China News Service, July 20. According to a comprehensive compilation report by the US "World Journal", a couple of newlyweds in Tennessee got married on February 18. More than five months later, the groom was accused of murdering a Chinese pharmacist during their honeymoon in Fiji. The bride was arrested.
Dawson and Ms. Chen were described by friends as a flash love. The next day after their marriage, they held a party at a historic hotel in their hometown of Memphis. After just over five months, the groom was imprisoned.
The newlyweds fell in love and got married in a whirlwind, and the wedding planner said in a just-deleted social media post that the ceremony was completed in just 26 days.
Fiji media Fiji Sun reported that Dawson killed his new wife, Ms. Chen, at a luxury resort in Fiji’s Yasawa Islands on July 9; after the incident, Dawson did not cooperate with the authorities, and the police asked a judge to order Dawson to undergo a DNA test.
Dawson's lawyer, Conn, confirmed to local media that Chen's body was found in the new couple's hotel room, and Dawson, who was charged with one count of murder, insisted he was innocent.
Chen's profile on LinkedIn, a professional social networking site, shows that he is 36 years old. He trained as a pastry chef and owned a bakery in Denver before returning to school. He graduated from the University of Tennessee Health Center's School of Pharmacy last year and was later hired by a local Kroger. Supermarkets employ pharmacists.
As for Dawson, 38, who was an IT specialist in computing at Youth Villages, a non-profit organization in Memphis, has been suspended.
An unnamed person who knew Chen professionally said the decision to marry took many by surprise; few of Chen's friends had seen Dawson before the wedding.
The newlyweds seemed happy at the wedding reception, with a photographer they hired said in a social media post that the two were beaming with joy and that "it was so much fun to capture on camera."
The page was taken down on the 19th.
Dawson appeared in the Lautoka District Court, the second largest city in Fiji, on July 13. Judge Vada Kasaramon ordered the detention and is scheduled to appear in the High Court on the 27th; if convicted, Dawson will face life in prison.
(Zhou Fangyuan)