ZCZC
BFF-07
US-MEXICO-BRITAIN-CRIME-MURDER
‘Most wanted’ millionaire on run since 2015 arrested for strangling wife
LOS ANGELES, Aug 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A British-born millionaire who went on
the run for more than four years has been arrested in Mexico and extradited
to the US to face trial for the murder of his wife at their California home.
Peter Chadwick, a 55-year-old naturalized American citizen, was located
near Mexico City thanks to a tip after authorities offered a $100,000 reward,
police said at a press conference Tuesday.
“Today is sweet. We apprehended a fugitive on America’s Most Wanted List,”
Orange County district attorney Todd Spitzer said, adding: “Let’s not forget
it’s bitter — there’s a victim, a loving wife of 21 years, a mother of three
kids.”
In 2012, Chadwick had called police and claimed that a handyman had killed
his wife Quee Choo Lim before taking him hostage.
Chadwick said the murderer had forced him to drive to Mexico to dump the
victim’s body.
But US police officers who arrested Chadwick a few miles north of the
border spotted scratch marks on his neck and traces of dried blood under his
fingernails.
They discovered a crime scene at the couple’s home and the suspect
eventually drove them to a dumpster near San Diego, California, where he had
concealed the body.
He allegedly strangled his wife in a dispute over the financial
consequences of a possible divorce.
Chadwick, who made his fortune in real estate, was released in December
2012 on a $1 million bond and surrendered his US and British passports.
But in 2015 he fled, apparently drawing inspiration from books explaining
how to change his identity and live on the run.
He tried to trick police by leaving behind clues indicating he had
absconded to Canada, said David Singer of the federal US Marshals.
Following notice of the $100,000 reward, a tip helped track Chadwick to
Mexico, where he had apparently been living the whole time, Singer said.
Chadwick was in possession of forged identity documents and lived in a
large apartment in Puebla, a town near Mexico City popular with US expats.
Pre-trial proceedings are due to begin Wednesday. If convicted of murder,
Chadwick could face a life sentence in state prison.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0859 hrs