Craig Price accused in prison stabbing

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - One of Rhode Island's most notorious killers, Craig Price, is now accused of stabbing a prison guard in Florida, where he is serving time.

According to Tracey E. Zeckhausen from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, Price and another inmate were involved in a fight Wednesday morning.

While trying to break up the fight, one of the correctional officers was stabbed in the finger by a handmade shank in Price's possession, Zeckhausen said.

Price, now 35, murdered four of his Warwick neighbors in the 1980s. First, he stabbed to death Rebecca Spencer when he was 13.

That crime remained unsolved until two years later, when at 15-years-old Price was arrested for the murders of Joan Heaton and her daughters, Jennifer and Melissa. It was then he admitted to all four murders.

He's been in prison since 1989 and was transferred to the undisclosed Florida prison in October, 2004.

In the wake of the prison fight, Price has been transferred to another facility. Zeckhausen said Price has been booked twice for fighting since leaving the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

A.T. Wall, of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, said charges have yet to be filed.

“Upon the completion of investigation, the attorney general may opt to file criminal charges in the state of Florida,” Wall said.

He was recently denied parole in March and his current good time release date is in April of 2020. Wall, however, said that date may change after his recent behavior.

“Should Florida pose additional time, then he would be held in Florida beyond that expiration date,” Wall said.