A $100,000 reward has been offered for anyone who can provide information to authorities that leads to the capture of a California man accused of killing his wife.
A manhunt is underway for Peter Chadwick, who allegedly killed his wife Quee Chadwick, 46, at their Newport Beach home in 2012.
Police were called to the house by friends who worried when neither parent picked up their children from school, and officers found signs of a struggle, including a bloody towel.
Chadwick called the police from the Mexico border, claiming Chadwick had been killed by a handyman who had also kidnapped him and tried to force him to drive to Mexico to dump his wife’s body.
INTENSIFIED SEARCH: Millionaire murder suspect Peter Chadwick added to @usmarshalshq Most Wanted List. $100k reward offered for arrest. Chadwick fled while awaiting trial for 2012 murder of wife. @abc7 11am #abc7eyewitness pic.twitter.com/mYzW1F3b7l
— Eileen Frere (@abc7eileen) September 19, 2018
Chadwick Admitted Making Up Story
Upon his return to Newport Beach, he led officers to his wife’s body in a nearby suburb. According to an affidavit obtained by the Orange County Register, he admitted that he “made up the story about the handyman killing his wife.”
Chadwick was arrested for the murder in October 2012. He surrendered his passports and appeared in court 13 times while staying with his father in Santa Barbara but disappeared in 2015 after withdrawing millions of dollars from his bank accounts.
$25,000 is being offered by the U.S. Marshals Service while another $75,000 is being offered by a pool formed by Newport Beach and private donors. Anyone with information should call (800) 500-6273.
US Marshals add fugitive Peter Chadwick to 15 Most Wanted, $25K reward offered: Multimillionaire real-estate mogul wanted for murder of wife https://t.co/MnYDIUQmVC
— Crime Watch Daily (@CrimeWatchDaily) September 19, 2018
‘Could Be Anywhere’
“Peter could be anywhere in the world,” Orange County Police Chief Jon Lewis said at a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 19, reported KABC. “He’s got the financial means to avoid the restrictions placed on his travel and he’s taken every opportunity to hide his tracks.”
The Marshals also announced that Chadwick was added to the group’s 15 most wanted fugitive list.
“The U.S. Marshals along with our law enforcement partners will leave no stone unturned until Chadwick is behind bars,” said Commander Bert Tapia of the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force in the announcement. “It’s not a matter of if we catch him, it’s only a matter of when.”
Authorities said Chadwick often uses an alias, typically “Gregory” or “Pete” to help conceal his true identity. He’s described as a white male weighing 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
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Newport Beach police announcing a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Peter Chadwick. He’s wanted for the murder of his wife nearly six years ago. He skipped bail and skipped town…likely out of country. pic.twitter.com/XDbZH59b2o
— Kris Ankarlo (@KrisAnkarlo) September 19, 2018
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Survival Books
When officers went to the home of Chadwick’s father upon his disappearance, they found a number of books about living on the run.
Those books were, reported Patch: “How to Change Your Identity,” “How to Live on the Run Successfully,” and “Surviving in Mexico.”
Security footage showed Chadwick arriving at an airport in a taxi a few days after he vanished and leaving the airport in a different taxi six hours later while wearing different clothes.
He hasn’t been spotted since.