Newport Beach multimillionaire pleads guilty in the 2012 murder of wife

Nearly 10 years after Quee Choo Lim Chadwick’s body was discovered in a gas station trash bin in Lakeside, her husband, Peter Gregory Chadwick, pleaded guilty to her murder Wednesday afternoon in a hushed Santa Ana courtroom.

Chadwick, 57, was stoic as he was led into the courtroom, then sat hunched over next to his counsel. He later broke down in tears as victim impact statements from Quee Choo Lim Chadwick’s older sister and brother were read by District Atty. Jennifer Walker.

“I often still think of my dear sister and how she was brutally and tragically taken from this world at such a young age,” read Walker on behalf of the sister, who was not identified. “The memory of that day is far too painful to ever to deal with fully and is something I will carry for the rest of my life.”

Her sister described Quee Choo Lim Chadwick — also known as Q.C. — as chatty, inquisitive, compassionate and as a woman who loved her sons and extended family members.

Defendant Peter Chadwick, 57, wipes away tears as Orange County Deputy District Atty. Jennifer Walker, not pictured, reads impact statements from the sister and brother of his deceased wife, Quee Choo Chadwick, at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana on Wednesday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

“If she were here today, she would be excited to hear that I am now a grandmother and we would no doubt be discussing when her boys might get married and bring her some grandchildren of her own,” read Walker. “... when [Peter Chadwick] hid in Mexico like a coward staying in resorts afraid to live up to his actions, the boys and our family were the ones who had to show bravery and strength.

“The pain and sadness of losing my sister will never leave me or my family, but there are some things that Peter will never be able to take away from me. He will never be able to take away the pride of watching Q.C.’s boys grow up to become three of the most remarkable young men I know. He will never really truly take Q.C. away either.

“She is here in our family in each of her sons.”

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger sentenced Chadwick to 15 years to life in state prison as part of a plea agreement. He initially faced a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison when re-captured after jumping bail in 2019.

A detail of a poster on display at the Orange County district attorney’s office in Santa Ana, Calif. on Aug. 6, 2019 of former fugitive Peter Chadwick’s murdered wife, Quee Choo “Q.C.” Chadwick and their son.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

He is also expected to pay restitution to be decided on at a later date.

Prosecutors alleged that Chadwick strangled his 46-year-old wife at their Newport Coast home on Oct. 10, 2012, while their children were at school, wrapped her in a comforter and dumped her body before calling the San Diego Police Department.

When questioned, he initially claimed that a handyman killed Quee Choo Chadwick, kidnapped him and forced him to drive her body to the border. Police doubted it, due in part to the scratches and bruises on his neck and dried blood on his hands.

Authorities later said Chadwick admitted that he made up the story.

On the day of the murder, no one arrived to pick up the Chadwicks’ children from school, which prompted another parent to drive them home and request a welfare check from the Newport Beach Police Department. Upon their arrival, police saw signs of a bloody struggle and arrested Chadwick on suspicion of the murder on Oct. 11, 2012.

He later pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Investigators said the couple had a troubled marriage and alleged that Chadwick killed his wife in a fit of rage over a dispute about a possible divorce and related financial troubles.

Defendant Peter Chadwick, 57, hangs his head as he appears in court with his defense attorney Robert Sanger, right, to plead guilty to murdering his wife, Quee Choo Chadwick, on Wednesday at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

He was held without bail until prosecutors dropped an allegation that he killed his wife for financial gain. He then posted the $1 million bail and surrendered both his U.S. and British passports and was expected to stay in Santa Barbara with his father.

He appeared at court hearings for roughly two years while awaiting trial before disappearing in January 2015.

It was four years before he was found in 2019 in Mexico and returned to California after an international hunt that involved Mexican authorities, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Newport Beach Police Department.

“I’m sorry,” said Chadwick at his sentencing. “I wish I could take it back ... I destroyed everything. I deserve whatever the court decides. I hope my boys, the Lim family and friends of Quee Choo can somehow carry on remembering what a great person she was. She was a great person; so loving and cared for everybody. I’m sorry.”

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