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American Morning
Autopsy Planned For Convicted Child Molester John Geoghan
Aired August 25, 2003 - 07:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: An autopsy is planned for today for former priest and convicted child molester John Geoghan. Authorities say it appears that Geoghan was strangled by another inmate Saturday at a prison in Massachusetts. That suspect already serving a life sentence for murder.
Sharyn Alfonsi of our affiliate WBZ in Boston is live today in Brighton, Massachusetts with more on what's being said on this story today -- good morning there.
SHARYN ALFONSI, WBZ-TV CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we are learning more about how this all unfolded. Apparently John Geoghan was in protective custody with 23 other inmates and then Saturday afternoon, after lunch, a fellow inmate followed him into his cell, he actually bound him, gagged him and then beat him to death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's never going to hurt anybody again. And at the same time, he still had a lot of penance to do on the earth.
ALFONSI: John Geoghan's victims feel cheated by another curve ball in the sex abuse saga. The former priest, accused of molesting nearly 150 children, was strangled to death in prison this weekend.
JAMIE FOX: Geoghan was a prime target for prison violence.
ALFONSI: Jamie Fox (ph), a criminology professor at Northeastern, says prisoners have their own social hierarchies and Geoghan was at the bottom of the totem pole.
FOX: He had a triple whammy. He was a pedophile, gay and also a priest who had violated the trust that had been put in him.
ALFONSI: For Geoghan's victims, the tragedy is that other victims will not see their day in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel any joy in this. I feel, I feel, I feel sadness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got off easy. It's the rest of us here that do life on a daily basis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALFONSI: And 37-year-old Joseph Druce was already serving a life sentence for strangling another man. He is a neo-Nazi with ties to the Aryan Nation. An autopsy will be performed on John Geoghan today. The murder investigation is just beginning -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sharyn, thanks.
Sharyn Alfonsi, WBZ in that help with that report this morning in Massachusetts.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 25, 2003 - 07:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: An autopsy is planned for today for former priest and convicted child molester John Geoghan. Authorities say it appears that Geoghan was strangled by another inmate Saturday at a prison in Massachusetts. That suspect already serving a life sentence for murder.
Sharyn Alfonsi of our affiliate WBZ in Boston is live today in Brighton, Massachusetts with more on what's being said on this story today -- good morning there.
SHARYN ALFONSI, WBZ-TV CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we are learning more about how this all unfolded. Apparently John Geoghan was in protective custody with 23 other inmates and then Saturday afternoon, after lunch, a fellow inmate followed him into his cell, he actually bound him, gagged him and then beat him to death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's never going to hurt anybody again. And at the same time, he still had a lot of penance to do on the earth.
ALFONSI: John Geoghan's victims feel cheated by another curve ball in the sex abuse saga. The former priest, accused of molesting nearly 150 children, was strangled to death in prison this weekend.
JAMIE FOX: Geoghan was a prime target for prison violence.
ALFONSI: Jamie Fox (ph), a criminology professor at Northeastern, says prisoners have their own social hierarchies and Geoghan was at the bottom of the totem pole.
FOX: He had a triple whammy. He was a pedophile, gay and also a priest who had violated the trust that had been put in him.
ALFONSI: For Geoghan's victims, the tragedy is that other victims will not see their day in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel any joy in this. I feel, I feel, I feel sadness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got off easy. It's the rest of us here that do life on a daily basis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALFONSI: And 37-year-old Joseph Druce was already serving a life sentence for strangling another man. He is a neo-Nazi with ties to the Aryan Nation. An autopsy will be performed on John Geoghan today. The murder investigation is just beginning -- Bill.
HEMMER: Sharyn, thanks.
Sharyn Alfonsi, WBZ in that help with that report this morning in Massachusetts.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
