Caught! Peter Chadwick, Millionaire Fugitive Wanted For His Wife's Murder, Captured

A British-born millionaire property investor who was wanted for the murder of his wife in California has been captured after four years on the run. Peter Chadwick, 54, fled the United States in January 2015, according to The Sun.

Chadwick is suspected of killing his wife, Quee Choo “Q.C.” Chadwick, at their Newport Beach home on October 10, 2012, according to a press release by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

At the time, Chadwick reportedly told police that a handyman had killed his wife, and claimed that the killer forced him to drive to Mexico to dispose of the body. But police did not buy his story, and detectives with the Newport Beach Police Department arrested and charged him with Q.C.'s murder.

Prosecutors stated that they believe Chadwick strangled his wife after "a dispute regarding a possible divorce and related financial issues."

The Chadwicks had been married for 21 years and have three sons together, who were 9, 12, and 15 years old when Q.C. was murdered.

At the time police interviewed Chadwick, they reportedly noticed that Chadwick had scratches on his neck and dried blood on his hands. Q.C.'s body was later found in a rural area of California, in a Dumpster.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Chadwick, a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, surrendered both his passports when he posted $1 million bail on December 21, 2012.

But he then failed to appear at a pre-trial hearing on January 5, 2015. Investigators say that they believe that he “emptied bank accounts worth millions” before going on the run.

Authorities have been hunting for him ever since. Chadwick was placed on the US Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list last year – and a reward of $100,000 was offered for his capture.

Over the years, the Chadwick case made national headlines, and was the subject of the 2018 true-crime podcast Countdown to Capture, produced by the Newport Beach Police Department.

Chadwick was returned to the United States on Monday and was taken to the police headquarters in Newport Beach. He is charged with one felony count of murder and, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

To learn about this case, watch the "Quee Chadwick: Where's Her Husband Now?" episode of Investigation Discovery's ID Now on ID GO now!

Read more: The Sun, Orange County District Attorney, KTLA