Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Real estate mogul abandons sons in school pick-up line to murder wife, flee the country with millions

Episode Date: October 5, 2018

A Southern California millionaire charged with murdering his wife is believed to have fled the US with part of his fortune, but police are hoping to catch the accused killer using one of Nancy Grace's favorite tools -- a true crime podcast. Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella is the host and producer of “Countdown to Capture,” a  six-part podcast series that features detectives sharing their evidence and theories with the hope listeners will help them find 54-year-old Peter Chadwick. They are joined by forensics expert Karen Smith, lawyer Troy Slayton, psycho analyst Dr. Bethany Marshall, & reporter Robyn Walensky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Just when you think crime cannot, will not happen to you, it does in a flash and there are no second chances. I can't stop predators from coming into this world. I can't stop crime all alone, but I can sound the warning and I can pass on to you what I have learned about keeping you and your family safe. And that is why we are announcing a brand new online course, Justice Nation Crime Stops Here. This brand new five-episode video series allows you to go at your own pace as world-class experts in personal safety and child protection share life-saving tips and resources all for you.

Get action information that you can apply to your everyday life with a focus on preparation, not panic. Go to nancygrace.com now. Use promo code NANCY to get 15% off for your sake, for the sake of your children, your family, and the people you love. Know what to do, know when to do it, and how to do it. Class begins Tuesday, October 16. Go to nancygrace.com and register using promo code NANCY. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Quee prided herself on being a stay-at-home mom devoted to raising their three young sons. She was just a lovely giving person. She loved her children and she would do anything for them.

Family friend Karen Thorpes says Peter was also a loving, hands-on parent. He seemed utterly devoted to his children. Which is why other parents were so alarmed. They called police when one day, neither Peter nor Quee picked up their boys after school. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. What happened? What happened that day when no one showed up to pick up the boys?

Joining me, Jennifer Manzella, Newport Beach, California. Host of Countdown to Capture podcast, Karen Smith, forensics expert. Troy Slayton, high-profile L.A. defense lawyer. Renowned psychoanalyst, Dr. Bethany Marshall, joining us from L.A. And joining me right now, investigative reporter Robin Walensky. Robin, let's start at the beginning, right where our friend, my longtime friend, Pat LaLama with Crime Watch Daily left off that day when the boys seemingly were stranded in the pickup line. Let's take it from there, Robin. What happened? Well, family members and friends, no one picked up the two boys. So they contact the police. No one is home.

And the cops end up showing up at the house. And there are signs in that house, Nancy, of a struggle. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. You mean a $2.5 million Newport Beach mansion? That home? That home. Absolutely gorgeous.

Man, have you seen that crib? I mean, that is something. It looks like it's straight out of a magazine. Yes, $2.5 million, absolutely stunning. He was living there. He's a real estate investor, Peter Chadwick, and his wife was a stay-at-home mom. You mean the husband, Quee's husband? Quee's husband, Peter, was a real estate investor, hence where all the cash came from.

Well, wait a minute, wait a minute. Robin Walensky, when you say real estate investor, you don't mean like he's showing houses in the evenings. Not that kind of real estate. No, no, no. He's not a real estate. He's investing possibly in, he was traveling to all kind of countries out of the area, Malaysia, where his wife was from, and China and some other places like that. But getting back to the story. Well, hold on. Wait a minute, Robin, Robin, I'm not through the house yet.

Have you seen the aerial? Oh, okay. In my ear, I'm hearing I've got Jennifer Manzella with me, the host of Countdown to Capture podcast. I'm looking at an aerial of the home. It is absolutely beautiful. With me, Jennifer Manzello, a Newport Beach, California police spokesperson and host of Countdown to Capture. What can you tell me about this awesome Mediterranean style looking home? It looks like it's, you know, out of architectural digest. I want to just start with that. It is a beautiful home and it was a beautiful family home, notably to us. Okay, hold on just a moment. Let me look at this thing.

I'm just looking at it and I'm certainly not a real estate expert, but it is a Mediterranean home. It looks to be three stories with a courtyard in the front with a beautiful property. And what can you tell me about the neighborhood, with a beautiful property. And what can you tell me about the neighborhood, Robin Walensky? A beautiful neighborhood, very peaceful, quiet, people living there with their families, very normal lives, kids going to school, parents working. Okay, so what happened next? Well, what happened next is that the two young boys, no one picks them up from their private school.

