The pastor who gave gang boss Cornelius Price his last rites has revealed he is “speechless” when informed of the psycho gangster’s evil background - but that the ruthless criminal “has repented his sins.”
The pastor did not know about Price's criminality before praying with him on his deathbed.
Drogheda gang boss Price - who was heavily involved in organised crime and believed to be responsible for at least six murders including that of tragic Willie Maughan and his pregnant partner Ana Varsalane - died in a Welsh hospital on Sunday.
READ MORE: Cornelius Price was 'an absolute evil psychopath' says ex-Garda Commissioner after gangster's death
The psycho gang boss was facing a trial in the UK for his part in a kidnap and blackmail plot but became ill in October 2021 with a brain disease and never stood trial.
The feared gangster - who lived at a fortified compound off the M1 in Gormanston, Co Meath which was described in an affidavit by a senior detective as “an enclave for criminality” - was behind much of the chaos in the Drogheda feud.
The 40-year-old fled to the UK in 2020 shortly after the gruesome murder and dismemberment of Drogheda teen Keane Mulready-Woods by slain serial killer Robbie Lawlor as there were threats on his own life.
Now, Reverend Dr Alex Johnson, pastor at Healing Nations Ministry in Liverpool in the UK, who anointed Price on his deathbed in a Welsh hospital last Sunday and prayed with him has revealed Price has “repented his sins and received Jesus when I anointed him.”
He also said he was “speechless” when informed of the evil mobster’s background by this reporter and the murders he was involved in when interviewed today, Rev Dr Johnson remarked: “Right, ok, I am speechless. You’ve caught me on the hop.”
When asked if he knew of Price’s criminal background would he have still anointed and prayed with him, Rev Dr Johnson said: “Absolutely. I still would have gone to him. He has repented his sins. He repented through me in prayer and I anointed him.
“I am fully convinced he could hear and understand every word I was saying. I believe he received salvation,” adding: “ "Who could say it was evil leaving him? My gift is healing. The guilt of sin left him.”
When informed that the remains of tragic Willie and Ana - both who were murdered by Price and his gang - still have not been found, Rev Dr Johnson said: “It would not surprise me they will be found.
“Because the things that were happening at the hospital were supernaturally miraculous when family members there found God, God says things that are hidden should be made known.”
He also revealed the moment Price - who was known as Nellie and Nailyboy - passed away.
“Nellie was gasping for breath. I prayed with him and we [his family] all began singing “I have decided to follow Jesus”. His eyes looked directly at me and his eyes looked over my head looking at something behind me and then he was gone.”
“I told his family "don't start crying, just tell him how much you love him and you are going to see him again and he will hear everything you are saying.”
And in a message to the heartbroken families of Price’s victims, who want answers, including Joseph and Helen - the parents of missing Willie and Ana - he said: “For those families I can only say if I meet them God will take all the anxiety out of them and allow them to get to a place where they can forgive.”
A sworn enemy of slain serial killer Robbie Lawlor, who was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020, Price rose to prominence in 2006 at the age of 25 when he teamed up with paralysed Drogheda mob boss Owen Maguire to form the Price-Maguire Organised Crime Group - controlling the sale and distribution of drugs in the East and North East of the country including Louth, Meath and Dublin.
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