5 YOUR COMMUNITY OERSIEN SNC EF OF NORTH SNS WES? September 12, 1986 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Custody battle catalyst for slaughter VAM COU = Distribution 986-1337 84 pages 25¢ ober: FI = pees is eS SOS errs Television cable cut: 3 produced PAGE 21 of four children - THEN HIMSELF DESPONDENT OVER the break-up of his marriage, Ronald Pryce killed the four children be had with his 23- year-old wife — sparing five from a previous marriage — before he killed himself Wednesday. North Vancouver RCMP Staff Sgt. Tom Hill confirmed Thursday that Pryce, 42, only shot the children, ages one to five, that he had with his wife Darlene. Two of Pryce's other five children lived with him and Darlene. Dead are Clayton, 5, Krystale, 4, Khenaslle, 2, and Robert An- thony Clinton, who had just turn- ed one last Friday. Police say Pryce, an unemployed mechanic, had fought with his wife over custody of the children late Tuesday and carly Wednesday. Neighbor Greg Small said Pryce had totd him recently he was also involved with a custody battle with his first wife. Befor> committing suicide, Pryce set fire to his two-storey North Vancouver house at approx- imately 12:50 p.m, Pryce killed the children with a .38-calibre Special gun shortly after he picked up Clayton from his kindergarten class at Ridgeway Elementary. But he did not seek out his 10-year-old daughter Melissa, from another marriage, who was also a _ student at Ridgeway. Hill said the other chi'd living with the family at 317 West “ourth Street, 15-year-old Drew, was out of town at the time. Hill did not know the names of Pryce’s other three children, or their ages, but said they did not live with the family. Neighbor Jeff Guss said Darlene SON Clayton Pryce, age five. Pryce banged on his door Wed- nesday morning around J! a.m. and asked to use the telephone to call police. “She was pretty shaky,” Guss. “She said he had a gun on her kids and was going to shoot them if he saw any cops come around. | don’t know how she got out, but she escaped. said ~ RON PRYCE...remembered by neighburs as ‘‘dedicated’’ but ‘unpredictable’. “She said he had her tied up the night before and when she tried to get away he put a cloth in her mouth, and taped her ankles. She was pretty beaten up — he was hit- ting her with a leather club all over her legs and choking her.”’ Guss said he overheard Darlene tell police that she had left her husband a month earlier and had returned Tuesday to discuss custody of the children, “She said everything was guing okay until he said, ‘I have to go to the kitchen and get something.’ He came back with a gun and told her, ‘You might as well shoot me,’ but she wouldn’t,’’ Guss repeated, Acquaintance Roxanne McNeil said she had speken to Pryce that morning around 8 a.m. to see if Melissa was ready to walk to school with her daughter. “He was fine. There was nothing to indicate there was anything wrong,’’ said McNeil. “T knew he went through bouts of deep depression, but [ never thought it would lead to something like this. ‘He was an excellent father who really cared for his children,’’ she said. Head teacher from Ridgeway School’s primary division Winnie Bradford said Pryce usually picked up Clayton after class around 11:30 a.m. and would chat with kindergarten teacher Joan Burdett. But on Wednesday he was late in arriving. “She (Burdett) took Clayton to the office and called his home but there was no answer. When she got back to the classroom she saw the dad outside and he must have been walking away,’’ Bradford said. “She said, ‘There’s your dad — you can catch him if you hurry,’ and Clayton went running out to him. That's what's so tragic. He was minutes away from being sav- ed. “Clayton was just the happiest little fellow. He was so keei. to come to school,’’ Bradford said. Next-door-neighbor Duncan McLean said the children often visited his home because they en- joyed playing in the yard. “Whenever we had a clean-up they would all want to help. They were beautiful, happy kids and the mother loved them all incredibly. She really worked hard,"* he said. McLean said Melissa was par- ticularly caring of her younger brothers and sisters. “{ remeinber a time when the baby fell over in a walker and the little girl (Melissa) came out and was just in tears. She was so con- cerned for their safety. “She really knew how to handle them and protect them.”’ DARLENE Pryce, 23, mother. wes - . NEWS photo Stuart Davis THE EMPTY house at 317 West 4th Street stands as a mute witness to the tragic events (hat unfolded within its walls Wednesday. Ron Pryce shot four of his young children, set fire to the home, and then turaed a gun on himself, committing suicide. Killer jailed for ‘83 fraud FRIENDS say killer Ron Pryce had a hard time coping with unemployment, and the pressure wore him down. Friend Donna Fraser said Pryce was a man ‘‘who had a lot of bad breaks in life,"’ including a brush with the law. In April, 1983, Pryce was jailed for four months for defrauding the Ministry of Human Resources of $10,062. Pryce was found guilty of col- lecting social assistance while working part-time at the North Shore News, as a zone manager in the circulation department from 1979 to 1980. Pryce was fired from the North Shore News in August, 1982 after it was discovered he was not pay- ing carriers their salaries. He worked at the News from 1978 to 1982. “think the pressure of living on social assistance can wear down any man,"’ said Fraser. “It’s a real pity. He loved peo- See Pryce Page 4