Family and friends are wondering, where's mommy, where's daddy? Police arrive. They check out the house. There's nobody there. But when they start to look around, guess what, Nancy? There are some very disturbing things going on in the house. The safe is open. There's a sign of a struggle. There's a broken vase. And there is a possible blood spatter near the upstairs bathroom. So you're telling me that this guy is a real estate investor and the wife's a stay-at-home mom. What can you tell me, if anything, to Jennifer Manzella about their relationship? When did they meet? How long had they been together? How old were the boys? Both Peter and Klee were born outside the U.S. and were naturalized in the early 1990s. He's from the U.K. and she's from Malaysia.

Been married for 17 years and they had three sons who are ages 9, 12, and 15. So this guy, Peter Chadwick, is a British-born real estate investor and it all, the whole thing comes to light, the whole background, the mystery surrounding this comes to light one day when the boys are standing unpicked up in the pickup line at school. Guys, you're painting a picture of this real estate investor, the multi-million dollar mansion, the stay-at-home wife, Kwee Chew, a Malaysian native known as QC. But isn't it true to Jennifer Manzella that apparently affairs on his part came to light? It became clear to us pretty rapidly that it was a troubled marriage. Peter was known to be sharing his affections outside the home. And there was a lot of evidence that QC knew about that and that was

putting on a strain on their marriage. And friends had even asked her, she complained that she wasn't getting attention. She wasn't getting affection. People seemed to know that she knew about these extramarital affairs. And when her friends would ask her, why are you staying with him when he's so obviously being unfaithful? She would always respond that she just wanted the best life possible for her boys. She was absolutely dedicated to giving them the best life that she could. And she thought that staying with Peter was the way to do that. What does that mean to you, to Dr. Bethany Marshall, LA Psychoanalyst? I mean, for all of us on the outside looking in at you and Troy and everyone else living the L.A. lifestyle, it's hard for me to understand why that would be the best thing for the boys to grow up with a philandering dad that the whole neighborhood knew was cheating. Right. And I'm sure all their friends at school knew he was cheating and all the moms and dads knew.

You think word doesn't go around at the soccer field? Absolutely. It does. You know, Nancy, I around at the soccer field? Absolutely. It does. You know, Nancy, I hear this so much in my Beverly Hills practice. Couples come in, they're really troubled. One partner is cheating and they decide to stay together for the sake of the kids. And I always tell them kids do not necessarily need their parents to stay together. They need their parents to love each other. If they don't see their parents looking at each other in the eye, hugging each other, holding each other's hands, smooching when the kids aren't looking, those kinds of things, the kids are going to feel profoundly insecure. So I can't see with this incredibly wealthy Newport family that these kids are at all going to be better served by this mom staying with the philandering dad you know to troy slayton la defense attorney very high profile what is it out there in beverly

hills everybody's just rolling in money and they still have problems i just you know i don't get it they're healthy they have a home they have a family uh i don't understand all the malcontents, the simmering tensions. I don't get it. You want me to defend the idea that money doesn't buy happiness, Nancy? No. In your line of business, I guess you're thrilled everybody's unhappy and divorcing and cheating and killing each other. You know what? But before I get to divorcing and cheating and killing each other, let me get back to Robin Walensky. Sorry. I think you left off with a red vase broken and potential blood spatter.

Yes, that's correct, Nancy. So the cops show up and they're going room to room looking around and the safe is open. You know, you would assume cash is in a safe or jewelry. And then there's this broken vase that seemed odd and out of place. So that was photographed. And then this alleged blood splatter upstairs near the bathtub in the upstairs bathroom. And no sign of mom and dad. Take a listen to this. So we initially sent two investigators out to the kids to talk to them and ask them if they knew where their parents were. And then we sent patrol officers out to the house.

Cops didn't see any signs of a break-in, and everything initially looked in order when they entered the multi-million dollar home. But nor was there any sign of the Chadwicks, and something would catch the investigators' attention. There's a large safe in the office that was open. And this safe had contents of their financial records, passports, all their personal belongings. They also found other clues in the kitchen that indicated something may have suddenly interrupted Peter and Quee's plans. Two plates were on the counter.

