Jury convicts inmate who killed priest

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The inmate who strangled child-molesting priest John Geoghan was convicted of murder Wednesday after failing to convince a jury that he was delusional when he killed one of the central figures in the Boston Archdiocese sex scandal.
Joseph Druce, 40, was given a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
After hearing the verdict, he looked at the jury that rejected his insanity defense and said, "It's all right. Good job." As the jurors filed out of the courtroom, he said: "No hard feelings. Have a good night."
Druce sneaked into Geoghan's prison cell in August 2003, jammed the door shut with a book, then beat the 68-year-old Geoghan and strangled him with stretched-out socks before guards could step in.
Druce's attorney argued that he was insane at the time and believed God had chosen him to kill Geoghan and send a message to pedophiles around the world. Prosecutors, however, argued that Druce was a conniving killer who planned the murder for weeks so he could be a "big shot" in prison.
"This state does not have capital punishment, and if it did ... you would not be the person to carry it out," Judge Francis Fecteau told Druce during sentencing.
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