Bradley Dawson escorted to the cell block at the High Court in Lautoka, Fiji
Tennessee man, Bradley Dawson is accused of killing his newlywed bride Christe Chen on their honeymoon in Fiji in July this year.
Tennessee IT worker Bradley Dawson returned to the Lautoka High Court in Fiji Monday as his defense contests unsigned statements he allegedly made to police after his July arrest in the murder of his new wife Christe Chen on their honeymoon.
Dawson is accused of beating Chen to death at the five-star Turtle Island Resort, which is located on a scenic private island.
Prosecutors allege he confessed to the crime in what Fiji authorities call a "caution interview." However, Dawson never signed the statement, and his attorney, Iqbal Khan, maintains his innocence and is asking the court to throw out the document.
Bradley Robert Dawson, 39, is escorted back to the cellblock at the High Court in Lautoka, Fiji, on Monday, Sept. 25, 2022. The Tennessee IT specialist accused of murdering his wife Christe Chen Dawson on their honeymoon in Fiji in July of this year. (ZMR Clicks for Fox New Digital)
"An unsigned interview is not admissible," Khan argued in court.
Judge Riyaz Hamdi grilled Khan on that stance and asked what would happen if a suspect admitted to a crime but was unable to sign the document.
"What happens if all the accused in cases take up the position that they can't sign?" he asked. "It says that's not admissible?"
"That's the law," Khan replied.
Christe Chen Dawson in an undated photo. (Christe Chen Dawson/Facebook)
The judge, however, did not hand down a ruling and scheduled the next hearing for Oct. 19.
Hamdi ordered Dawson held without bail earlier this month, citing issues with his bail sponsors, including one who is currently facing pending sex crime charges, but Khan said Monday he planned to file a revised bail application.
Dawson will remain in custody in the meantime.
Prosecutor Alvin Singh has opposed bail for Dawson, whom he alleges is a flight risk.
At the time of his arrest, police found him with more than $1,000 cash in his wallet, his passport, driver's license and credit cards belonging to both himself and his deceased wife. He had kayaked several miles to another island, where a witness said he encountered a disheveled Dawson who repeatedly asked him to call police.
Manoa Ratulele, the witness, told Fox News Digital Dawson was wearing a brown T-shirt and shorts and "looked like he just woke up."
According to authorities, a woman who was staying at Turtle Island at the same time as the couple, said Dawson and his wife appeared happy the evening of the alleged fight. The vacationer said she later heard "loud banging sounds" from the couple's room, according to the police report.
A Fiji judge rejected three character witnesses who supported bail for Bradley Dawson, the Tennessee man accused of murdering his wife Christe Chen on their honeymoon at the Turtle Island Resort in July. (Christe Chen/Instagram; Tim Tava for Fox News Digital)
Prosecutors said Chen suffered a "brain bleed" on July 9 and confirmed in court the claims of Chen's family attorney, who previously said she died of severe traumatic head injuries and multiple traumatic injuries to her body.
The medical examiner found "multiple blunt force injuries around her head and face," Ronald Gordon, her family’s lawyer, previously told Fox News Digital. When her parents visited her in the morgue, he added, her mother "was inconsolable because of the injuries."
If released on bail, Khan had said Dawson would agree to stay in Legaaelga, Nadi, with an American family friend.
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Singh told the court that Dawson's American family friend is currently facing sex crime charges and said that the two "sureties," or sponsors, of his bond application have only loose ties to the defendant and only met him on the day of Chen's alleged murder.
Timing for the revised bail application was not immediately clear.
Tim Tava contributed to this report.
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