Some food was set out as if somebody was preparing to make a lunch, but it wasn't finished. Then cops discovered disturbing evidence in the master bathroom upstairs. They immediately recognized broken glass surrounding the tub. There's a broken vase, a broken jar that possessed seashells on the backsplash of the tub, and then they saw what they believed to be

small amounts of blood splatter near the drain and on the back of the tub. They also located some towels that had what appeared to be blood on them. The family's SUV was also not in the garage. And cops located security video from the guard shack showing it being driven out of the front gate at 1 p.m. that same day. And it definitely looked like a crime of passion, a heat of the moment

type of crime because there was evidence left out. There were mistakes made and it looked like somebody left in a hasty manner. That's our friend at Crime Watch Daily, Pat Lulama, describing the mystery surrounding Peter and his wife, Kwee Chadwick. What happened? It all started with the boys being left abandoned in the pickup line at school, but then a bizarre twist and a 911 call. Listen. They have her body. Who has her body? Juan and Jean.

She's dead. They killed her yesterday. And now cops have to try to figure out who killed Kwee Chadwick and what happened to her husband. To you, Karen Smith, when you hear what was found at the home, the broken vase, the safe, the lunch apparently started and unfinished in a bloody towel in the bathroom, what do you do forensically with that? The first thing that you do, Nancy, is document, document, document. And I'm telling you right now, this has all of the hallmarks of an altered crime scene.

That bathroom, the bloodstains or alleged bloodstains on the wall, the towels with bloodstains on them on the floor, the stain in the bottom of the tub. This is a hallmark of someone who has cleaned up a crime scene. What do you mean by that? Well, there are a couple of things that I saw in the photographs that were provided on the website for Countdown to Capture. And let's just start with the stains on the wall, because those caught my attention first. There were some great photographs provided. And those blood stains tell a story. They tell a story because they have been altered.

There are stains on the wall. They're very minute. They're very small. And I can tell you, blood being a liquid, it's going to break up commensurate in size with the force impacted upon them. And because they're so tiny, that tells me there was some force behind them when they were deposited on that wall. Not only that, but there are only peripheral or perimeter stains left. Blood dries from the outside in, and the interior of those stains has been removed, which tells me that they had a little bit of time to start to dry before they were wiped away from that wall. And that tells me that somebody took

time to try to clean up the crime scene, and guess what they missed? The broken glass on the back of the tub. Now, whether or not that glass had something to do with how the blood got there, I don't know. But I can tell you the stain in the bottom of the tub is also altered. It appears to be a diluted stain, and it appears that water had drained out after that blood was deposited there, and that blood was left behind. So somebody tried to clean up but didn't do a thorough enough job. Wow. Karen Smith, you're right on as usual.

To Jennifer Manzella, Newport Beach, California police spokesperson and host of Countdown to Capture. Jennifer, what is your analysis of what we have learned about the crime scene itself? Well, immediately for our officers when they're there, they see all of these signs that are very obviously that something has gone wrong. This is when we know that this home is now a crime scene, but we don't know what that crime is. We know that we have two people who have been described to us as very dedicated parents who forgot to pick their children up from the bus stop after school and who are not answering their cell phones when their children call, their friends call, the police department's trying to

call them. We've checked local hospitals. We've checked other local law enforcement agencies, and we can't find them. So we don't know if one or both of them have been harmed. If there was a kidnapping, we don't really know what the crime is, but we know that we have to start getting CSI out there and start making inquiries with a little bit more fervor than we would if we just had a parent who wasn't picking up their cell phone. Let's take a listen to more about the bizarre 911 call that Peter Chadwick himself calls in. She's dead. They killed her yesterday. They took her. They took her. Who took her? Juan. Juan. What's your name? Peter Chadwick. And Chadwick blames his wife's murder on a house painter named Juan. Juan, how do you know Juan? I picked him up to look at some painting work at the house.

I brought him to the house. Chadwick says Juan had later returned, broken in, and killed Cui while he had briefly left his wife alone in the Newport Beach home. Wow, Pat LaLama breaking it down. Back to Robin Walensky. So this 911 call is from the husband himself, Peter Chadwick. He's no longer in the area of his neighborhood. He's elsewhere calling in a 911 call to say his wife was killed the day before by somebody named Juan. Yes, a nice story, Nancy. Chadwick calls 911.

