Gabe Watson has been arrested at Los Angeles international airport moments after his Qantas flight from Melbourne touched down.
A warrant for his arrest was issued by Alabama authorities.
Alabama's attorney-general Troy King said 33-year-old Watson was indicted by an Alabama grand jury on capital murder in the course of kidnapping, and capital murder for pecuniary gain.
The charges were revealed publicly on Thursday after Watson's airport arrest.
The charges relate to the 2003 Queensland scuba diving death of Watson's then wife Tina while the newlyweds were on their honeymoon.
A team of three Queensland police officers and two Australian immigration officers escorted Watson on the Qantas flight.
Watson was transported from the airport to a Los Angeles police station in the city's downtown region.
It is likely Watson will remain behind bars in LA until a court hearing on Monday where it is expected an application to extradite him from California to Alabama will be approved.
Watson pleaded guilty last year in Australia to the manslaughter of his wife of 11 days, 26-year-old Tina, but Alabama was not happy with what it perceived as a light sentence and set about laying it's own charges against him.
