there's turmoil under
- 10:33Speaker 1: the surface. Yesterday, Christy and Brad were given a gorgeous
- 10:39Speaker 1: spring day to celebrate their nuptials amongst their closest family
- 10:42Speaker 1: and friends at the beautiful James Lee House. The photographer
- 10:46Speaker 1: they hired for the event posted on her Instagram page,
- 10:49Speaker 1: which was taken down on Tuesday. Christy and Brad's joy
- 10:53Speaker 1: radiated all over their faces and was so much fun
- 10:56Speaker 1: to capture on my camera. Yikes. Now imagine, in retrospect
- 11:00Speaker 1: going back, you were somebody that was at this wedding,
- 11:03Speaker 1: a friend of hers. And you're thinking, man, she's ready
- 11:07Speaker 1: for the rest of her life. I'm very happy for her,
- 11:09Speaker 1: her guy. They're going to, you know, move forward, probably
- 11:12Speaker 1: have some kids, whatever it is. And we're excited for
- 11:15Speaker 1: their future. Only to find out that this dirty, rotten
- 11:19Speaker 1: scumbag murders her on the honeymoon? That has to be
- 11:23Speaker 1: a jarring experience. On July 13th, Dawson appeared before a magistrate,
- 11:31Speaker 1: Sequoia Vodakasulamni in Lakota, Fiji's second largest city. The judge
- 11:39Speaker 1: ordered Dawson detained and set a date for him to
- 11:42Speaker 1: appear in the island's high court on July 27th. A
- 11:46Speaker 1: team of investigators has been sent to the area, according
- 11:48Speaker 1: to the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation. If convicted, Dawson faces life
- 11:54Speaker 1: in prison. Well, that's exactly where he belongs if he's convicted.
- 11:57Speaker 1: So we'll see what happens with this one, and we'll
- 12:00Speaker 1: keep our eye on it. But it's just crazy to
- 12:03Speaker 1: me to think that people are that mentally effed up
- 12:06Speaker 1: that you think it's a good idea to murder your
- 12:09Speaker 1: significant other at any point, but on some vacation for
- 12:13Speaker 1: your honeymoon in Fiji? It is just beyond the pale
- 12:19Speaker 1: of disgusting and gross. So I hope this guy, if convicted,
- 12:24Speaker 1: spends the rest of his life in some miserable-ass prison
- 12:28Speaker 1: in Fiji. If you'd like to contact me, you can
- 12:32Speaker 1: do that at bobbycapucci at protonmail.com. That's B-O-B-B-Y-C-A-P-U-C-C-I at protonmail.com.
- 12:41Speaker 1: You can also find me on Twitter at B-O-B-B-Y underscore C-A-P-U-C-C-I.
- 12:50Speaker 1: The link that we discussed can be found in the
- 12:52Speaker 1: description box. All right, folks, that's going to do it
- 12:55Speaker 1: for me. I'll be back later on, and I hope
- 12:57Speaker 1: that all of you have a great day.