He's at a gas station in San Diego. He tells authorities clearly that his wife is killed by the handyman, Juan the Painter, and now he's been kidnapped, and Juan the Painter also brought along the dead body of his wife with him, and now he's calling the police. I mean, it sounds completely bogus. Okay, wait a minute. Back it up. Back it up. Tell me that again very slowly, okay? start start at the beginning Chadwick calls 9-1-1 he's at the gas station in San Diego about 100 miles away from his house and he says that my handyman Juan the painter has killed my wife and Juan kidnapped me and brought along the dead body of my wife that's what he's telling the police okay so Troy Sl Troy Slayton, high-profile LA defense lawyer, to believe Peter Chadwick's story about the death of his wife. I have to believe

this guy, and I'm doing air quotes, that's just for you, Troy, Juan, kills his wife and that he then brings the body back. That's the story, Troy? It may very well be the story. Look, people that are committing murders aren't always doing things in a logical sense. And a philanderer does not necessarily a murderer make. So just because we painted him as a bad guy, he was cheating on his wife and everyone in the neighborhood knew about it, doesn't mean that he killed her. And the fact that he fled, which we both know in a court of law could be potential evidence of consciousness of guilt, doesn't mean in and of itself he was guilty. Maybe he thought that the path was leading in that direction. And so in order to save his

life, he basically needed to get out of town. Okay, take a listen to this. How do you know she's dead? She drowned. She drowned. What? The body was stiff, even. He tells the 911 operator Juan then forced him at knife point to help put Cree's body in the back of the family SUV and drive him and the body to San Diego.

Yeah, we've been driving. Are you in a car? I have my car right here. Chadwick says he's calling from a gas station payphone after another man named Chi met up with them in San Diego, moved Quee's body to a pickup truck and drove off. They have her body. They said they're going to cut her up. Who has her body? Juan and Chi. I think they're going to cut her up. Who has her body? Juan and Chi. I think they're going, they might be going to Mexico or somewhere. Even the 911 operator seems dubious. Uh, hold on.

Let me get my toothbrush on the phone. Then police arrive on the scene while Chadwick is still on the phone with the 911 operator. They're here. Okay, go talk to them. Yeah, I can just hear that 911 dispatch call. Okay, Dr. Bethany Marshall, we need to shrink with me. Dr. Bethany Marshall, L.A. Psychoanalyst. So you hear this multimillionaire real estate investor calling 911 to claim that Juan drowns his wife, kills her in the bathroom.

Right. drowns his wife, kills her in the bathroom, then kidnaps him. And they happen to be in his luxury car, by the way, and that they're met up with a guy named Chi, C-H-E-E, and that they're going to take the body to Mexico to chop it up. He didn't sound very concerned on the phone. That's my question. I had a long windup before I threw that one at you, Dr. Bethany. He didn't sound very concerned on the phone. That's my question. I had a long wind up before I threw that one at you, Dr. Bethany. He didn't sound too worried. He did not sound worried. Well, first of all, this sounds a little like the dog ate my paper.

I mean, just such a story that's so not credible. And the dispatcher listening to this, I can just hear the eye roll or see the eye roll in my mind's eye, the side eye, eye roll. But, you know, when I was listening to Peter Chadwick's voice, his affect is off. He sounds very hollow. There are lack of credible details because when people tell the truth, there are credible details. A credible detail would be something like there's this suspicious painter has been hanging around our house.

He broke in. He tried to rape my wife. I tried to intervene. And then he slashed her throat. I mean, those would be credible details. This story sounds like it's something straight out of a novel. They're driving over the border to cut her body up into little pieces. It sounds like it's based on fantasy rather than something with a true narrative.

Peter Chadwick's explanation of QC's death has always been problematic. The story changes often and the details are bizarre. For example, when asked to describe the knife that Juan used to threaten him during their 16-hour long ordeal, Peter describes a small Swiss Army utility knife with a blade two inches long, and he points out that the knife blade was very dull. In one version of the Juan story, the killer sits on Peter's chest for a solid five minutes so that he can't attempt CPR on his dying wife. In another, Juan forces Peter to disrobe after QC is dead. Joining me right now, Jennifer Manzella, Newport Beach, California police spokesperson and host of Countdown to Capture. Let me back it up a moment. Jennifer Manzella, after the boys are abandoned at school, left standing there in line, and the

