Rawf8/iStock(NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.) — A millionaire with a $100,000 reward on his head because he absconded while awaiting trial for his wife’s murder has been caught in Mexico and returned to California authorities.
Peter Chadwick, 55, of Newport Beach, Calif., fled in January 2015 after posting a $1.5 million bail in 2012, the year he was charged with murdering Quee Chadwick, his wife of 21 years, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Newport Beach Police Department said in a statement a joint press conference to discuss Chadwick’s arrest is planned for Tuesday.
Chadwick, at the time of his 2012 arrest, was forced to surrender his American and British passports and stay with his father in Santa Barbara.
Investigators said Chadwick, a real estate developer and father of three, withdrew millions of dollars from bank accounts and read books about “how to live off the grid.”
Quee Chadwick, authorities said, allegedly was strangled to death on Oct. 10, 2012, after a dispute involving financial issues and a potential divorce.
When neither Peter nor Quee picked up their children from school that day, police searched their home, finding blood and signs of a struggle.
Chadwick was accused of driving through San Diego to a spot near the Mexican border and disposing of her body in dumpster. At the time, he’d claimed his wife was kidnapped and killed by a handyman.
Chadwick was added to the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted list in September 2018.
If convicted, he could receive 25 years to life in prison.
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