Man charged in wife’s death finally caught
LOS ANGELES — A Southern California millionaire charged with his wife’s killing has been captured after four years on the run, authorities said Monday.
U.S. Marshals spokesperson Lynzey Donahue said Peter Chadwick had been arrested but declined to provide additional details. The Orange County District Attorney’s office and Newport Beach police scheduled a joint news conference for Tuesday to discuss the case.
Chadwick, a Newport Beach real estate investor, was charged with strangling his wife in 2012 and released on $1 million bail. He skipped a court appearance in 2015, and the U.S. Marshals Service added him last year to its list of 15 most wanted fugitives.
The Orange County Register reported that he was captured on Sunday.
Authorities say Chadwick called
911 a day after his wife, Quee Choo Chadwick, disappeared from their home and said she was killed by a handyman who kidnapped him and brought along the body. He quickly became the suspect, however, and her body was found a week later in a trash bin in suburban San Diego.
Chadwick was born in the United Kingdom and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1991. Authorities said both his U.S. and U.K. passports were seized when he was released on bail.
When he went missing, authorities learned he had emptied millions from bank accounts and said they discovered books he had allegedly read about changing one’s identity.
Last year, Newport Beach police officials released the true-crime podcast “Countdown to Capture,” which authorities hoped would drum up interest in the case and lead to Chadwick’s arrest.
Authorities had long suspected that, even without passports, Chadwick probably had been able to leave the country.