Joseph Druce: Priest's Murder Video Online Prompts Probe.
Priest's Murder Video Online Prompts Probe
Inmates Do Not Have Internet Access
POSTED: 10:57 am EDT July 6, 2007
UPDATED: 12:18 pm EDT July 6, 2007
BOSTON -- A security video of prison guards ferociously tugging at the wedged-shut door of the cell where a convicted killer was strangling and beating defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan has shown up on the Internet, prompting an investigation by Massachusetts prisons officials.
The video posted last month was brought to the attention of the Boston Herald, apparently by Joseph Druce, the man convicted of killing Geoghan inside a cell at Souza-Baranowski maximum security prison in August 2003.
"The truth about officer involvement in John Geogan's (sic) death," a handwritten note sent to the Herald and signed "Joseph Lee Druce" says.
The note then has the address www.youtube.com/JosephDruce in parentheses, followed by "The truth about officers allowing J.G. to die through their neglect. Let the truth be know (sic)."
The 10-minute video shows up to five guards at a time tugging at the door Druce had wedged shut with a paperback, while other guards stand at the ready to enter the cell as soon as it's opened.
About halfway through the video, guards pry the door open, and a number rush into the cell before emerging seconds later dragging someone out, presumably Druce, and pinning him to the floor. What appears to be medical personnel then rushes into the cell. Viewers can neither see the slaying in progress nor Geoghan's body.
Inmates do not have access to the Internet and state Department of Correction officials are investigating how the video made it to the Web, department spokeswoman Diane Wiffin said.
"We have no idea where he got it from. We don't know where the tape came from or how it got on the Internet," Wiffin told the Herald on Thursday night. "It is under investigation."
The president of the guards union said the state should "immediately use any legal remedy available" to get the video off the Web.
"We are deeply concerned that an internal security video was posted by an inmate or an inmate's family," said Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union.
"It's absolutely a public safety issue, posting emergency response actions of correction officers on the Web."
Druce was already serving a life sentence for murder when he killed Geoghan, 68, a central figure in Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal. Geoghan was serving a nine- to 10-year sentence for groping a 10-year-old boy, but had been accused of molesting as many as 150 boys.
Druce claimed he was chosen by God to kill pedophiles and unsuccessfully used an insanity defense at his trial.
In August 2005, the Herald obtained a video that showed Druce re-enacting the slaying in which he strangled Geoghan with a pair of socks, tightening them with Geoghan's own sneaker. Druce then climbed on his cot and jumped off repeatedly to show how he crushed the convicted molester's body.
vladd77 July 7, 2007 06:37 AM PDT Prison slay video remains online: Union says exposure poses risk for guards
By Michele McPhee
Boston Herald Police Bureau Chief
Saturday, July 7, 2007
The prison security video purportedly posted on YouTube by convicted killer Joseph Druce remained on the Web last night, despite warnings from Department of Correction union officials that it was a public safety risk.
Druce Video
Video: YouTube Druce Video
“I would hope that YouTube officials would take that off the Web immediately,” said Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. “I would hope that the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety would be doing everything in its power to get that off the Internet. It’s an issue of safety for my officers.”
Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction, said officials are exploring whether the agency can demand that YouTube pull down the video, which shows correction officers at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley ferociously trying to pry open Druce’s cell door as he murdered pedophile priest John Geoghan inside in 2003.
“That’s part of the investigation, asking YouTube to take down the video,” Wiffin said.
Jaime Schopflin, YouTube spokesman, refused comment on Druce’s video, but explained: “Our policy prohibits inappropriate content on YouTube.
“Our community understands the rules and effectively polices the site for inappropriate material. The users can flag content that they feel is inappropriate and once it is flagged it is reviewed by our staff and removed from the system within minutes if it violates our Community Guidelines,” Schopflin said.
Wiffin said the DOC has “no idea how Druce could have gotten the tape,” which was one of the internal videos handed over to his attorneys and played during his trial for the murder of Geoghan last year.
“Inmates have no access to the Internet,” she said.
In 2005, the Herald obtained a security video of Druce coldly pantomiming Geoghan’s murder, a tape that showed how he used a paperback book to jam the sliding cell doors before he used gym socks to strangle the priest and then stomped on his body.
Yesterday, Druce’s attorneys denied posting the video or handing it over to any of his relatives.
By 8:30 last night, the video had been viewed nearly 9,000 times. The Herald was alerted to the posting with a letter signed by Druce and mailed from MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, headlined,“The truth about officers allowing J.G. to die through their neglect.” The note was signed “Joseph Lee Druce.”
At least 90 people who viewed the 10-minute video showing a gaggle of officers struggling to open the door as Druce murdered Geoghan posted comments including this one: “One less irredeemable monster on the planet. Good work Mister Druce!”
