(Top left corner: Rebecca Spencer. Bottom left: Craig Price. Top centre: Craig Price. Below centre: Joan Heaton & her daughters, Jennifer & Melissa. Top right corner: Jennifer & Melissa. Collage created by me. Picture credits: Murderpedia & Medium)As with anyone who writes about true crime cases will tell you, it never gets easier and you never become immune to the shocking details of each case. With this story I found myself horrified and questioning how such evil could exist in this world and some people think that I'd be used to horrible stories by now. I see each case differently because they are different and I care about each of the victims and sharing their story. I've had many people contact me over the years actually thanking me for sharing the story of what happened to their loved one. A sad fact in our world is that many cases make the press and some families of victims are supported but then suddenly the world moves on and people stop talking about the innocent people who've been taken from us in the most horrendous ways possible. A lot of families don't get justice, some families have to sit and watch the monster who took their loved one be released from prison and able to go about their lives. Why should a murderer be given a second chance at life when their victim or victims can't see another sunset or enjoy precious moments?
I had a lady reach out to me because I had written about the death of her father. She thanked me for doing so because she was upset that nobody had talked about it in a very long time. Her father's horrific death occurred in the 1990's and his killer has been out now for a number of years. I can't imagine how that must feel to pick u a newspaper and see that the woman who murdered your father has since had plastic surgery and gotten married with a second chance at life. It doesn't seem fair. So, even though I have written about 100s of cases, I still remember them and I care about the people who are no longer here and the loved ones who had to go through such a horrific loss. It's important to tell these stories in respect of the victims and sharing their story. Nobody should ever forget what the evil killer/killers have done and the fact that we all need to be careful with our own safety.
In this post I return to writing about serial killers and to my surprise, not much is out there about this particular individual. I'm shocked to say the least because I own quite a number of Serial Killer encyclopedias and his name is only mentioned in one of them. This person is an absolute monster, one of the most frightening and disturbing individuals to have walked this earth and that's not all, his first known killing occurred when he was just 13 years old.
I am of course talking about Craig Price, a name that may be unfamiliar with a lot of you but when you read this post and check out the links below, you'll never forget him. Craig is currently 50 years old and to look at him you'd think that he couldn't hurt a fly but as we all know, you cannot judge a book by it's cover, especially when it comes to serial killers.
Not much is known about his past other than that he was a troubled child, always involved in petty crime. He was born on the 11th of October 1973 in Warwick, Rhode Island (USA) and his first known murder occurred when he was 13. Craig had broken into the home of a 27 year old woman by the name of Rebecca Spencer in part to commit theft but also murder. He had previously been stalking Rebecca and had taken to looking through her windows. It was a brutal killing with the poor young woman being stabbed to death 60 times. For a 13 year old child to have committed such a sickening murder it's just too evil and incomprehensible. As I said before, this was his first 'known' murder but it was as if he had either meticulously planned it or had done it before. There were no leads on the case and it remained unsolved for a period of time.
According to investigators, it would be two years later when Craig struck again, and again with Rebecca Spencer's murder, the scene was brutal but this time it was even more horrifying. In 1989 he broke into a neighbour's house and brutally murdered a 39 year old woman (Joan Heaton) and her two young daughters, 8 year old Melissa and 10 year old Jennifer. As if the terrifying details of Rebecca's murder was not enough, this sickening rampage was indescribable. Like Rebecca, Joan had been stabbed ferociously 60 times in front of her two daughters. Craig was known to have stabbed his victims with such force that the handles of the knives would break and stay inside the victims. He would use knives and weapons that he would find at the scene.
After the brutal murder of Joan, he turned his attentions to the two frightened girls. Both of the children were repeatedly stabbed continuously and he reportedly crushed 8 year old Melissa's skull. He then fled this nightmare scene and the bodies of Joan and her daughters were found a few days later by Joan's mother. The cops were quick in their investigation on this case which horrified and frightened the local community and beyond. During their investigation they questioned 15 year old Craig Price who feigned concern and disbelief at the murders. However, despite just being 15, the cops had their eye on him and noticed that he had an injury to his hand.
As the investigation deepened the trail led back to Craig Price and shocked the local community that this young boy could have done such a thing. Investigators also discovered the similarities that the Heaton murder scene had with the murder of Rebecca Spencer. With all the pieces falling into place, Craig confessed to all four murders and claimed that he killed the victims because he (as an African- American) had previously been subjected to relentless racial abuse at the hands of white people. He claimed that on one occasion a gang of white youths had tried to drag him into a van whilst shouting racial slurs. He was able to escape the incident but he said that it left him with an intense feeling for revenge. He had no personal connection to the victims who were all white females.
He had no remorse for anything that he had done and due to his age he was tried as a child in an American court of law. This meant that he could only be incarcerated until the age of 21 which terrified everyone especially as he began bragging that he couldn't wait to be released because he was going to ''make history''.
The local community was horrified at the possibility of Craig Price walking their streets again so they set up a campaign to try and ensure that he would not be set free either at the age of 21 or before then. Craig, having an unending thirst for violence could not stay out of trouble whilst in prison and had been involved in countless brawls, stabbings and trouble. He had to be moved around prisons because of his danger to the other inmates. He ended up being sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2019 for stabbing a fellow inmate.
Craig Price is one of the most frightening and dangerous serial killers that I have ever read or written about and to think that he carried out such sickening and heartless murders whilst he was just a child. In my view he should never be released, if he had carried out his crimes here in the UK I'm convinced he would have gotten a whole life order (meaning he would never be released for the safety of the public). It's plain to see that not only has he never shown remorse for the brutal murders of women and children, he's carried on with violence behind bars. His chilling words of wanting to make history if he is ever released doesn't bare thinking about. He is a ticking time-bomb and a danger to the public.
The disturbing murders of the innocent women and children should never be forgotten and the way the community rallied around in support of him not being released, must have been of some support to the grieving families of the deceased.
I for one will never forget this horrific case and I will be keeping an eye on any updates on this monster and praying that he never sees the outside of a prison wall again.
RIP to the known victims:
Rebecca Spencer
Joan Heaton
Jennifer Heaton
Melissa Heaton
Further Reading & Sources:
- The Big Book of Serial Killers by Jack Rosewood
Thank you for taking the time to read my latest true crime post, if you would like to comment on this case or any of the cases that I have previously covered, please do so in the comment section below. If you prefer to share your views in private, you can email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com or message me on my Socials
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Stay safe & I will see you (hopefully) in the next post x
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