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  Investigator Says Inmate Boasted about Geoghan Slaying

By Adam Gorlick
Associated Press, carried in the Boston Globe
September 9, 2005

WORCESTER, Mass. --Joseph Druce couldn't contain his pride and excitement as he admitted killing defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan in his prison cell, according to the officer who interviewed Druce after the slaying.

"I killed the child molester," Druce blurted out, according to Department of Correction Lt. Edward Hammond, who said Druce made the statement before he had the chance to read him his Miranda rights.

Druce then made a full confession after he was advised of his right to remain silent, Hammond said.

"He wanted to comply. He wanted to talk about the whole entire incident," Hammond said Friday, testifying during a hearing on a motion by Druce's lawyer to prevent prosecutors from using Druce's statements during his trial.

Hammond said Druce signed a waiver of his Miranda rights as "Rev. Joseph Druce," with a "big, old smile" on his face.

What followed was an animated narrative delivered by Druce about how he slipped into Geoghan's cell in August 2003, jammed the door shut so no one could enter, then beat the 68-year-old priest and strangled him with a pair of socks "until he observed blood coming out of inmate Geoghan's nose and ears," Hammond said.

"He definitely indicated that he'd be famous, that the pope would know him," Hammond said.

Geoghan, a key figure in the clergy sex abuse crisis, was serving a 9- to 10-year sentence for molesting a 10-year-old boy. He had also been accused of abuse by more than 130 people in lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Druce was serving a life sentence for murder in a 1988 killing.

Hammond said Druce -- who turned 40 on Friday -- told him he wanted to kill Geoghan so the ex-priest "wouldn't touch any more kids."

Druce said he had overheard Geoghan talking about plans to molest more children at a South American mission when he got out of prison, Hammond said. During a hearing last week, Druce said a correction officer allowed him into the pedophile's cell so he could kill Geoghan.

Druce's lawyer, John LaChance, wants to have his client's statements to investigators barred from coming up at the trial.

He said Druce was injured by prison guards when he was taken out of the cell where Geoghan was killed, but wasn't given any pain medication until after he spoke to Hammond.

That, combined with a "major mental illness," put Druce in no frame of mind to make a statement, LaChance said. He plans to use an insanity defense when the case goes to trial.

Travis Canty, a correction officer who witnessed Druce waive his Miranda rights, said Druce appeared to be in complete control of himself when he spoke to Hammond.

After Canty's testimony, Druce scribbled "he beat me" on a piece of paper and held it up to a reporter in the courtroom.

Canty testified that he never hit or abused Druce.