Adam Lee Price (right) in a mugshot (Sarpy County Law Enforcement Center), Theodore (top left) and (bottom left) Emily Price (KETV/screengrabs)
A Nebraska 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 life without the possibility of parole on Monday in Sarpy County.
Adam Lee Price, who will turn 39 in just over two weeks from now, was found guilty by a jury of his peers in February of murdering 5-year-old daughter Emily Price and 3-year-old son Theodore Price before tucking the children back into bed to make it appear as if they were asleep in May 2021.
Nebraska prison records reviewed by Law&Crime confirm that Price was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Monday for his first-degree murder convictions.
The case established that Price murdered the children, who were “best friends,” at his Bellevue home before withdrawing cash from a bank and going on the run to California, where he was arrested.
Once in custody, the double-murder suspect confessed that the slayings were premeditated, law enforcement said.
Testimony revealed that when a detective asked Price if “[k]illing the kids was more about you than killing the kids,” the then suspect replied: “Yes, it was not a spur of the moment thing.”
The detective testified next that the since convicted killer was remorseless when when asked if he “could see doing the day over again.”
“I would do it again,” Price answered, according to the detective.
The medical examiner who conducted the autopsies on Emily and Theodore determined the cause of death was asphyxiation. That doctor told authorities that killing in the manner that Price killed his children takes significant time and effort.
Medical experts said it “takes about a minute for someone to be rendered unconscious and then a minute to two minutes after that to be killed” by smothering, prosecutors said.
Officers with the Bellevue Police Department twice responded to calls 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, nearly three years ago.
The children’s mother Mary Nielsen, Price’s ex-wife, was concerned and called 911 after not hearing from her children for several days. She and Price were divorced and shared custody of the children. A provision of the custody-sharing agreement required each parent to have daily contact with the children when they were in the custody of the other parent. The children were supposed to be with Price in Nebraska for a week-long visit.
“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.”
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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