WORCESTER (MA)
Boston Herald
By Associated Press
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - Updated: 04:08 PM EST
WORCESTER, Mass. - The convicted murderer accused in the jailhouse killing of John Geoghan said Tuesday that he was beaten by prison guards after he was pulled from the former priest's cell.
Joseph Druce, who is already serving a life sentence for another murder, is asking a judge to dismiss the charges that he killed Geoghan, a convicted pedophile, in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.
He testified during a hearing in Worcester Superior Court that he has been abused and harassed by officials at the maximum-security prison in Shirley and barred from meeting privately with his lawyers.
Druce said guards handcuffed and shackled him after he was taken from Geoghan's cell following the Aug. 23, 2003 killing. ``They walked me out and around the corner,'' he said, ``and that's when my head was pummeled.''
He said the beating resulted in a cracked or broken rib.