Christe Chen and Bradley Dawson met in November 2021. Dawson worked for Youth Villages, a nonprofit organization that helps children facing a wide range of emotional, mental and behavioral problems to live more successful lives.
The two discovered a shared love of long-distance running, which became the basis of their bond, and their relationship moved forward quickly. When they met, Dawson was still going through a divorce from a previous marriage, and that divorce was not finalized until January 2022.
One month after the divorce was finalized, and after knowing each other for only about three months, Chen and Dawson were married in February 2022. The wedding ceremony itself was very small.
A reception followed the next day at the James Lee House, a historic inn, which is a small hotel, and it was the first occasion on which many of Chen’s friends had the chance to meet her new husband. Those friends said that Chen appeared happy, which was all they had wanted for her.
The couple had made plans that reached well beyond the wedding. They had recently bought a home in Memphis, where they hoped to start a family, and Chen looked forward to returning to it once the honeymoon was over. The honeymoon itself was scheduled for July.
Chen’s friends said she could not wait to begin this new chapter of her life and was especially excited about the trip. Her parents paid for it, and they had stayed at the resort on an earlier occasion.
On Thursday, July 7, 2022, five months after the wedding, Chen and Dawson flew to Turtle Island, a luxury resort in Fiji, an island nation in the South Pacific that is made up of more than 300 islands.
The island is known for its turquoise water, warm sandy beaches and secluded bungalows, and it served as the filming location for the movie The Blue Lagoon.
It covers about 500 acres, and the only people on it are the resort’s guests and the staff members who live there. The resort has just 14 private bungalows, which limits the number of guests to 14 couples, or no more than 28 people, at a time.
Staying there is extremely costly. Even the most basic package costs at least $2,500 per night, and higher-end options can cost about twice that amount. Guests are required to book a minimum of five nights, so Chen and Dawson’s stay was planned to last at least that long.
Families are permitted during only one week each year, so for the rest of the year the island is occupied entirely by couples.
Every couple is assigned a personal butler, who plans their meals and activities, cleans their bungalow while they are away for the day, and remains available at any hour, with the aim of making the stay as enjoyable as possible.
The Night of the Party
On the evening of Friday, July 8, the couple’s second night on the island, the resort hosted what it calls a family fun night. At this event, all of the guests party on the beach together with the staff and the staff’s families.
The evening started well, and everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves. Chen and Dawson each had a couple of shots and became somewhat drunk.
As the night went on, witnesses saw Dawson dancing with another woman at the party in a manner that they considered inappropriate. Someone at the party noticed that Chen was upset about it. The couple began to argue, left the gathering and continued the argument elsewhere on the beach.
Around midnight, the two returned to their private bungalow, and the argument continued inside.
Someone staying in the neighboring bungalow heard the couple arguing, followed by a loud scream and then silence. That person telephoned the resort staff to make a complaint, but the staff took no action in response.
A short time after the complaint, a member of the resort’s security team saw Dawson pacing back and forth along the length of the island.
Dawson then took a kayak, a small boat moved with a double-bladed paddle, and left Turtle Island, heading for another island that lay a little more than a mile, or roughly 1.6 kilometers, away.
A Discovery and a Search
The next morning, Saturday, July 9, was the couple’s third day on Turtle Island. Chen and Dawson did not appear for breakfast, and their butler noticed that this was unusual.
He had stopped by the bungalow earlier that morning, but a do-not-disturb sign was hanging on the door, so he did not go in. Couples on their honeymoon often keep their own hours, and the missed meal did not raise any immediate alarm.
When the two also failed to appear for their scheduled lunch, the butler continued with his day, which included cleaning their bungalow.
Later that day, when the butler returned to the bungalow, he entered this time. The room was somewhat messy, and he began tidying it. Nothing appeared alarming until he reached the bathroom, where he found Chen’s body.
She had been pushed into the narrow space between the toilet and the wall. Blood was spread across the bathroom, and she was lying in a pool of it. Pieces of broken glass from a window were in the room, and the top of the toilet’s water tank was cracked.
Dawson was nowhere to be found. The butler immediately called the resort’s manager, who in turn contacted authorities on a neighboring island, and a search for Dawson began that covered the surrounding islands.
Investigators soon observed that Dawson had taken his wallet and passport with him but had left behind his phone and smartwatch. Both of those devices have GPS tracking capabilities, meaning they can be used to locate the person carrying them.
