Endnote 1 – Biblical Views: The Martyrdom of the Zebedee Brothers
There is now textual evidence from Papias, the second-century Christian writer, to support the view that John Zebedee met an early demise. Papias fragment 10.17 seems clearly to affirm that John died early as a martyr, as did his brother. See Ben Witherington, What Have They Done With Jesus? (Harper Collins, 2006), p. 158 and notes.