Custody officers at the Clark County Jail found Donald L. Chadwick, 44, hanging from a bed sheet in the early-morning hours of Oct. 24, the day he was to be transported back to Clallam County.
Chadwick was to face charges of kidnapping in the second degree, an incident relating to domestic violence, assault in the second degree while armed with a firearm, unlawful imprisonment, unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree and violation of a no-contact or restraining order.
Chadwick fled the area when he learned the authorities were looking for him in connection with the kidnapping charges
Clallam County Superior Court issued an arrest warrant on Sept. 13 and Sequim Police solicited help from the U.S. Marshal’s Services Fugitive Task Force to find him due to his reported plans to leave the country.
Officials found Chadwick on Sept. 26 in the home of a family member in Southern California, arrested him and began the process of extradition to Clallam County.
"It can be a very involved process with quite a few stops before someone being extradited from California makes it here," Sequim Police Sgt. Sean Madison said, indicating many trips are done by intercorrectional-facility transports. "He was on his last leg of the trip. He would have been here later that day."
He had stopped at several jails on his way to Clark County, Ore., where reportedly he killed himself sometime after 1:30 a.m. Oct. 24.
Officers found him at about 2:40 a.m., during a security check. Medical staff tried to revive him but were unsuccessful.
He was arrested and jailed for reportedly kidnapping his estranged wife.
According to court records, Chadwick hid in the back seat or trunk of the woman’s vehicle on Sept. 10, while she was in a business in Sequim. When she entered the car, he reportedly brandished a firearm, handcuffed her hands together and transported her to his home where they talked for hours before he allowed her to leave to check on their children. Chadwick was forbidden by law to carry a firearm. The pair were separated at the time of the incident, after about 10 years of marriage. The woman had a valid restraining order against Chadwick.
In police records, Chadwick reportedly threatened to take his own life as early as September.
"He had made mention of causing harm to himself, but it was in the context oriented toward the estranged wife and not jail," Madison said. "We’d really hoped he would make it here to answer for what happened. We’d really relied on individual jails to watch for signs he would be headed this direction on the way up, but he was reported in good shape until Friday morning."
The Major Crimes Unit of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office has reported no indications of foul play in the death and that an investigation would be ongoing.
