Real-life hunt for murder suspect is turned into a podcast serial
Police harness viral success of true crime series as they seek British millionaire suspected of killing wife
POLICE in California have adopted a novel way of hunting down a British millionaire suspected of killing his wife before vanishing while free on bail.
Capitalising on the viral success of true-crime podcasts such as Serial, they have written and produced their own six-part audio series in the hope it will spread the name of Peter Chadwick – and the story of his fall from quiet family man to fugitive – around the world.
Police in Newport Beach this week unveiled Countdown to Capture and issued a $100,000 (£76,387) reward for information leading to the arrest of Mr Chadwick.
“Peter could be anywhere in the world,” Jon Lewis, police chief, told a news conference. “He’s got the financial means to avoid the restrictions placed on his travel.
“He’s taken every opportunity to hide his tracks. We want to spread his picture and the story of his crimes far and wide.”
The podcast takes up the story on a Wednesday in October 2012 when a neighbour calls police to let them know that two of the couple’s three young sons had been left waiting for their lift home from school.
An officer drops by their house, but finds no one home. Mr Chadwick and his wife, Quee Choo Chadwick – known as QC – had apparently disappeared. A day later Mr Chadwick telephoned 911 from a San Diego petrol station.
“The guy broke into my house. He drove me here. He had a friend. They, they just gone, they’ve gone in a pickup truck,” he tells the dispatcher in a call included in the second episode.
He explains that his wife has been killed by a handyman.
Officers arrive to find him covered in blood and scratches. They arrest him and a week later his wife’s body is found in a San Diego waste container.
He is released on $1million bail but disappears two years later after his 13th
appearance in court. The podcast says Mr Chadwick, 54, had been married for 17 years. He was born in the UK but became a US citizen in 1991. According to police, he had surrendered both his passports.
“Peter Chadwick has a great deal of money at his disposal,” said Jennifer Manzella, a police spokesman. “If you listen to the podcast you’ll find that he was able to empty millions of dollars out of bank accounts that he had access to, take out cash advances on credit cards.”
She added that officers had discovered that Mr Chadwick had been researching how to change identity and live out of sight. Since his flight, he has also been placed on the Most Wanted List of the US Marshals Service.
‘He has taken every opportunity to hide his tracks. We want to spread the story of his crimes’