After a search that lasted about 36 hours, Dawson was located on the island to which he had traveled. By then, roughly two days had passed since the family fun night. The island is small and is home only to local residents, who live in a village there. It is not a tourist destination, and an outsider there drew attention quickly.
At about 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, a local man named Manoa Ratulele, a resident of the island, saw Dawson stumbling toward the village. Dawson was very drunk, and Manoa could smell the alcohol on him.
There was blood and bruising on Dawson’s palms and feet, which Manoa assumed had come from falling on coral, a hard material with edges sharp enough to cut skin. Dawson was not making sense. He repeated, “Please, I need to call the police,” and, “We had a fight,” but he offered no further context.
The encounter disturbed Manoa in particular because his island does not receive visitors from Turtle Island. Surfers or snorkelers occasionally find their way there, but no one from the resort ever had.
A stranger from the resort arriving in Dawson’s condition was therefore highly unusual. Manoa tried to calm Dawson by offering him food and water. Dawson refused at first and drank only a little after Manoa insisted.
Once he had settled down, he explained that he had kayaked to the island around 2 or 3 a.m., after a fight with his wife. Authorities arrived soon afterward, found Dawson there and took him into custody.
Arrest, Statements and Early Court Hearings
Once Dawson was in the hands of the authorities, the matter moved from a search to a criminal investigation.
He was brought back to Turtle Island and then taken to the main island, where he was formally charged with the murder of his wife. Because the crime had taken place in Fiji, the entire legal process that followed took place there.
At first, Dawson spoke freely and cooperated with investigators. Before he had legal representation, he gave them his own account of the night. He said that he was too drunk to remember what the argument at the party had been about.
Back at the bungalow, he said, the couple began to undress and get ready for bed. When he went to give Chen a hug, she became angry again and began to question whether she wanted to be with him.
The exchange turned physical, and Dawson claimed that Chen struck him first. He said the struggle then moved into the bathroom, and that the next thing he knew, Chen was bleeding from the head beside the toilet. He said he panicked and left, without helping her and without alerting anyone.
Dawson did not stand by this account for long. After he hired an attorney, he stopped cooperating with investigators and refused to provide a DNA sample. He also began to claim that Chen had still been alive when he left the bungalow.
An autopsy found that Chen died of blunt force trauma to the head, an injury caused by a heavy impact. Meanwhile, at home, her parents received a call from the State Department, the United States government agency that handles foreign affairs and assists Americans abroad, in the middle of the night.
They believed at first that it was a prank, but the call was real. They flew to Fiji as soon as they could to collect their daughter’s remains.
There they learned that the wounds to her head were so severe that embalming, a process used to preserve a body, could not be done, because the embalming fluid would have leaked out. They decided to cremate her so that they could bring her home from a country far from their own.
Chen’s family also hired an attorney of their own. From the beginning, they made clear that they would file a civil lawsuit against Dawson if he were found not guilty in the criminal case, which is the prosecution brought by the government to determine whether a crime was committed.
A civil lawsuit, by contrast, is a separate legal action in which a family can seek compensation for its loss.
Dawson’s attorney, meanwhile, was convinced that his client would be acquitted, meaning found not guilty. The defense’s position was that Chen’s death was a terrible accident.
In comments made in the days after her death, the attorney said: “There’s no way he can be convicted of murder on the evidence they have presented so far. There’s no proof of the charge of murder with intention to kill or premeditation.
Nothing of that sort whatsoever. On the face of it, it looks like an accident.” Premeditation refers to planning a crime in advance.
The attorney added that Dawson had been so distraught that he could not speak for days, saying: “Something surprising happened. He was really distressed when it happened last week. He was in desperate condition, but he’s picking up now. It’s a horrendous thing to happen on your honeymoon.”
As for why Dawson left the resort, his attorney said that he had been panicked and in shock. The attorney representing Chen’s family read the departure differently.
Dawson had also been carrying $1,000 in cash, as well as Chen’s driver’s license and credit card. The attorney believed this showed that Dawson was trying to flee and intended to reach the main island and leave from there.
The question of bail also came before the court. It was argued that Dawson should remain in jail because he was a flight risk, meaning a person considered likely to leave the area to avoid trial.
Dawson’s attorney argued otherwise. He proposed that Dawson stay on the island with a friend who lived there and surrender his passport, meaning hand it over so that he could not travel abroad.
