Bail denied for Newport Beach millionaire found in Mexico 7 years after being charged with killing his wife

The Newport Beach millionaire fugitive who was captured over the weekend in Mexico after being charged with killing his wife was denied bail on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

Peter Chadwick was on the lam for four years until Sunday when he was discovered and returned to the United States. The 55-year-old real estate investor is accused of strangling his wife and dumping her body in San Diego County. He became a fugitive while out on $1 million bail after he was charged in the murder of his wife Quee Choo Chadwick.

Chadwick was present in court during Wednesday’s hearing though he made no statements. He appeared to try to hide from media cameras while in the holding cell. His attorney, Robert Sanger, would not comment on the case.

Prosecutor Sonia Balleste said Chadwick’s case is essentially back to where it was before he fled the country. In 2012 he was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty.

Judge Nancy Zeltzer scheduled a Sept. 16 pretrial hearing at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

His capture sparked headlines as he was one of the U.S. marshals’ 15 Most Wanted people.

On Tuesday, federal authorities detailed that Chadwick had been captured near Puebla, Mexico after years of evading arrest. He never showed up to a court hearing in 2015 and authorities found that he had taken large sums of money from his bank accounts.

In a bid to find the man they suspected strangled his wife then dumped her body in a dumpster, authorities created a podcast about the crime and offered a $100,000 reward.

Newport Beach police said the media attention on the case resulted in hundreds of tips, one of them which led to Chadwick’s capture.