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Jul 6, 2007 7:00 am US/Eastern
Video Of Priest Prison Murder Appears On YouTube
Video Sparks Prison Investigation
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Portions of the surveillance video were played in court during Druce's trial.
CBS4
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Joseph Druce was convicted of killing pedophile priest John Geoghan behind bars.
CBS4
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 prison 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 YouTube address, followed by "The truth about officers allowing J.G. to die through their neglect. Let the truth be know (sic)."
The 10-minute video captured by surveillance cameras during the 2003 murder, 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.
Portions of that security tape were played in court and released during Druce's trial in January 2006.
Watch Raw Surveillance Video Released During 2006 Trial 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. "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.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
