WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com
WORCESTER— On more than one occasion, Department of Correction employees at the state prison in Walpole recommended to Joseph L. Druce that he fire John H. LaChance, the lawyer appointed to represent him on a murder charge in the prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan, Mr. Druce told a judge yesterday.
Testifying at a Worcester Superior Court hearing on a defense motion to dismiss the murder indictment, Mr. Druce said the comments were accompanied by suggestions that Mr. LaChance wasn’t doing enough for him and contributed to a rift that developed between him and his lawyer.
Mr. Druce is awaiting trial in the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation and beating death of the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan in the former priest’s cell.