BishopAccountability.org
	Sjc Affirms Pedophile Priest’s Killer’s Conviction By Gary V. Murray Telegram & Gazette April 27, 2009 http://www.telegram.com/article/20090427/NEWS/904270270/1116 WORCESTER — The state Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed Joseph L. Druce’s first-degree murder conviction in the 2003 prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan. Rejecting Mr. Druce’s insanity defense in the Aug. 23, 2003, strangulation death of the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a Worcester Superior Court jury found the confessed killer guilty of first-degree murder Jan. 25, 2006. Mr. Druce, who was already serving a life sentence for murder when he beat and strangled the ex-priest in a protective custody unit at the maximum-security prison on the Lancaster-Shirley line, was sentenced by Judge Francis R. Fecteau, now a state Appeals Court judge, to a consecutive life term with no possibility of parole. Mr. Druce confessed to the killing, telling prison officials and police he snuck into Mr. Geoghan’s cell and took the life of the former priest and convicted child molester to prevent him from sexually abusing other children. Claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, Mr. Druce appealed his conviction and the denial of his motion for a new trial and renewed motion for a new trial. In a 13-page decision released this morning, the state’s highest court said there was “no merit to the defendant’s claims of error.” The SJC upheld the first-degree murder conviction and Judge Fecteau’s denials of Mr. Druce’s post-trial motions. Contact: gmurray@telegram.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.