Sergeant Hugh Blackwood Price (A/22283) served in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps during the Second World War. Born on 16th December 1899, he was the son of William James Price and Sarah Ann Price (née McKee) of Ashview House, Lisbarnett, Co. Down, and a brother of Elizabeth P. Donnan of Comber, Co. Down.
Price died on 18th August 1945 aged 45 years old. He was the 2nd victim of one of Canada’s first serial killers, known as “The Slasher”, who carried out several attacks in Windsor, Ontario in 1945-1946.
Early Life
During The Great War, Hugh Blackwood Price had served alongside many of his fellow countrymen in the ranks of the Ulster Volunteer Force. His brother John “Johnny” Price died in June 1916, while serving in France. Following the war, Hugh emigrated to Canada, living first in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In the 1930s, he moved to Windsor, Ontario. There, he became something of a local celebrity, entertaining as an astrology act, dressed in a turban and flowing gowns. As “Professor Cosmo”, he performed in restaurants, gazing into his crystal ball and predicting the fortunes of diners. He also wrote an astrology column for The Windsor Star.
In May 1940, Price rejoined the military. As a member of the Essex Scottish Regiment, he served in the Canadian Army Service Corps as he was too old for Infantry duty. He spent most of the Second World War in mess tents, providing an opportunity to socialise with his fellow soldiers.
There was an air of mystery surrounding Price, in particular when it came to finances. He claimed to have received a large inheritance of £20,000 from his father who died in 1941. Yet, others claimed his younger friends in the Essex Scottish Regiment owed him around £50. Whatever his financial situation, he made plans to resume the career of “Professor Cosmo” once the war was over.
Return to Canada
On 7th August 1945, Sergeant Hugh Blackwood Price returned to the Canadian National Station. He received a “Welcome Home Basket” along with an embrace from a Red Cross Nurse. At the age of 45 years old, Price was one of the older returning soldiers although he had no wife or family at the station greet him on his return. That night, he joined the crowds celebrating in the street along Oullette Avenue. He later finished the night alone in the Active Service Club.
The following 10 days saw the Irish man find a job shifting barrels around a cold-storage warehouse. He was a muscular man of around 5’8 and 180lbs. During this time, he rented a room on Church Street. The landlady noted that Price neither smoke nor drank, but kept a bottle of liquor in his room. In statements to the police, she commented that he kept late hours and “prowled about all hours of the night”.
There were no photographs of family or friends in Price’s room. However, he often mentioned relatives in Northern Ireland and his fiancée Miss Mabel Gulliver in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At 2030hrs on 17th August 1945, Sergeant Price left his Church Street room for the last time. Sometime later, Lance Corporal Eugene Doe had seen Price walking downtown with a fellow soldier of around 18 or 19 years old.
The Slasher
Around 0115hrs on 18th August 1945, Ernest White was making his way home across wasteland off Sandwich Street. He noticed the wristwatch of a man glinting under a streetlight. Thinking the man to have fallen asleep, he continued home and made a call to the police. Detectives Sam Royan and Jim Hill arrived soon after and discovered the body of Sergeant Price.
There were clear signs a struggle had taken place yet robbery was clearly not the motive. Price still wore his wristwatch and his wallet carried his military identification. The violence inflicted on the former Canadian Army Sergeant shocked the police and the public.
Price sustained 2 major stab wounds in the back and 9 further wounds in the chest. At the time, the police suggested he would have bled to death while the killer watched. Price received further stab wounds to the heart and throat post-mortem. The most chilling factor was that the body lay only 150 yards from where Frank Sciegelski had been stabbed to death only days before.
The 2 crimes were clearly linked and the killer became known as “The Slasher”. The hype and frenzy whipped up in newspapers such as The Windsor Star hindered the police investigation. Local children began to play “Slasher” instead of traditional games like “Cowboys and Indians”. Fear gripped the streets of Windsor, Ontario and the police made little headway with the case.
Recommended Reading: The Slasher Killings: A Canadian Sex-crime Panic, 1945-1946 by Patrick Brode.
The Last Post
On Tuesday 21st August, Sergeant Hugh Blackwood Price’s funeral took place at the soldiers’ plot at Grove Cemetery, Windsor, Ontario. With the furore of an ongoing investigation, very few people attended the service. A pair of officers from the Essex Scottish Regiment accompanied a Regimental Bugler in uniform. An employee of the funeral home filled in as a final pallbearer. The sounding of “The Last Post” was almost lost in the din from a nearby scrapyard.
Before the murder of Hugh Price, “The Slasher” was said to have attacked George Mannie and murdered Frank Sciegelski. A couple of further attacks on Alexander Voligny and Joseph Gelencser took place in 1946. These final 2 attacks left both victims injured but alive. It was their witness statements that led to the solving of the case. Under lengthy questioning and requestioning both men stated that a young man had approached them looking for sex. Admitting to any homosexual activity in Canada in 1946 could have landed both Voligny and Gelencser in prison themselves.
Arrest and Trial
With photos of the “Slasher’s” weapons in newspapers, the offering of a $3,000 reward brought forward new information from Dorothy Sears in July 1946. She recognised the knife used in the Gelencser attack as one belonging to her brother-in-law Ronald George Sears of 261 Cameron Street. Within 45 minutes, the 18-year-old, described as a “good-looking, moody youth” was under arrest. He fit the description of “The Slasher” and over the course of intensive 7-hour questioning, Sears began to confess to his crimes.
He corroborated the claims of Voligny and Gelenscer. In his confession, he added that he had also lured George Mannie, Frank Sciegelski, and Hugh Price with the promise of sexual activity in the area around Ambassador’s Bridge. To his mind, all the victims were “sex perverts” and he stated, he had been sexually assaulted as a young boy by an older man. The interview ended when Sears collapsed and began to vomit. Those in the interrogation room claimed Sears was on the verge of a physical and mental breakdown.
Recommended Reading: Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder by Lee Mellor.
At 1730hrs on 18th September 1946, jury foreman Grover Johnson announced they had found Ronald George Sears guilty of the murder of Hugh Blackwood Price. Justice Dalton Cortwright Wells sentenced Sears to death by hanging to take place on 3rd December 1946. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal saved Sears from the gallows 13 days before he was due to hang. The 5 Justices stated they were not satisfied that his confession to the murder was made voluntarily.
Sears’ lawyer Arthur Martin had declared his client had no recollection of any events following his arrest, and therefore no memory of the confession. He acknowledged the signature was Sears’ but the young man had no knowledge of the statements made in the document. The confession was the only evidence pointing towards Sears’ guilt in the Price case.
Although cleared of the murder of Sergeant Price, Sears also stood charged with the attack on Joseph Gelencser. For that attack, a jury found him guilty on 5th May 1947. By then, prison had already taken its toll on Sears’ physical and mental health although medics declared him fit to stand trial. He received a 12-year sentence at Kingston Penitentiary. Within the first few months, however, authorities transferred Sears to Penetanguishene Psychiatric Hospital. It was there he died in 1956 after contracting tuberculosis. The “Slasher” mania had finally come to an end and Hugh Blackwood Price, the entertainer, the Army veteran, the astrologer could rest in peace.
Hugh Blackwood Price’s grave is in Section 14, Grave 13 of Grove Cemetery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His headstone bears the inscription:
Ever remembered by his loving mother, brother and sisters. Lisbarnett, N.I.