
Get the details about this wild story!
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Aug 07, 2019
Photo: Instagram

He went on the run after his wife turned up murdered. For four years, he evaded prosecution — but just a few days ago, he was finally apprehended after hiding out in Mexico for far too long. Who is Peter Chadwick?
Let's look at what we know about this "Most Wanted Millionaire."
RELATED: The Most Terrifying Unsolved Murders, Cold Cases & True Crime Stories
1. The crime first happened in 2012.
According to The Newport Beach Indy, Peter Chadwick's journey from millionaire to murderer began in 2012, when his wife Quee Choo (known to her friends as QC) failed to pick up the couple's three children from school. The children were waiting for their parents for more than an hour before a kind neighbor took them home. Later, when a wellness check was requested, the Newport Beach Police Department went to the Chadwick home, where they noted that there were "signs of a struggle" and blood everywhere.
#48HOURS UPDATE PETER CHADWICK FOUND: Fugitive Peter Chadwick has been taken into custody by U.S Marshals. He was wanted in connection with the murder of his wife.
You can watch #48Hours report "#FindPeterChadwick" online now: https://t.co/MbnvPIp0jR pic.twitter.com/T4clO6RuZa— 48 Hours (@48hours) August 5, 2019
Peter Chadwick was featured on 48 Hours.
2. There was a $100,000 reward for tips that led to the arrest and capture of Peter Chadwick.
According to The BBC, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies put a $100,000 bounty on Peter Chadwick's head. Anyone that came out with tips that led to the arrest and capture of Peter Chadwick would have 100,000 reasons why he should be turned in. And it was precisely this type of tip that led to his ultimate arrest and capture.
CAUGHT! Last seen in Santa Barbara in 2015, Peter Chadwick has been arrested in Mexicoby U.S. Marshals. Suspected of killing his wife in and dumping her body in San Diego. Orange County multi-millionaire came to SB to see his father. pic.twitter.com/Y56yDdmqEk
— John Palminteri (@JohnPalminteri) August 6, 2019
There was a $100,000 reward for the arrest and capture of Peter Chadwick.
3. But it still took four years to find him.
According to The New York Post, even though there were 100,000 reasons why Peter Chadwick should have been turned into authorities — to say nothing of the fact that it's the right thing to do — it still took four years for him to get apprehended. He evaded capture by spending huge sums of money in luxury hotels, and stayed under aliases. He was able to live from hotel to hotel until the hotels in Mexico started requiring passports to check-in for the stay.
Fugitive #peterchadwick was in Mexico since his disappearance. He had lots of money to stay in resorts and hotels. Used aliases paul cook, paul craig, john franklin per PD @cbsla #cbsla #accusedmurderer pic.twitter.com/q86i0QiTaC
— michele gile (@CBSmichelegile) August 6, 2019
It took four years to find Peter Chadwick.
RELATED: Who Was Garrett Phillips?
4. Initially, Peter Chadwick blamed a handyman for his wife's death.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Peter Chadwick — who called 911 from San Diego the day after Newport Beach Police discovered the blood and struggle in his house — claimed that his wife had been killed by a handyman. He made up a story that seemed impossible to investigators (because it was), and he was quickly arrested. However, when he failed to show up for an arraignment, a bench warrant for his arrest was issued, and that's when he went on the run for four years.
Captured fugitive Peter Chadwick will appear in Department C55 at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday August 7. https://t.co/4CqhU66PP3 #countdowntocapture #captured #nbpd #usmarshals #ocda pic.twitter.com/k3ZLpjfKtf
— OCDA Todd Spitzer (@OCDAToddSpitzer) August 7, 2019
Peter Chadwick initially said that a handyman killed his wife.
5. The Chadwicks were looking to divorce before QC Chadwick turned up dead.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Peter Chadwick was looking to divorce his wife before she'd turned up dead. Investigators discovered that Peter Chadwick cheated on his wife frequently, and a forensic search of his computer turned up searches for everything from divorce attorneys to abortions (!!!!). He also looked up "ways to torture someone," which is perhaps the most chilling search of all.
Authorities say former Newport Beach millionaire real estate investor Peter Chadwick, suspected of killing his wife back in 2012, spent four years hiding out in Mexico – using aliases and fake IDs -- before being captured Sunday in the city of Puebla. https://t.co/TR4mFBD2iz pic.twitter.com/IsiMPHY6u4
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) August 6, 2019
Related Stories From YourTango:
Peter Chadwick was looking to divorce his wife before she turned up dead.
6. Investigators credit a podcast for their assistance in capturing Peter Chadwick.
"Though Peter Chadwick had been missing since January 2015, the case received renewed attention last fall after the Newport Beach Police Department took the unusual step of releasing a true-crime podcast, “Countdown to Capture,” in hopes of generating new leads. Each of the podcast’s six episodes, which documented how police had linked the fugitive to his wife’s death, ended with a request for listeners to contact the department if they had any information to share," reported The Washington Post.
RELATED: 5 Gruesome Unsolved Murders
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.