cops finally go to the mansion and they find the blood, they find the vase, they find the safe. What are you guys, the police, doing up until the time this 911 call comes in? I know you weren't sitting there twiddling your thumbs. What were police doing? Oh, absolutely not. We were working very, very diligently to try and find this missing couple. The boys were left with family friends to spend the night, and I cannot imagine the night that they had wondering where their parents were. We were searching canyon sides and hillsides near the home. We were calling more and more hospitals in wider ranging areas. And we had air support looking out for them, every officer in town looking for any sign of them,

tracking down potential places on their calendar that maybe the family didn't know about, and hoping beyond hope that it was a horrible misunderstanding and that there was a reasonable explanation for them to be gone. So the 911 call that came in the next morning about 5 30 in the morning really answered a lot of questions for us. We now knew where Peter Chadwick was but we still didn't know where his wife QC was. Well according to him she was in the trunk as he said her body was already stiff. And he didn't really say it like it bothered him at all. Okay?

But that's a whole other can of worms. That's for Troy Slayton to explain away, Dr. Bethany to analyze. But when he called in, that answered a lot of questions. So Robin Walensky, investigative reporter, what happened then? They meet him at the gas station, and what happens? Okay, so the cops show up there, Nancy, and there he is. And the police take one look at him and he's got scratches on his neck and he has dried blood on his hands.

Uh-oh, you know, so that's suspicious. And the police continue to interview him. And the bottom line, wrapping it up, is that he eventually admits to this whole lie about Juan the painter, et cetera, et cetera. And he actually leads them to a trash bin and his wife's body. So she's not in the back of a truck, stiff from drowning. Robin Walensky, she's in a dumpster. She is in a dumpster, unfortunately, a very sad situation, but that is the truth. And he admits to it. So Troy Slayton, L.A. defense lawyer, what do you do with Peter Chadwick, who first blames Juan and Chi and then leads police

to her body in a dumpster? What do you do with that, Troy? Well, we try and discourage anyone from talking and cooperating with police until they have it. Have you thought of discouraging them from killing their wives? Is it all about saving their sorry neck? If I'm representing somebody, my job is to do everything within the bounds of the law to provide a vigorous defense for that person. Of course, nobody wants people being killed. But in this case, we need to, number one, see if any of the statements that he gave were coerced or he wasn't possibly advised. What are you talking about? His statement coerced. I'm worried about the body rotting in the dumpster and you're worried about this millionaire educated highbrow real estate investor being coerced. Nobody made him

get on the phone and call police with that big fat lie. Even dispatch was laughing into her fist. Okay. It's such a lie. It stunk. It stunk all the way from that gas station. Nobody coerced him into that. We don't know whether or not the story, maybe there may be some corroborating evidence to the story. We just don't know. Okay. All right. All right, Troy Slayton. I'll play your game for a moment.

So, long story short, they notice scratches on his neck and blood on his hands. Karen Smith, forensics expert, that's a CSI dream come true. You got that right. The scratches, he also had bruises on his neck, also on his arms and on his chest, and there were alleged bite marks as well. That tells me that Kwee was in a fight for her life. She fought back, and she scratched him, him and she bit him and she may have kicked and punched. But let me tell you something, when I looked at the photographs of his face and

his neck and his arms and seeing the rake marks from nails, there is nothing else that caused those. You can see it on his person and the dried blood on his hands. If he had enough blood on his hands to be that overt to arresting officers, that harkens back to the crime scene and the very minute traces that were found by these fantastic detectives who I have to give kudos to the Newport Beach PD. Great job. That tells me that that scene was indeed cleaned up because if he has enough blood on his hands to be that overt and there wasn't any in the bathroom, he altered that crime scene. So let me ask you this. Isn't it true to Jennifer Manzella with the Newport Beach Police and host of Countdown to Capture podcast, Jennifer, isn't it true that a neighbor reports hearing screaming but dismissed it? Yes, we did in gathering statements from witnesses,

neighbors looking for surveillance video, things like that. We came across a neighbor who remembers hearing a woman scream that morning. We can't get into too many specifics about the case, but we did document that statement from her that may or may not be something that we need to enter into evidence at trial. Yes. Well, I would imagine that it would certainly at least start the timeline when the neighbor hears screams. What amazes me, Dr. Bethany Marshall, if I hear a woman screaming bloody murder, I'm calling 911. What's going on out there in LA and Beverly Hills? Nobody knows how to dial 911. Nancy, it's frightening. This person hears her screaming and she doesn't even come to her aid in any way. You know, what really strikes me about Peter Chadwick is that he feels that the rules do not apply to him. Knowing that he has killed his wife, he doesn't even make sure he doesn't even plan it ahead of time to make sure someone is there to pick up his sons.

