Millionaire fugitive tagged with $100,000 bounty for allegedly killing wife captured in Mexico
Peter Chadwick disappeared in 2015 after he first was arrested in 2012.
A millionaire with a $100,000 reward on his head because he absconded while awaiting trial for his wife's murder has been caught in Mexico and returned to California authorities.
Peter Chadwick, 55, of Newport Beach, California, fled in January 2015 after posting a $1.5 million bail in 2012, the year he was charged with murdering Quee Chadwick, his wife of 21 years, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Authorities Chadwick arrested on August 4 with the help of tips in the wake of a police-produced podcast about the case, the Orange County District Attorney's Office and Newport Beach Police Department said in a statement.
"The podcast about this murder generated leads for us and it was a way to generate interest and created leads and created pressure for Peter to surrender," Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis said during a press conference Tuesday. "Good police work is really what led to this capture and good investigative work."
Investigators said Chadwick, a real estate developer and father of three, withdrew millions of dollars from bank accounts and read books about "how to live off the grid." Authorities said he' managed to obtain several fake IDs and had been living and working odd jobs under other names in Mexico. Police believe he may have received help from his family.
Chadwick, at the time of his 2012 arrest, was forced to surrender his American and British passports and stay with his father in Santa Barbara.
Quee Chadwick, authorities said, was allegedly strangled to death by Chadwick on Oct. 10, 2012, after a dispute involving financial issues and a potential divorce. Her body was found in a dumpster in San Diego about a week later.
When neither Peter Chadwick nor Quee Chadwick picked up their children from school that day, police searched their home, finding blood and signs of a struggle.
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Chadwick was accused of driving through San Diego to a spot near the Mexican border and disposing of her body in dumpster. At the time, he'd claimed his wife was kidnapped and killed by a handyman.
Chadwick was added to the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted list in September 2018.
He is schedule to appear in court in Santa Ana on Wednesday. Orange County prosecutors are asking that he be held without bail.
If convicted, he could receive 25 years to life in prison.
ABC News' Karma Allen contributed to this report.
