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Craig Price’s Murder Spree

Sometime in 1987, 13-year-old Price got into the habit of peeping on his neighbor, 27-year-old Rebecca Spencer, a mother of two who lived two doors down from his residence.

On July 27th, 1987, he broke into Spencer’s home, took a knife from her kitchen, and attacked her. The fierce attack left her dead with 58 stab wounds. Luckily, her children didn’t wake up, and they were unharmed.

Detectives had no idea who was behind the crime, and it went unsolved.

By 1989, Price was a 15-year-old high school freshman. He played football and had a lot of friends. He seemed like a normal kid outside of some legal issues he had after getting busted for burglaries.

But he wasn’t normal; he had a thirst for blood, and after getting away with murder once, the hulking teen decided to kill again.

On September 1st, 1989, he got high on marijuana and LSD, then broke into the home of his 39-year-old neighbor Joan Heaton. He stabbed Heaton 57 times, beat her, and strangled her to death.

When he looked up and saw her 10-year-old daughter Jennifer watching, he knew he couldn’t let her live to identify him, so he stabbed her 62 times killing her.

7-year-old Melissa met the same fate as her mother and sister.

During the brutal attack, Price used several knives, with some of the blades breaking inside his victims.

Heaton’s mother and sister went to the home on September 4th because they hadn’t heard from her. They rang the doorbell, but there was no response. They decided to go inside, and they saw blood everywhere. They saw the bodies of their loved ones and immediately contacted authorities.

Investigation into the four murder

Early into their investigation of the triple murder, police knew it was connected to Spencer’s murder two years early, meaning a serial killer was on the loose and would likely kill again if he wasn’t caught.

They brought in an FBI profiler, and he told them to look for someone with a bandaged hand as the killer likely cut himself during the frenzied attack.

On September 5th, 1989, two detectives were driving near the crime scene when they saw Price outside. One of the detectives had coached Price in basketball, so he stopped to talk to him.

The detective noticed a bandage on Price’s hand and asked about it. The teen claimed he punched his hand through a car window a few nights earlier on Keeley Street after getting drunk.

Detectives didn’t believe him, so they looked into his story and learned that there were no reports of a car being vandalized on the street Craig mentioned.

They brought Craig in for questioning a few days later. He stuck to his story about punching through a car window. He proceeded to take a polygraph test, which he failed.

Police didn’t have enough evidence to arrest Price, but after talking to his friend, they learned he had bragged about killing Spencer in 1987. Detectives got a search warrant, and on September 17th, 1989, they went to the home where Price lived with his parents. In a shed behind the house, they found bloody knives, clothing, gloves, and other incriminating items.

Price was once again taken to the station. He knew he was caught, so he spilled the beans and told detectives about his murder spree as his emotional mother stood by and listened.

He claimed the triple murder started as a burglary, but Joan and her kids woke up, so he had to eliminate them.

Other reports indicate he had built up hatred toward white people because he experienced racism since he was young. In one incident, someone called him racial slurs and tried to run him over.

He reportedly had an interaction with Heaton and her children two weeks before he killed them. He helped one of the girls fix a chain on their bike and felt that Heaton was looking down on him because he was black.

Legal Proceedings

Rhode Island laws at that time would not allow Craig to be tried as an adult because he was under 16 when his crimes were committed. He was convicted in juvenile court and would be released when he was 21, and his record would be sealed.

As part of his sentence, he was also ordered to undergo a psych exam and therapy.

Knowing he would be out in a few years, he taunted the media on one occasion, yelling, “When I get out, I’m going to smoke a bomber.”

He also promised to “make history” upon his release.

Price Screw himself over time and time again

A month after Price’s arrest, frustrated state legislatures changed the laws to make sure teens who committed heinous crimes would be punished to the fullest extent in the future.

Unfortunately, these changes couldn’t be applied to price cases. They had to find another way to keep him in prison, but they didn’t have to do much, Price screwed himself over.

In June 1994, weeks before he was set to be released, he was hit with assault and extortion charges for threatening Officer Petrella at the facility where he was housed.

Authorities also learned Price was refusing his court order to undergo a psych exam and therapy. He was afraid that they would use this to put him in a psych ward so they could hold him past his 21st birthday.

That decision came back to haunt him. He was charged with contempt and sentenced to an extra year in prison.

In the fall of 1994, Price was found guilty of threatening Officer Petrella. Price was unhappy with the conviction, and before his sentencing, he ranted about how he paid his debt to society and how he was being targeted due to the color of his skin.

He stated, “The media had once again done a good job of creating a monster.” Not just a bogeyman, but a black bogeyman.”

The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison, with eight years suspended, meaning he would be in prison until he was 29.

Luckily for society, Price continued to be a complete idiot and couldn’t stay out of trouble.

In 1996, he was issued a probation violation for biting an officer’s finger. He was given another year in prison.

In 1997, he was hit with contempt charges against him for failing to comply with his psychiatric treatment. He was given another 10 years.

In 1999 and 2001, he got an additional four years for verbal and physical attacks on corrections officers.

He was sent to Florida in 2004 and continued getting in trouble.

In 2009, he was busted for battery, resisting with violence, and several other charges. He got an extra two and a half years.

On April 4th, 2017, he stabbed an inmate with a 5-inch knife he had made. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 additional years in prison.

In the past seven years, he hasn’t had any notable offenses.

Potential Release

Now 51, he is being held in the Florida Department of Corrections. His release date is scheduled for August 30th, 2043.

Prosecutors in Rhode Island don’t plan to let him walk free in 2043. They are hoping to bring him back home and prosecute him for probation violations for the crimes he has committed in Florida.

If they can do that, Price will likely never be free again.