Utah man murdered by ex-partner's boyfriend 'wanted to help people'. Who was Ted Price?

Show Caption

Ted Price was turning his life around.

The 40-year-old left his longtime partner and went back to school to become a radiology technician. He would quiz family members on facts about the human body.

"He was enjoying it, and he was reconnecting with friends back in Utah. We were thrilled for him," Ted's sister, Karen Price, told Paste BN in a recent interview.

He didn't know it, but Price was on a path that would lead to his murder.

Price had found a school in Arizona that would help him complete his education faster, but it meant temporarily moving in with his ex. When he got there, he found that she was living in a drug den. The two got into a fight that would end with her new boyfriend driving Price into the Arizona desert and killing him.

Now 23 years later, Arizona is set to execute Aaron Gunches for Price's murder, a fate that he has been seeking for years. Gunches most recently waived his right for a clemency hearing, one of his last chances for a reprieve before his execution by lethal injection on Wednesday.

As his execution approaches, Paste BN spoke with Price's family to remember who he was and what they lost.

Family describes Ted Price as kind, caring man

A native of Utah, Price was a quiet and kind person who loved cats and muscle cars, his family told Paste BN.

"He treated everybody with kindness, he was fun, he was funny," said Price's sister, Shelia Banaszek. "When he had a chance to reinvent himself, he chose the medical field because he wanted to help people."

Karen Price recalled one time when her brother was asked to visit the grandmother of a longtime friend in a nursing home. He ended up visiting all the residents at the home.

"(He was) making friends wherever he went. Nobody could say anything bad about him," Banaszek said.

He was excited about the track he was on, after being the stay-at-home father to his ex's two children for 10 years. His family was proud of him.

"He used to call me after all of his tests, saying, 'Hey, are you planning on coming out ... when I'm going to be valedictorian?'" Banaszek said. "That's how well Ted was doing."

Price moved to Arizona to advance schooling

Ted Price decided to move down to the Phoenix area after he found a program that would allow him to finish school faster and receive grants, according to his family. Price asked his ex if he could stay with her before moving into housing provided by the school and she agreed.

Upon arriving, Price found that she was living in a flop house for drug addicts in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. She had started using methamphetamines during the separation and had even done the drug with her 14-year-old daughter in front of her son, investigators told the family.

"Ted did not involve himself with those kinds of activities and he probably showed up and was like, 'What the heck like, this is not acceptable,'" Karen Price said.

Ted Price had been the stay-at-home father to woman's two children for 10 years prior to the separation, and he saw the kids as part of his life, Karen Price told Paste BN.

"It makes sense that he would be willing to protect those kids, even though the relationship wasn't the best," she said.

The family said he was not aware of what the situation he was walking into when he moved to Mesa, and investigators told the family that he demanded that she change her ways.

"There's a good possibility he was a little naive in thinking that he could just threaten to call CPS (Child Protective Services) and (his ex) would be like, 'Oh gosh darn,' and not do something about it," Karen Price said.

What happened to Ted Price?

Gunches pleaded guilty to killing Ted Price following an argument between Price and his ex that ended with her hitting Price with a telephone, according to court records.

When Gunches arrived at the apartment on the night of Nov. 14, 2002, he directed two of the ex's roommates to put Price and his belongings in the ex's car to take him to the bus station. Upon arriving at the bus station, Gunches said he did not have money for a bus ticket and ordered the roommate who was driving them to leave Mesa, according to court records.

When they reached a desolate desert area, Gunches and Price got out of the car, and Gunches shot Price four times, the roommate told investigators.

Gunches has always admitted to the murder. And following his guilty plea, Gunches consistently waived his right to counsel, mitigation, and post-conviction litigation, saying that he should be executed so Price's family can have justice.

During his sentencing Gunches told jurors, "Do what you’re going to do," according to the Arizona Mirror. The presiding judge commented that Gunches was "committing suicide by jury."

Family weighs in on whether execution is correct punishment

Karen Price said that Gunches' execution would end her dealing with the aftermath of her brother's murder, but "it's not closure."

"There's no such thing," Price said.

She told Paste BN that she and other members of the family tracked Gunches' status in the Arizona prison system and that the family was angry when he was moved to more favorable conditions.

"We wanted that man in solitary confinement. He ought to suffer," Price said. "He ought to be the most miserable human being on the face of the Earth for what he did to our brother, and we wanted that for him."

She said that the process of keeping track of Gunches is "emotionally taxing," and has long been ready for his execution.

"The people that are against the death penalty are like, 'Well, it's not bringing the victim back.' Well, no (expletive), it's not bringing Ted back," Karen Price said. "Nothing will bring Ted back, but the person who killed Ted is getting what he's supposed to get, according to the law of Arizona."

Price's mother, Phyllis Price Tueller, told Paste BN that she and Ted's biological son Justin felt that executing Gunches was not enough of a punishment for what he did.

"I feel that he wants this execution because he's tired of being on death row," Price's mother said in the interview. "I don't want him executed. I want him to suffer."

The majority of the family, Karen Price said, wants to see the execution carried out.

"We want to be done with him, to not have to think about him anymore, to not have to get any calls from victims advocates," Price said "We just want to be done."