PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) — Earlier this month, charges against Adam Price, the Bellevue father whose children were found dead in his home, were amended from felony child abuse to first-degree murder by the state of Nebraska. According to Sarpy County Court documents, the amended charges have been accepted by the court.
The court said, "This matter is before the court upon the preliminary hearing held October 20, 2021. The Court, having taken the matter under advisement, finds the State established a crime has been committed and there is probable cause to believe that Defendant committed it. As such, the Court finds probable cause exists to support the Amended Information previously filed herein."
Price's two children, five-year-old Emily and three-year-old Theodore, were found dead in his Bellevue home during a welfare check in May.
He was later arrested on a fugitive warrant in Pacifica, California and transferred to Sarpy County.
He appeared in court today because of a motion to amend his charges from felony child abuse to two counts of first-degree murder.
Dr. Jeremy berg, a forensic pathologist, testified and said he believes the deaths were caused by smothering, and said it would likely take less than a minute to be fatal.
Prosecutors argued that Price would have had enough time to consider his actions during that time-frame.
They also argue that even if the killing of the first child was a rash action, there would have been a conscious decision to kill the second child.
The defense said there is not enough evidence that Price caused the deaths, and that premeditation would need to take place before any smothering occurred.
The court ultimately sided with the prosecution, saying there was enough evidence to move forward with the new charges.
On the concept of premeditation, Nebraska state statute says:
"No particular length of time for premeditation is required, provided that the intent to kill is formed before the act is committed and not simultaneously with the act that caused the death. The time required to establish premeditation may be of the shortest possible duration and may be so short that it is instantaneous, and the design or purpose to kill may be formed upon premeditation and deliberation at any moment before the homicide is committed."
Price himself has said he is responsible for his children’s deaths, but does not specifically admit to killing them.
According to a Bellevue police detective who spoke in court, Price told California law enforcement officials that he "would do it again."
Read the court documents here or below:
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