He doesn't adhere to the rules of fidelity in a marriage. He doesn't. Dr. Bethany, Dr. Bethany, he killed his wife and dumped her in the Dixie dumpster. You think he's worried about his kids standing there late to soccer practice? I don't think so. I can't believe neighbors don't bother to pick up and call 911. This goes all the way back to the stunning case of Kitty Genovese that was raped and murdered and all the neighbors just watched and did nothing. And so much was made of it it's still happening today right there in that posh Beverly Hills neighborhood apparently police now

saying the two have been arguing about divorce but another issue comes up so they see the scratches on his neck they see the blood on his hands They hear his affect on the phone that Jennifer and Dr. Bethany and Robin were talking about. They arrest him. But somehow, as fate would have it, they let him post a bond. A judge lets him post a million dollar bond. That means he's got to put up $100,000, which a guy, that's chump change to him. And what does he do? He goes on the run. Listen to this from our friend Pat LaLama at Crime Watch Daily. We just knew and understood the fact that they did not have the money people believed that they had. And she blew a lot of their financial issues on Peter. Investigators say the Chadwicks were having frequent arguments and that Kwee was even thinking about ending the marriage.

We found out she did talk about divorce a few times, but nothing was finalized, and she didn't submit any paperwork to the courts or anything. And friend Karen Thorpe noticed Kwee was increasingly distancing herself from her husband. The last year or two, Kwee was very much more independent than she had been. She lost some weight. increasingly distancing herself from her husband. The last year or two, Kwee was very much more independent than she had been.

She lost some weight. She was learning to do her makeup. She was spending more money on herself, on clothing, and she would go on trips with her girlfriends at times, and I don't know if Peter liked that very well. Police believe Kwee may have also suspected Peter was cheating on her, and Orange County D.A. Tony Rakakis says her suspicions were confirmed in the most shocking way just days before she was murdered.

Peter had brought home some sexually transmitted diseases, and so that was creating a tremendous hardship with her. But police still don't have enough evidence to prove Chadwick killed his wife until Quee's body is found in a dumpster in suburban San Diego. And the coroner determines she had been strangled. The evidence is really pretty clear.

It includes pictures of Chadwick with scratches on his neck, blood spatter in the couple's bathroom, evidence of a fight there, and that surveillance video of the family SUV leaving their home with no sign of Juan in the car. That's from our friends at Crime Watch Dilley, Pat LaLama. Where is Peter Chadwick? Coming home with STDs, sexually transmitted diseases. Hey, guys, if you don't already know this, you don't get that from the top of a commode. So when you pop up with an STD, you know where it came from.

I guess she was distancing herself from her husband. So Jennifer Manzella, Newport Beach police spokesperson and host of Countdown to Capture, how in the hay did this guy get away? What can you tell me about where he may be now? And how did he get out of the country? Oh, that's a very good question. So we're not sure that he is out of the country. He literally could be anywhere in the world

because he had access to bank accounts that he emptied of millions of dollars before he fled. And he also took out cash advances on a number of credit cards. But we arrested him. Judge granted him the right to bail out on his charges. And he attended his free trial hearings for two years, but he never showed up in January 2015. And we've never been able to find him since. Out to Robin Walensky, investigative reporter on the case. Robin, what can you tell me about

what was found in a Santa Barbara place where he was staying after the murder? Well, there were a couple of books. You know, after they let him go on the bond, Nancy, he went to live allegedly with his father in Santa Barbara. He was awaiting trial in January when he never shows. Well, they go and they look through his stuff, and there were three books, okay? Book number one, How to Change Your Identity. Book number two, How to Live on the Run Successfully. And book number three, which is the most telling, Surviving in Mexico. Back to Jennifer Manzella, host of Countdown to Capture.

