Joseph L. Druce is a convicted murderer who killed John Geoghan, the former Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of sexually abusing children, and who had also been at the center of the Catholic sexual abuse scandal.
In August 2003, while in protective custody at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, Geoghan was trapped in his cell by Druce, who jammed the door closed so Correction Officers could not reach him. Druce then strangled and stomped Geoghan to death. An autopsy revealed Geoghan's cause of death to be "ligature strangulation and blunt chest trauma."
At the time Druce killed Geoghan, he was already serving life without possibility of parole for killing a man who allegedly made a pass at him after picking Druce up hitchhiking. In the interim between the two above crimes he had become a small sensation for sending fake anthrax to lawyers with Jewish names from prison.
Copy of the December 18th 1989 warrant issued from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ordering the Essex County Sheriff to remove Darrin E. Smilegde (Smiledge later changed his name to Joseph Druce) from Essex County Jail and taken to Walpole State Prison to serve out his sentence of LIFE without parole for the capital offense of 1st degree murder.
Druce has signed this copy in both his birth name Darrin Smiledge as well as his full legal name Joseph Lee Druce. He also notes at the bottom 'Murder is not an easy crime to get away with - 28 years in prison now'.
Original matching handwritten envelope that Druce mailed the warrant in is also included.
Product Code | JDRUCE506E1 |
Stock Level | 1 |
Condition | New |