Jury finds pedophile priest's killer guilty of murder

Published: 2006-01-26

WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- A jury Jan. 25 found Joseph L. Druce guilty of first degree murder in the 2003 prison slaying of ex-priest John J. Geoghan. Geoghan, a former Boston priest, was the serial child molester whose January 2002 conviction for groping a young boy helped spark the national clergy sexual abuse scandal and force the church to adopt major policy changes. On its second day of deliberations after a two-week trial the jury rejected the insanity defense put up by Druce, who admitted killing Geoghan in his prison cell. The conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. Druce is already serving a life sentence handed down in 1989 for killing a man who allegedly made a sexual pass at him.

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