Explain to me how you guys created Countdown to Capture and what you are hoping to achieve. We had discussions between myself and the detectives that we wanted to do another big push on this case. They asked if we could come up with a creative way to spread the word about this case again because we've been able to secure a $100,000 reward for information leading to Peter Chadwick's capture and he's our only outstanding homicide suspect. So we really don't like having this loose end. Stories have issued a $100,000 reward to try to find Peter Chadwick. To Robin Walensky, investigative reporter, have there been any sightings?

What's the best guess? There was one where he was seen allegedly at the Santa Barbara airport. And there was some security video, Nancy, where they believe that they saw him arriving in a taxi cab. And then six hours later, they're watching all the videos there at the airport and they see him leaving in a different taxi, wearing different clothes. And at that point, there's no cell phone. The cell phone was shut off and later, you know, found in a dumpster somewhere else. This guy could be anywhere. Well, we know that he has traveled to China, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, that he's got millions of dollars of cash accessible. To Jennifer Manzella,

Countdown to Capture, did he leave any money behind to take care of his children? He took all of the cash that he had access to. And not only that, not only the cash, but he took out those cash advances. So he just left behind a lack of support and debt for the boys. The most obvious thing would be to go to Mexico. You get over that border, which you can simply walk across and you've got millions of dollars in U.S. money. Question to Robin Walensky, could any of the funds be traced? Did he move any of the funds to a different account? No, he liquidated it all. It's all in cash, Nancy. And I'll tell you, this guy's in a lot of trouble if he's ever found, but boy, could he hide out in Mexico, change his appearance, change his clothing, change his identity. Listen, he's been reading the books

for two years. He knows exactly what to do. You know, to Jennifer Manzella, how many millions of dollars do we think he took with him? We're comfortable saying multiple millions of dollars. He should have enough. That could be two or 30. I know. I don't have an exact figure for you. He had access to a number of bank accounts that were for his family business. The real estate investing is a business that's run throughout his family. So he had access to a number of commercial accounts as well. Straight out to Karen Smith, forensics expert. How do you go about finding the money if he transferred money to some other account? I mean, it's hard for me to imagine a guy actually traveling with five to ten million dollars of cash on him. I can't either.

I don't know if he has it in a safe place that he has access to, a storage facility maybe. But, you know, you're not going to stuff $2, $3, $5 million in a backpack and walk around with it. A, it would weigh too much. That's a lot of money. If you haven't seen that amount of money in front of you, it wouldn't fit in a suitcase.

It wouldn't fit in a knapsack. He's got to have some kind of storage facility or somewhere that he can have access to the cash without having to do financial transactions, paper trails, credit card trails, ATM trails, something like that. Really though, all he had to do was get the money in cash and then put it in some other account under a different name. Then no matter where he goes, he could draw on that account. It's not like he's carrying the cash around with him. Troy Slayton, L.A. defense lawyer,

you've represented so many different types of nefarious dealings and clients. How would you, if you were concocting this financial scheme, how do you believe he did it? Well, Nancy, there's many different ways to accomplish financial scheme. How do you believe he did it? Well, Nancy, there's many different ways to accomplish financial crimes. Obviously, I'm not in the business of helping my clients commit crimes. I'm in the business of helping reduce or mitigate the problems once they've been caught or are about to be caught. That being said, you had it right. Somebody can open up accounts in different names. There's in other countries, unlike the United States,

they don't require the same amount of identification and proof of identity that they do here in the United States. So he may very well have. Here, every time you make a cash transfer of $10,000 or more, I can remember when this was instituted, it's reported, the bank reports it immediately to the feds because they think it could be connected to drugs or money laundering. So here in the U.S. Or terrorism. Yeah, or terrorism. So here in the U.S., if you do any kind of transfer, especially cash wise, $10,000, you get flagged. Not so in other countries. I guarantee you, this guy gets across the border to Mexico, gets fake ID, and hightails it abroad.

He has access to accounts. He probably traveled with a ton of cash with him. Started an account for under $10, bucks in the U.S. somewhere and that was his start with probably an intricate maze of financial dealings. There is a $100,000 reward. Take a listen to Countdown to Capture podcast with Jennifer Manzella, Newport Beach Police, tip line 1-800-336-0102. That's U.S. Marshal. Of course, he's abroad now. Internationally called the American Embassy or Consulate.

1-800-336-0102. Peter Chadwick, you can run, buddy, but you can't hide. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.