January 23, 2006

Inmate Says Arrogant Geoghan Angered Him

WORCESTER (MA)
The Columbian

Jan 23, 5:11 PM EST
By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press Writer

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The inmate who strangled child-molesting priest John Geoghan behind bars testified Monday that he resolved to kill the clergyman after Geoghan arrogantly brushed off criticism that he had "destroyed all kinds of lives."

Joseph Druce took the stand for a second day at his trial for killing Geoghan, who was serving time for groping a 10-year-old boy and had been accused of molesting 150 other children.

Druce, 40, said that in the weeks before the slaying, he twice confronted Geoghan about molesting children. Instead of denying the accusations, Geoghan was "arrogant" and said he was worth far more than the millions the Boston Archdiocese had paid to settle lawsuits against him, Druce testified.

"I was just, like, `That's it. That's it. I've got to stop this,'" Druce said. "I couldn't get it out of my head."

After Geoghan was dead, Druce said, he felt relief: "It had been done. It was over ... I had peace of mind."

Posted by kshaw at January 23, 2006 08:32 PM