October 26, 2005

Alleged killer's mom backs him

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald

By Laurel J. Sweet
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - Updated: 11:37 AM EST

The mother of the inmate accused in the slammer-slaying of pedophile priest John Geoghan loves her son and is helping him build a Web site to educate the public about child molesters.

Though Joseph Druce swallowed several feet of thin, plastic-coated TV cable in his Cedar Junction cell on Oct. 15, Donna Gauthier insists her first born ``does not have a death wish,'' but rather felt in ``imminent danger'' from fellow cons, as well as correction officers. He saw the wiring as his ticket out.

``I live with hell day in and day out, knowing where he is,'' Donna Gauthier said of Druce, 40, in an exclusive interview with the Herald, breaking her two-year public silence.

When medics at Shattuck Hospital allegedly tried to yank the cord back out through his throat, Gauthier said it frayed and sliced one of Druce's lungs and his esophagus, resulting in his rush into emergency surgery.

Posted by kshaw at October 26, 2005 06:29 PM