On a quiet street in Warwick, Rhode Island, the sense of security for a neighborhood was shattered in early September of 1989. Concern grew for 39-year-old Caucasian female Joan Heaton when her mother, Marie Bouchard, and sister, Mary Lou, could not reach her over the Labor Day weekend. On September 4th, they went to Joan's home on Metropolitan Drive to check on her and her two young daughters, Jennifer, 10, and Melissa, 8.
Upon arriving, they found Joan's car in the driveway but
received no answer at the door. Letting themselves in, they were met with a horrific and grisly scene. The house was in disarray with blood splattered throughout, and a disturbing odor filled the air. Joan was discovered in the hallway, her body concealed under blood-soaked sheets. Nearby lay the bodies of her two daughters. The brutality of the attack was immediately apparent; Joan had been stabbed numerous times, strangled, and bitten. Her daughters had also suffered violent and fatal stab wounds.
The ensuing police investigation quickly focused on a neighbor, 15-year-old Craig Price. Price, who lived just a few houses away, was questioned by police who noticed a cut on his hand. After providing a suspicious explanation for the injury, he was brought in for further questioning and ultimately confessed to the murders of Joan Heaton and her two daughters. He revealed that he had broken into the Heaton home to commit a burglary when Joan discovered him. A violent struggle ensued in which he first attacked Joan and then her children when they came to their mother's aid.
Price also confessed to another murder he had committed two years prior, in 1987, when he was just 13 years old. His victim in that case was another neighbor, 27-year-old Rebecca Spencer. Due to his age at the time of the crimes, Price was tried as a juvenile. This resulted in a significantly shorter sentence than he would have received as an adult, causing public outrage and leading to changes in Rhode Island's laws regarding juvenile offenders.
