All criminal charges have been dropped against Peter Anthony McGuire, the Chino Hills man accused of holding a 22-year-old woman captive for six months and subjecting her to torture, rape, and disfigurement. Instead of facing trial, McGuire has been placed under a civil LPS conservatorship after being deemed permanently incompetent to stand trial, meaning he will receive mental-health treatment rather than criminal prosecution.
The case dates back to 2022, when the woman escaped McGuire's home and fled to nearby Alterra Park, where good Samaritans noticed her injuries and helped her get help, according to Chino Valley Champion. The alleged six-month ordeal took place at a house in the 16200 block of Cordovan Court at Sapphire Drive in Chino Hills. Her ear and scalp injuries were severe enough to require hospitalization, per the same account.
McGuire was deemed incompetent to stand trial in a so-called 1368 proceeding, a legal process that determines whether a defendant understands court proceedings well enough to assist in their own defense. Judge Ingrid A. Uhler, who presided over that hearing, ordered county counsel and the county's Department of Behavioral Health in January to screen McGuire for either an LPS conservatorship or a Murphy conservatorship — two very different legal paths with very different consequences. McGuire was committed to Atascadero State Hospital for a two-year period, the maximum allowed under the state penal code, with that commitment slated to end in April.
Two Conservatorships, One Crucial Difference
The distinction between the two conservatorship types is central to why McGuire will not face criminal proceedings. A Murphy conservatorship is designed for felony defendants who remain permanently incompetent to stand trial, are charged with a violent felony, and are found to pose an ongoing substantial danger to others — and it keeps criminal charges alive. An LPS conservatorship, by contrast, applies to someone who is gravely disabled by mental illness and unwilling or unable to accept voluntary treatment, but it requires dismissing the criminal case entirely.
The San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health ultimately submitted a letter to the court in February stating that an LPS conservatorship petition had been prepared, and that conservatorship was later ordered for McGuire. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office pushed back, arguing it wanted the more restrictive Murphy conservatorship instead. Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus objected to the LPS order and argued the evaluation had not properly screened for a Murphy conservatorship, requesting an independent Murphy evaluation by Dr. David M. Walsh. Jacqueline Carey-Wilson also suggested that independent evaluation in February.
A Defense Attorney's Objection and a Judge's Death
McGuire's defense attorney, Kirt J. Hopson, had declared doubt about his client's mental competency and objected to what he characterized as a search for a psychiatrist likely to support a Murphy conservatorship finding. Hopson died in May, according to the Chino Valley Champion's reporting. Attorney Charles Kenyon later filed a writ of habeas corpus in April to ensure McGuire was released from jail, and the district attorney's office conceded that McGuire should be released.
Prosecutor Jacquelyn Rodriguez said the District Attorney's Office continues to consider McGuire a danger to society, even as the criminal case against him collapses. Ashley Jones, however, stated that the type of conservatorship imposed should not be interpreted as a broader determination about public safety, and noted that California law requires courts to consider the historical course of an individual's mental disorder when it has a direct bearing on dangerousness.
Where McGuire Goes Next
Under the LPS conservatorship, McGuire will be placed in a facility that provides both mental-health treatment and medical and nursing care, though the timing and location of that placement will remain confidential. The county will pay part or all of the cost of his treatment and care, and the conservatorship must be reviewed annually. A report authored by Hayley Wechsler at Atascadero in December will be reviewed at the next hearing, which will assess McGuire's LPS conservatorship placement. The District Attorney's Office and the California Victims' Compensation Board will continue assisting the victim with resources and needs, per the Champion. According to California Courts, its conservatorship reporting includes caseload statistics and recommendations for statewide performance measures and best practices.
A Troubled History in Law Enforcement
McGuire's background includes a stint as a Huntington Park police officer in the late 1980s. The Huntington Park City Council fired him in December 1987 after the city's Civil Service Commission — a three-member body — ruled unanimously that McGuire kicked and struck a handcuffed man, Acacio Ramirez, during an arrest stemming from a domestic-dispute investigation. Ramirez died of blunt-force body trauma at St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood roughly two hours after his arrest, according to the Los Angeles Times. Ramirez's children later filed a $6 million federal wrongful death lawsuit against McGuire, another officer, and the city, alleging the officers had repeatedly struck Ramirez on the head with batons while he was handcuffed on a sofa.
McGuire went on to work as a police officer for the now-defunct Hawaiian Gardens Police Department in Los Angeles County from 1995 to 1997, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office as reported by Patch. At the time of his 2022 arrest, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department reported that McGuire held active state licenses as both a private investigator and a private patrol operator, as detailed by Law & Crime.
After the victim's escape in June 2022, McGuire fled his Chino Hills home before being captured following a SWAT standoff at a Placentia residence in Orange County, according to CBS Los Angeles. Sheriff's deputies had responded to McGuire's Chino Hills home seven or eight times since early 2022 for reported domestic disturbances but were unable to substantiate any claims because the home was quiet and no one answered the door, Law & Crime reported. Shortly after his initial arraignment, the Chino Hills Police Department publicly released McGuire's photograph and urged any additional possible victims across San Bernardino County and neighboring jurisdictions to come forward, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office had amended its complaint against McGuire in July 2022, bringing the total to 32 felony counts, up from the 10 counts filed in the initial complaint the previous month. Now, with the LPS conservatorship in place, all of those charges related to disfigurement, torture, rape, drugging, and kidnapping have been dropped, closing the criminal case even as questions about McGuire's future dangerousness remain unresolved between prosecutors and the mental-health system tasked with his care.
