I have a guess at which Papias fragment Witherington is referring to as 10.17, from which he concludes that John was killed early like his brother James. I found this webpage:
This page argues for the early death of John the son of Zebedee. It gives six citations for external testimony, plus two from the Bible. The citations from the Bible are Mark 10:35-40 and Matthew 20:20-23. From these two passages, it sounds like James and John will both die martyrs' deaths. Indeed, James was martyred early, according to Acts 12:2.
The six external citations are as follows:
1) Georgius Hamartolus (10th century) writes that "John the Apostle after he had written his Gospel suffered martyrdom, for Papias in the second book of the λογια κυριακα says that he was put to death by Jews, thus plainly fulfilling along with his brother the prophecy of Christ regarding them, and their own confession and common agreement concerning him". Note that this passage implies that Papias was still extant in the 10th century, or that Hamartolus was refering to an earlier witness to Papias, such as in the next citation (below). It also plainly states that John was martyred *after* he had written his Gospel.
2) Philip of Side (5th century) writes that "Papias says in his second book that John the Divine and James his brother were slain by Jews". This is clearly referring to the same passage as Hamartolus, and if the two are not independent witnesses, it is possible that Hamartolus was referring to Philip. Note that Philip calls the the son of Zebedee "John the Divine", while Hamartolus calls him "John the Apostle". Philip does not claim that John Zebedee wrote the Gospel before his martyrdom.
3) Clement of Alexandria (2nd century - about the time of Irenaeus), in his Stromata (iv.9), cites one Heracleon who, when speaking of confession, names "Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi, and many others". The webpage where I found these citations claims that Heracleon/Clement is listing those who had not been martyred, and finds it strange that John Zebedee would not have been mentioned. To this I must reply, first, that to conclude from this alone that John Zebedee *was* martyred is purely an argument from silence; and second, that I don't read Heracleon's statement the same way that the webpage does. Heracleon is saying that there are two confessions, one by word and one by one's life, and that the former proceeds from the latter, and is not sufficient without it. He claims that "the hypocrites" have made confession by word. Then comes this statement: "for all the saved have confessed with the confession made by the voice, and departed. Among whom are Matthew, Philip, Thomas, LEvi, and many others." The word "departed" and that fact that he calls these "the saved" in opposition to "the hypocrites" who only confess by word, makes me think this is a list of martyrs.
4) The apocryphal Martyrdom of Andrew. In Schaff's Ante-Nicene Fathers there is such a Martyrdom. I haven't read it carefully, but skimming it a few times I don't see the reference made by the website, which claims that James and John were given "Anatolia" to be their mission field. On one hand, this is a known apocryphal work, so we must give it less credence than an authentic one. The webpage acknowledges this, but maintains that the reference to Anatolia is "in the very teeth of the tradition as to a departure to and prolonged residence in Asia Minor in the case of the Apostle John." I suppose he means that "Anatolia" from a Palestinian perspective would be east of the Greek Anatolia (which was Asia Minor). But in the Maryrdom in Schaff's collection the writer claims to be in Achaia - Greece! So it seems to me that "Anatolia" should refer to Asia Minor, and the argument of the webpage is not valid.
5) The Syriac Martyrology (early 5th century), which commemorates James and John together on the same liturgical day.
6) Aphrahat (4th century) writes as follows: "Great and excellent is the martyrdom of Jesus. He surpassed in affliction and in confession all who were before or after. [Aphrahat had previously listed a large number of martyrs before Jesus.] And after Him was the faithful martyr Stephen whom the Jews stoned. Simon (Peter) also and Paul were perfect martyrs. And James and John walked in the footsteps of their Master Christ. Also (others) of the apostles thereafter in divers places confessed and proved true martyrs." On the surface it looks like Aphrahat claims some of the apostles were martyred after John was. I haven't found a Greek copy of this yet, but I wonder if the "thereafter" simply continues the "after Him". Alternatively, the thereafter may refer (strictly) only to Stephen, Peter, Paul, and James, while John is named with his brother as he often was in the Gospels.
In any event, I don't see why any of this requires an early death of John, even if it suggests a martyr's death. If Papias really did say that John was killed after writing his Gospel, that seems like strong evidence that John was not killed early.
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