Newport Beach fugitive suspected in wife’s killing lived under assumed names in Mexico, authorities say
A Newport Beach millionaire hunted by international authorities for more than four years after disappearing while awaiting trial on a charge of murdering his wife was found living among expatriates in Mexico with a stack of fake identification documents, officials said Tuesday.
Peter Gregory Chadwick used the aliases Paul Cook, Paul Craig and John Franklin while on the run from law enforcement, Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis said at a news conference following Chadwick’s capture over the weekend.
Chadwick allegedly killed his wife, Quee Choo Lim “Q.C.” Chadwick, in their Newport Coast home in 2012 and went on the lam in 2015. Mexican authorities, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Newport Beach Police Department worked together to arrest Chadwick late Sunday and return him to California.
Lewis said Chadwick, who had surrendered his British and American passports while awaiting trial, traveled around Mexico — initially staying in luxury resorts before turning to more modest accommodations when higher-end hotels requested passport information.
Before fleeing the country, the British-born real estate investor with dual U.S.-British citizenship emptied millions of dollars from multiple bank accounts and researched how to “change one’s identity and live off the grid,” according to the Marshals Service.
“He may not have had access to his passports, but we knew Peter Chadwick had the means to hide anywhere in the world,” Lewis said.
A tip, which Lewis did not elaborate on, led officials to Chadwick’s location near the city of Puebla in central Mexico.
Newport Beach millionaire Peter Chadwick, wanted for more than four years after disappearing while awaiting trial, was arrested late Sunday out of the country and arrived in California early Monday, according to law enforcement sources.
“Today is sweet: We apprehended a fugitive on America’s ‘most wanted’ list. But let’s not forget, it’s bitter,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “There’s a victim — a lovely lady married for 21 years with three kids — who was murdered by her husband, who then mercilessly wrapped her up in a blanket and discarded her body in a Dumpster.”
U.S. Marshal David Singer said investigators believe Chadwick tried to misdirect them into thinking he fled north by strategically leaving receipts from the Seattle area and information about living in Canada in his father’s Santa Barbara home, where he had agreed to stay and await trial after he was released on $1-million bond.
Authorities allege Chadwick, 55, strangled and drowned his 46-year-old wife in the bathroom of their Newport Beach home on Oct. 10, 2012, during a fit of rage because of a dispute about a possible divorce and related financial issues.
On the day of the slaying, no one arrived to pick up the Chadwicks’ two younger children from school, prompting another parent to drive the children home and then request a welfare check from Newport Beach police, prosecutors said.
Police who searched the family’s home found signs of a bloody struggle, prosecutors said.
Chadwick was accused of driving to Lakeside, outside San Diego, and dumping his wife’s body in a gas station trash bin before contacting the San Diego Police Department. Lewis said Q.C. Chadwick’s body was found wrapped in the comforter from her own bed.
When questioned by police, Chadwick claimed that someone else killed his wife and forced him to load her body into a car and drive to the border, authorities said. However, detectives who interviewed him had their doubts, in part because he had scratches on his neck and dried blood on his hands.
According to authorities, he later admitted that he made up the story.
Newport Beach police arrested Chadwick in San Diego on Oct. 11, 2012. He later pleaded not guilty to one count of murder.
Chadwick initially complied with pretrial restrictions, but failed to appear in court Jan. 5, 2015, prompting the Marshals Service to help find him.
Chadwick was added to the Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2018 and authorities announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture. The announcement was coupled with the release of a podcast by the Newport Beach Police Department called “Countdown to Capture.”
Extensive media attention, including the podcast, applied pressure on Chadwick, Singer said.
“When [fugitives] feel pressure, they have to keep moving; they have to spend money; they have to use different IDs; they make mistakes,” he said.
Cops made a crime podcast to capture Peter Chadwick. And it worked.
Chadwick is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. Prosecutors will ask that he not be given bail again.
“Given the fact that he was a flight risk, continues to be a flight risk and is proven that he is a flight risk, we are certainly hoping the court will agree with our argument that it should be no bail,” Spitzer said.
If convicted, Chadwick faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.
Los Angeles Times staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.
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