Reginald Claude Price, 37, worked as a salesman for a tobacco company but he also drove a taxi four nights a week for his brother Jim who owned the Pacific Coast Transportation Company. Reg Price had only been married for eight months and his wife was expecting their first child. They had approved plans for a new house and he was trying to earn extra money to build it. Mr. Price graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1932 with a bachelor's degree in Arts and Commerce, majoring in Economics with a minor in French. He was president of the tennis club, secretary of La Canadienne (the French language and literature club) and business manager of the student publications board. He also earned a sports letter in soccer. Mr. Price left home for his night shift on the evening of Saturday, September 30, 1945 telling his wife to expect him back about 5:30 a.m. "We were happy and laughing before Reg left," she told a reporter. "I never dreamed that I was never to see him alive again." Mr. Price was last seen by Jo Ireland, another driver about 3:40 a.m. There were perhaps four people in Mr. Price's cab -- Mr. Ireland couldn't tell how many for sure -- and he was driving slowly south in the 700 block of Granville Street. Mr. Price nodded and waved at Mr. Ireland through the open driver's window and did not seem to be in any distress. By 8 a.m. when he hadn't come home Mrs. Price became alarmed and called his brother Jim at Pacific Coast. The company had had no word from Mr. Price since Jo Ireland saw him. Pacific Coast drivers combed the city searching for him and other taxi companies were alerted to watch for his cab. However it was not until the next day, Monday, October 2, that a house painter named Joseph Austrup found Mr. Price's black 1942 Plymouth in the 4500 block of Quebec Street. Investigating what he thought was a stolen car Mr. Austrup found Mr. Price's body lying on the front seat under a green overcoat. He assumed that Mr. Price was asleep and called police, who discovered the murder. A neighbour told police that the car had been parked there since at least 7:30 a.m. The autopsy recovered four .38 calibre slugs from Mr. Price's body. He had been shot twice in the head and twice in the back. Powder burns on his chin and the side of his head showed that the gun barrel was less than an inch away when the trigger was pulled. There were also powder burns and a muzzle impression on his coat. The cab's meter registered $1.05, an amount that would cover the distance from downtown Vancouver to the residential district in the southeast of the city where the victim was found. At first it was believed that the killer had stolen Mr. Price's wallet and an estimated $200 to $300. However robbery was ruled out when Mrs. Price discovered that he had left his wallet and money on their dresser at home. [Next column]

Reginald Claude Price (Source: Vancouver Sun, October 1, 1945, p. 1.) The police then turned to vengeance or mistaken identity as possible motives. One lead caused them to look for suspects among race track bettors. On the supposition that Mr. Price might have been delivering liquor, police theorized that he could have been killed for his knowledge of a stash of illicit alcohol. No evidence to support either theory came to light. A youthful mental patient confessed to the murder but there was no corroborating evidence. A failed attempt to extort money from Jim Price was also ruled out as a motive. Two days after the murder a man who lived fourteen blocks from the scene found sixteen .38 cartridges "grouped" on the grass in front of his house. No connection could be established with the murder. Mr. Price's death was seen as part of a crime wave that claimed the lives of three other victims -- all of them children -- in the same month. As a result the coroner's jury felt obliged to recommend that the Vancouver city police force be increased "without further delay" and that "the full penalty of the law be given to those guilty of attacks on taxi drivers." Mr. Price's family offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of his killer. The Vancouver Taxi Owners Association contributed $500 and with other donations the fund reached $3,000 three days after the murder. In February, 1950, over four years after the murder, the Vancouver Sun published two lengthy articles reviewing the details of the case and offering an additional $1,000 for information. "Somebody Knows who killed Reg Price," concluded the Sun