The Daily Telegraph - 07.08.2019

The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 7 August 2019 *** 13

British fugitive

found after

detectives make

podcast on case

By Rozina Sabur

A BRITISH-born millionaire accused
of murdering his wife has been caught
after four years on the run after police
produced a podcast to trigger global in-
terest in his disappearance.
Peter Chadwick, 55, had been on the
run since he failed to appear in court in
January 2015 charged with killing his
wife at their California home.
Detectives believe the property in-
vestor killed Quee Choo, his wife of 17
years, in October 2012 after the couple
argued over money and the possibility
of getting divorced.
When he failed to appear for a court
hearing on Jan 5 2015, police discov-
ered he had emptied bank accounts
worth millions and left behind books
on how to change one’s identity.
He had been on the run ever since.
But taking a novel approach to sleuth-
ing, California police last year released
a six-part podcast series called Count-
down to Capture detailing the case
along with a plea for new leads.
The couple appeared to have a life of
luxury. Mr Chadwick had become a US
citizen in 1991 and made a lucrative ca-
reer in property investment.
Mrs Chadwick, a Malaysian native,
was a devoted mother to their three
sons in their wealthy Orange County
community.
The audio series, by Newport Beach
Police department, details how, after
his arrest, Mr Chadwick was released
on bail and gave up his passports, but
disappeared two years later.
US marshals put him on the Top 15
Most Wanted list until he was found in
Mexico and arrested on Monday.
Newport police said Mr Chadwick is
back in custody and, if found guilty of
the murder of his wife, faces 25 years to
life in jail.

Aberdeen firm sold £70,000 of

tech to Burmese army, says UN

By Joe Wallen

A UN report has disclosed that a British
company sold more than £70,
worth of navigation technology to the
Burmese army, which is accused of car-
rying out genocide and war crimes
against the Rohingya.
Aberdeen-based Veripos is one of 59
international firms identified in the six-
month study.
The army – known as the Tatmadaw

• is accused by the UN of waging a two-
  year war of terror against the minority-
  Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine state.
  The Buddhist-majority authorities in
  Burma, also known as Myanmar, view
  the Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi mi-
  grants that have settled within their
  borders.
  This is despite many Rohingya call-
  ing Burma home for generations.
  The UN has called for senior military
  officials to face prosecution for carry-
  ing out mass killings, gang rapes and
  widespread arson in what it has de-

scribed as “the gravest crimes under

international law”.

Since the military crackdown against

the Rohingya began in 2017, more than

730,000 of the group are thought to

have fled their homes to neighbouring

Bangladesh. The latest UN study found

that the Burmese army has maintained

its ethnic cleansing policy thanks to its

control over a business empire thought

to be worth more than £98 billion in-

volving purchases of military technol-

ogy and equipment from abroad.

It called for the assets of companies

doing business with the military to be

frozen as they risked contributing to

further human rights violations. In ad-

dition to Veripos, state-owned firms

from China, Russia, Ukraine, North Ko-

rea, India, the Philippines and Israel

had inked billion-dollar deals with the

military.

They had supplied fighter jets, war-

ships, ballistic missile systems, hand-

guns and combat vehicles.

Private companies from Belgium,

France, Canada, Austria and Norway

were also named by the UN.

In a statement, Veripos said:

“Through an intermediary in Singa-

pore, Veripos provided GPS products

to the Myanmar Naval Hydrographic

Center between 2014 and 2017 in com-

pliance with applicable legislation and

regulation.

“Our products are used for civil ma-

rine applications, such as hydrographic

survey. Veripos remains committed to

the highest standards of ethical behav-

iour and will abide by any regulations

provided by the United Nations as a re-

sult of this report.”

British scientist

disappears on run

in Greek island

A SEARCH has been launched in a

Greek island for a missing British

woman who failed to return from a run.

Police, firefighters, coast guard offic-

ers, volunteers and a Greek Navy heli-

copter equipped with thermal imaging

are involved in the hunt for Dr Natalie

Christopher, 34, an Oxford- educated

astrophysicist.

A keen mountain racer and hiker,

she went missing in Ikaria on Monday.

Dr Christopher’s disappearance was

reported by her 38-year-old boyfriend.

He had woken up to find a note saying

that she was off for a run.

A Foreign Office spokesman told The

Daily Telegraph: “We are assisting the

family of a British woman reported

missing in Ikaria, and are in contact

with the Greek authorities who are

conducting the search for her.”

The couple live in Cyprus and were

holidaying in the Kerame area of Ikaria.

They had planned to return home on

Monday.

Dr Christopher is involved in

research at the European University in

Cyprus and has also launched an initia-

tive called Cyprus Girls Can, which en-

courages young women to get into

sport.

Fury at US police leading suspect ‘like a slave’

By Nick Allen in Washington

POLICE in Texas have apologised after
images emerged of two white officers
on horseback leading a black man
down the street by a rope.
Donald Neely, 43, had been arrested
on suspicion of trespassing in an office

building in Galveston, a coastal city of

50,000 people just outside Houston.

The officers attached a rope to the

handcuffs behind his back, before lead-

ing him to a police staging area eight

street blocks away.

A passerby took photographs that

circulated on social media, leading to a

backlash against the police. “He is not a

dog or slave,” said a Facebook com-

menter connected to Neely.

“This is 2019 and not 1819,” said

James Douglas, president of the Hou-

ston chapter of the National Associa-

tion for the Advancement of Colored

People. Melissa Morris, a lawyer for Mr

Neely’s family, said he was homeless

and mentally ill. She said: “I’m ap-

palled. I believe the way they handled

him was disgusting. The family is of-

fended. The family is upset.”

Galveston’s police department said

leading a suspect by a rope on horse-

back was something officers were

trained to do. However, it added: “We

understand the negative perception of

this action and believe it is most appro-

priate to cease the use of this tech-

nique. While this technique of using

mounted horses to transport a person

during an arrest is considered a best

practice in certain scenarios, such as

during crowd control, the practice was

not used correctly in this instance.”

Vernon Hale, the police chief, said: “I

must apologise to Mr Neely for this un-

necessary embarrassment.

“I believe our officers showed poor

judgment in this instance, and could

have waited for a transport unit at the

location of the arrest. We will review

all mounted training and procedures.”

He added that the officers had no

“malicious intent” when they led Mr

Neely by a rope, and their body cam-

eras were activated at the time. Mr

Neely was previously known to the of-

ficers. He was accused of trespassing

and later released on bail.

A photograph was first posted on Fa-

cebook by Erin Toberman, founder of

the Galveston Kindness Project. She

said a friend sent it to her. She said:

“There is absolutely no excuse for what

happened to this man. Not even by

their own law enforcement policies.”

Terrie Cotton, who said she was the

mother of one of his eight children,

wrote on Facebook: “He is not a dog or

slave. They went too far.”

Social media aghast at

pictures of two white

police officers bringing in

black man on a rope

Dynasty’s grief Paul Michael

Hill weeps at his daughter

Saoirse Kennedy Hill’s

funeral in Centerville,

Massachusetts. The 22-year-

old granddaughter of

assassinated US attorney

general Robert F Kennedy,

died last week after a

suspected overdose. Among

the mourners at Our Lady of

Victory church, right, was

former California first lady

BOSTON GLOBE/AP/REX Maria Shriver, centre left.

£98bn

The value of the Burmese army’s business

empire that has involved buying military

technology and equipment from abroad

World news

Dr Natalie Christopher is a keen hiker and was on holiday in Ikaria with her boyfriend

Image

of

Donald

Neely

being

led by a

rope by

police

on

horses

that

caused

a stir

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