The judge looked into the friend as part of weighing the proposal and learned that the man was facing charges for sex crimes. The attorney also argued that Dawson was not in good health and had been prescribed medications that required him to consult a medical practitioner.
He added that Dawson had no criminal record and no pending cases, and that Dawson’s mother was “fully dependent on him” and would suffer mentally if he remained in custody. If granted bail, the attorney said, Dawson could keep in touch with her by phone so that her health would not deteriorate.
Dawson brought his suitcase to court, expecting to be released. At a hearing on September 14, however, the judge decided not to grant him bail, and Dawson remained in custody as the case moved toward trial.
Delays, Trial and Sentence
While the case awaited trial, Dawson’s attorney also tried to have Dawson’s statement to investigators thrown out.
In several court appearances, he argued that the statement was inadmissible, meaning the court could not consider it as evidence, because Dawson had not signed it. He also contended that there were no eyewitnesses and that the evidence against Dawson was not strong enough to support a guilty verdict.
The case moved slowly through the Fijian court system. Repeated delays meant that more than two years passed before the trial began, a span that ran through all of 2023.
During that period, Dawson gave an exclusive interview to ABC News, a major American television network, from a jail visiting room. He said that he had left the island only to give Chen some space and that it was normal for him to go for a walk when the two had a fight.
He said they had never had a physical argument in the past. Of Chen’s death, he said: “What I can say is I am sorry for the situation we are all going through right now. We were supposed to have an amazing holidays and I lost my wife.
Just thinking she’s not here anymore is so painful. I am thinking of her all the time. We were supposed to have an amazing life together.” He added that he prayed every day and described Chen as “my everything.”
The case was heard at the High Court in Lautoka by Justice Riyaz Hamza in a bench trial, meaning the judge alone decided the verdict. At trial, the defense suggested that Chen’s injuries could have resulted from a slip and fall.
After eight days of testimony, the court reached its verdict on December 11, 2024, and found Dawson guilty. In his statement, the judge said: “For the aforesaid reasons, I am of the opinion that the defense’s version cannot be believed, and the same version is rejected.
Having analyzed all the evidence in its totality, I am of the opinion that the prosecution witnesses were all truthful, credible, and reliable in their testimony.”
Dawson faced a possible sentence of life in prison, with the possibility of parole. About two months after the verdict, on February 11, 2025, Hamza sentenced him to life in prison, with a minimum of 18 years to be served before he could be considered for release.
Parole is the early release of a prisoner under supervision. In Fiji, parole is known as a pardon, and once that period ends Dawson could apply to the national Mercy Commission to be released with a pardon from the Fijian president, though release is not guaranteed. He also had 30 days to appeal the sentence.
Before the sentence was handed down, Chen’s parents addressed Dawson directly. Her mother spoke first, and she said: “I hope the memories of what you did to her in her last moments haunt you because you are a monster. No mother should have to know that 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. I can only hope that the rest of your life is filled with misery, loneliness, and despair.”
Her father then described Chen as “my little girl, and my reason for living” and said: “Every day since her death has been a struggle to find meaning in a life that now feels empty.”
Chen’s friends said that they could not recall her ever mentioning arguments between the couple, and several said they could not believe Dawson was capable of such an act.
Chen’s family members and friends expressed anger and sadness, along with some confusion. Others who had known Dawson earlier described his behavior in past relationships.
A former girlfriend from his college years said that he was jealous and controlling and that he had pushed her on one occasion. Other people said that he would black out and do things that he later could not remember.
Remembering Christe Chen
Christe Chen is remembered by those who knew her for far more than the events that ended her life. She was an only child, born in China, and she spent most of her youth in Memphis, Tennessee. As a girl, she traveled extensively with her mother, often to luxury destinations.
Friends described a woman with a remarkable work ethic, a big heart, and a sweet, fun and slightly quirky personality. They said that she did not have a mean bone in her body and that she always made sure everyone in the room felt included.
Chen began her career as a pastry chef, a cook who specializes in desserts and baked goods. After graduating from the pastry program at Johnson & Wales University, a school known for its culinary training, she opened a bakery in Denver, Colorado, called Sweet as Pie.
She did not want a shop filled with overly elaborate, complicated desserts. Instead, she wanted to feature the standards of her upbringing, prepared well.
Her menu leaned on the Southern classics of her youth, including biscuits and gravy, a hearty breakfast dish, and hummingbird cake, a spiced banana and pineapple cake. The menu rotated regularly, balancing nostalgic recipes with updated, more modern flavors.
