Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

Josh Phillips: The Murder of Maddie Clifton

Joshua Earl Patrick Phillips(born March 17, 1984) is an American murderer from Jacksonville,Florida who was convicted in July 1999 of murdering 8-year-old MaddieClifton in November 1998 when he was 14 years old. He is currentlyserving a sentence of life in prison. The murder was the subject ofnational television coverage, including a documentary on 48 Hourstitled "Why did Josh Kill?"

Early life

Phillips was born in Allentown,Pennsylvania on March 17, 1984. His father, Steve Phillips, haddominated his wife and son with a violent temper. In Too Young toKill: 15 Shocking Crimes, Josh stated that at one point in his life,he walked into his parents' room and saw his father's fist smashedthrough a wall, which made him terrified of his father. Steve imposedstrict rules in his son, and was also a drug addict and alcoholic.

The disappearance

On November 3, 1998, at around 5:00 pm,Maddie Clifton disappeared. The first suspect was a neighbor who wasarrested twice around 15 to 20 years earlier for sexual assaultcases, but charges were dropped in both incidents. The neighborfailed a lie detector test in relation to Maddie's disappearance, butprovided an alibi. The police decided to call off the search forMaddie, but the community, including over 400 volunteers, persisted.A reward was offered, initially worth $50,000 but later doubled. Oneof those volunteers was Phillips himself. The FBI later becameinvolved in the case. Flyers were distributed around town, includingat a local Jaguars-Bengals game. The TV series America's Most Wantedalso offered to broadcast the story.

Murder case

The search ended a week after thedisappearance when Phillips' mother Melissa went to clean his roomand found that his waterbed seemed to be leaking. Upon furtherexamination, she discovered Maddie's body hidden inside the base ofthe waterbed. She promptly ran outside her home and went across thestreet to get the police. Phillips was arrested later that day at hisschool and was held in maximum security as he made his first courtappearance. It was determined that Clifton's cause of death was dueto stabbing and clubbing with a baseball bat.

Phillips stated that the event happenedwhen he was home alone and Maddie came to his house asking him tocome outside and play baseball. Phillips agreed, even though he wasnot allowed to have friends over while his parents were not home. Asthe two were playing baseball, Maddie threw the ball at him and hehit it, which caused the ball to hit Maddie's eye. She then began tobleed, cry, and scream. Knowing that his father would be home soon,Phillips panicked, fearing his father's reaction when he got home, sohe decided to drag Maddie into his house and took her to his roomwhere he proceeded to strangle her with a phone cord forapproximately 15 minutes. Soon after, he hit her again with thebaseball bat and stuffed her under the base of his bed. When Josh'sfather returned home, he went to interact with him for a while andreturned to his room. When he discovered that Maddie was still alive,moaning under his bed, he then removed the mattress and stabbed her11 times, killing her.

Phillips' trial was held in PolkCounty, Florida, and he was convicted of first-degree murder andsentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He wasnot eligible for the death penalty since he was under 16 when hecommitted the murder. While the autopsy did not reveal any sexualassault, Maddie's body was found naked from waist down, and Phillipsstated that her clothes came off while he was dragging her body tohis room.

The murder appears to have beenmotivated by Phillips' fear of his abusive and alcoholic father, whowould have been very angry if he found Maddie in their house. Phillips stated on the TV program Too Young to Kill: 15 ShockingCrimes that if he could take it back, he would, subsequently breakingdown into tears. Phillips attended Blackstone Career Institute, adistance learning program and graduated with a paralegal degree in2007. He works as a paralegal, helping other inmates with theirappeals. Sometime after the trial, Maddie Clifton's parents, Steveand Sheila Clifton, divorced after 25 years of marriage. In 2000,Phillips' father Steve was killed in a car accident.

Appeals

In 2002, an appeals court upheldPhillips' conviction. In December 2004, Melissa Phillips began toseek a new trial for her son, noting that his young age at the timeof the murder should have carried more weight in his sentence. In2005, new hearing dates were set for Phillips. In 2008, two of theofficials behind his sentence, States Attorney Harry Shorstein andSheriff Nat Glover, confirmed their belief that Phillips deserved ajail sentence, but admitted to having second thoughts about theno-parole life sentence for the 14 year old. In 2012, the U.S.Supreme Court ruled that sentencing juveniles to mandatory life inprison without parole is unconstitutional. It was unclear at thattime if Phillips' attorney would seek re-sentencing.

In November 2015, Phillips' attorneyswere considering the Supreme Court ruling as a basis to file are-sentencing hearing. In September 2016, after Phillips' attorneyssuccessfully appealed the court, he was granted a new sentencinghearing as a result of retroactive application of the Supreme Court'sruling which declared his current sentence, mandatory life in prisonwithout parole, unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. Aresentencing date was initially set for February 2017. In February2017, Phillips' lawyer asked for more time to prepare andsubsequently a new sentencing hearing was set for June 2017. At thehearing, Clifton's mother requested that his sentence be upheld. OnNovember 17, 2017, Phillips was re-sentenced to life in prison, butis eligible for new re-sentencing in 2023.[24] On December 17, 2019,this sentence of life in prison was upheld by Florida First DistrictCourt Of Appeal because, it said, Phillips' life sentence will bereviewed again and could be modified at a 25-year review "basedon demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation." He is currentlyimprisoned in the Cross City Correctional Institution.

In the media

The murder of Maddie Clifton wasfeatured on the Season 2 premiere of Killer Kids. Phillips wasinterviewed by British journalist Susanna Reid for the ITVdocumentary Children Who Kill. Phillips' murder story and ensuingtrial was featured in episode 112 of the podcast Sword and Scale onAugust 19, 2018.