US: Murdered Boston priest John Geoghan was bound, strangled and beaten to death in prison by a convicted killer who jammed shut the paedophile's cell door while guards were distracted, state officials said yesterday.
Geoghan, imprisoned for child molestation, was strangled with socks and savagely beaten by Joseph Druce (37) a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi in prison for killing a gay bus driver, officials said. Autopsy results to determine the exact cause of death were not yet available.
Geoghan, a central figure in a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church, was in protective custody and had requested extra safety precautions before his brutal murder, officials said. Last year, the church paid $10 million to settle cases with 86 of his victims.
Worcester County District Attorney Mr John Conte said Druce, who had planned the murder for several weeks, trailed Geoghan into his cell after lunch, jammed the electronically operated door shut with a book and tied the 68-year-old former priest's hands behind his back with a T-shirt.
Druce, considered the lone suspect in Conte's investigation, used a shoe to tighten the socks around Geoghan's neck and then repeatedly jumped onto him from the bed, according to the guards' account. Mr Conte said will Druce face a murder charge in Geoghan's death.
The prosecution of Geoghan uncovered a string of paedophile cases among clergy and ultimately forced Cardinal Bernard Law to resign as the head of Boston's archdiocese last year.
Mr Edward Flynn, the head of public safety for Massachusetts, said other paedophile priests in the prison system are being offered protective custody for extra safety. A commission is being formed to investigate how Geoghan could be killed under special watch.
Two guards were overseeing 24 inmates when Geoghan was attacked, Mr Flynn said. He said the guards were separated, but that was not an unusual situation at the prison. Geoghan, a high-profile prisoner, requested segregation from the main prison population because he feared for his safety, he said.