A writer who visited the bakery described her chocolate chip cookie as a favorite baked to perfection, with no surprises. She emphasized quality over quantity.
After building a beloved business in Denver, Chen returned to school to become a pharmacist. She moved to Tennessee to attend the University of Tennessee and became an award-winning pharmacist.
In April 2021, she received the Wolters Kluwer Clinical Drug Information Excellence Award in clinical communication. She also received a grant, which is money awarded to support a project, to further her research.
The research focused on the social determinants of health in low-income areas, meaning the social and economic conditions, such as income, education and access to care, that shape how healthy people are. After graduating, she took a job as a pharmacist at a Kroger supermarket in Memphis, and she was doing well in life.
Christe Chen is survived by her parents and remembered by the many friends who loved her.
Lasers in Orbit: Measuring Tropical Forest Canopies From Space
Scientists have found a new way to measure the height and structure of the planet’s forests. Using lasers, they can create a 3‑D model of the forests from space.
How the lasers work
The lasers are called “lidar,” which is a short form of “light detection and ranging.” They work in a similar way to radar, which is used to measure things like speed, but they use laser light instead of radio waves. The instrument is called the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation, or GEDI for short. GEDI was delivered to the International Space Station in late 2018.
GEDI uses a system of laser beams to map the canopy height of Earth’s forests. The system sends out rapid pulses from three lasers that fire 242 times per second.
Each laser illuminates a footprint about 25 to 30 meters wide on the ground, and optics split the three beams into eight parallel ground tracks, with each footprint spaced about 60 meters apart along the track and about 600 meters across the track, creating a total swath of about 4.2 kilometers.
During its nominal mission, GEDI was expected to produce about 10 billion cloud‑free observations of Earth’s forests.
The laser beams ricochet off the first thing they hit, which can be a leaf atop a dense canopy, a protruding branch, or the ground from which the forest emerges. The energy returned to the GEDI telescope provides an intricate three‑dimensional map of forest canopies.
Bryan Blair, GEDI’s instrument scientist and deputy principal investigator, explained that they can send out a pulse of light, watch it reflect off the surface, and measure how tall the tree is and how dense the canopy becomes as the signal travels downward.
Forest canopy height has implications for the carbon cycle
The height and density of forests matter because knowing these two key factors allows scientists to estimate how much carbon is stored in a forest and how much will be released if those trees are cut down.
Ralph Dubayah, a remote sensing scientist at the University of Maryland and GEDI’s principal investigator, noted that the amount of carbon held in the land surface by trees, and how it has changed over time through disturbance and regrowth, remains the least understood aspect of the global carbon cycle.
Before GEDI, scientists relied on older laser data that was nearly two decades old and included only about five million measurements from all tropical forests combined. GEDI changed that by providing six million measurements per day, enabling researchers to investigate canopy structure in ways that were not possible before.
The new data shows that forest canopy structure is closely tied to overall forest health and the ability to use sunlight and other resources. Taller canopies generally indicate higher carbon storage, greater above‑ground biomass, and a stronger capacity to buffer the local microclimate, according to Shaoqing Liu, a Harvard University postdoctoral fellow who has studied forest canopies using GEDI data.
Climate, topography, and geology together explain almost three quarters of tropical forest canopy height variation, Liu said. Factors such as elevation, the length of a region’s dry season, and the amount of solar radiation received all contribute to how tall a forest’s canopy grows.
In the southern Amazon, the length of the dry season is the main driver of canopy height, placing this area at a high risk of canopy shrinkage because climate models project longer dry seasons in the future. In the central Amazon and parts of Africa, elevation plays a larger role than drought or heat.
GEDI provides insight into how the removal of trees affects the carbon budget of the atmosphere
With a global picture of how much mass trees contain in their trunks, branches, and leaves, GEDI data helps scientists understand how deforestation and land‑cover change affect the atmosphere’s carbon budget and how forests contribute to climate change. The same measurements also support modeling of biodiversity patterns worldwide.
Paul Moorcroft, a senior author on the Harvard study, emphasized that forests influence climate in multiple ways and that understanding their role in weather patterns is especially important as the climate changes.
Because tropical forests are both biodiversity hotspots and critical carbon stores, Liu added that protecting them serves both conservation and climate goals. He expressed hope that this work will help policy‑makers identify regions most vulnerable to climate change and direct protection efforts accordingly.