Adam Lee Price (right) in a photograph taken at Sarpy County Law Enforcement Center, with Theodore (top left) and Emily Price (bottom left) (KETV/screengrabs)
A Nebraska father who was previously found guilty of smothering and killing his two young children, and had confessed that he “would do it again,” has been imprisoned for life without the chance of parole.
Adam Lee Price, who will be 39 years old in just over two weeks, was convicted by a jury in February of murdering 5-year-old daughter Emily Price and 3-year-old son Theodore Price, and then placing the children back into bed to make it seem as though they were sleeping in May 2021.
Nebraska prison records confirmed that Price was given a life sentence without parole on Monday for his first-degree murder convictions.
The case revealed that Price murdered the children, who were “best friends,” at his Bellevue home before withdrawing cash from a bank and fleeing to California.Additionally, medical experts said it takes about a minute for someone to be made unconscious and then a further one to two minutes to be killed by suffocation.Officers from the Bellevue Police Department twice responded to requests for a wellness check on Price’s home in the 2700 block of Alberta Avenue on the evening of May 15 and the early morning of May 16 in 2021. The mother of the children, Mary Nielsen, Price’s ex-wife, called 911 after not hearing from her children for several days, as their custody-sharing agreement required daily contact with both parents..
“If anyone has heard from Adam or seen him or the kids, or seen him post on Facebook in the last 24 hours, can you please let me know? He’s supposed to contact me every day when he has the kids per court order and I haven’t heard from him in two days,” Mary Nielsen wrote on her Facebook page at the time.
A neighbor found the terrible situation after entering Price’s unlocked home at Nielsen’s request on the morning of May 16, 2021, leading authorities to start a murder investigation.
Price, on his part, had already escaped to Pacifica, Calif., but he was arrested and sent back to Nebraska, where he has been in custody ever since.
Unless there is a successful appeal, Price will be in a prison cell for the remainder of his life.
During his sentencing hearing, Price stated “I always have and always will love my wife and kids,”
KETV stated
. “[P]lease pray for them.”
A father convicted months ago of smothering and killing his two young children following a chilling confession that he “would do it again” was locked up for the rest of time.
“If anyone has heard from Adam or seen him or the kids … or seen him post on Facebook in the last 24 hours can you please let me know? He’s supposed to contact me every day when he has the kids per court order and I haven’t heard from him in two days,” Mary Nielsen wrote on her Facebook page at the time.
A neighbor discovered the worst after walking into Price’s unlocked house at Nielsen’s request on the morning of May 16, 2021, leading authorities to begin a murder investigation.
Price, for his part, had already fled to Pacifica, Calif., but he was taken into custody and extradited to Nebraska, where he has remained in custody ever since.
BREAKING: Adam Price, the father of two, arrested in California after his children were found dead in his Bellevue home — is back in Nebraska. He’s just been booked into the Sarpy County Jail. Deputies brought him back to face charges tonight. @WOWT6News pic.twitter.com/nYWIjS76uU
— Brian Mastre WOWT (@brianmastrewowt) May 28, 2021
Barring a successful appeal, Price will spend the rest of his days in a prison cell.
At his sentencing hearing, Price claimed “I always have and always will love my wife and kids,” KETV reported. “[P]lease pray for them.”