March 08, 2005

Priest's alleged killer seeks to have case dismissed

WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By ADAM GORLICK
Associated Press Writer

WORCESTER, Mass.— The convicted murderer accused of killing pedophile priest John Geoghan asked a judge Tuesday to dismiss the charges, accusing prison officials of retaliating against him because he didn't plead guilty.

Joseph Druce, already serving a life sentence for murdering a man he thought was gay, allegedly beat and strangled Geoghan in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley on Aug. 23, 2003.

In a motion filed Tuesday, Druce said prison officials have made it impossible for him to participate in his own defense by trying to limit contact with his attorney and by removing legal documents from his cell.

Druce said he was barred from viewing a surveillance video from the day of Geoghan's killing without having a prison guard looking over his shoulder. The tape, which shows Druce leaving Geoghan's cell after the murder, is evidence in the case.

He said supervisors at Souza-Baranowski were retaliating against him for failing to heed their advice that he plead guilty to Geoghan's murder.

As part of the retaliation, Druce said, his "enemies" were transferred to his cell block. One of them "created a spear-type object, smeared it with feces and stabbed my foot with it as I passed by his cell," Druce said in an affidavit filed with his motion.

Posted by kshaw at March 8, 2005 05:40 PM