Murdered Boston priest John Geoghan was bound, strangled and beaten to death in prison by a convicted killer who jammed shut his cell door while guards were distracted.
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, prison 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 murder, officials said. Last year, the Church paid $10 million to settle cases with 86 of his victims.
Worcester County District Attorney 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 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.
Geoghan was one year into a six-year sentence for fondling a young boy while they were swimming. At least 130 people accused him of abusing them while he served in various Boston area parishes.