Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 40: Joseph "Bonebreaker" Clark
45 Plays5 months ago
Thad Phillips goes missing and endures excruciating torture for 43 hours until he finally escapes. When Joe Clarke is arrested, Thad is able to give a voice to Chris Steiner whose death went from "accidental drowning" to "homicide."
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Miner's Mayhem Podcast
00:00:35
Eden & Briana
What's up, our bitches? Hello, hello. We are back for another episode. Welcome to Miner's Mayhem. We are a true crime podcast covering miners who murder. If you're new to our show,
00:00:51
Eden & Briana
Welcome, hello. join Join us for some gruesome not so much.
00:01:00
Eden & Briana
Okay.
Listener Acknowledgment and Appreciation
00:01:02
Eden & Briana
To our returning listeners, you have no idea how truly much we appreciate you. You have made it through killer wasps, child interruptions, menacing, meowing cats, barking dogs, shitty audio, and our endless banter.
00:01:20
Eden & Briana
Thank you for hanging in there as we blind find blindly try to wrangle the podcast realm. We love you and we could not do this without you. Preach. Preach to that. To that, Bishas. So Brianna missed her November awareness and I'm so glad she did because I really feel like it was my turn. So November awareness includes American Diabetes Month,
00:01:50
Eden & Briana
Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, National Family Caregivers Month, National alim Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, and National Epilepsy Awareness Month, just to name a few. There's several more. Some of those hit home. I'm a diabetic. My son suffers from pancreatic problems.
00:02:18
Eden & Briana
And my mother had dementia or Alzheimer's. We don't know for sure which or what the difference is, but yeah. So this month kind of hits home a little bit.
00:02:33
Eden & Briana
What's your true crime news?
Disturbing Orlando Incident: A Mother's Tragic Act
00:02:35
Eden & Briana
I had a brain fart. I was like, I know what to say, but I can't say it. You don't want to know. Do you remember how you pissed me off on the last episode. yeah Well, it's my turn to do it to you. For true crime news, we're going to go to a land Orlando. And I'm sorry, if I'm tongue tied, I just got off the hippity hoppity ball. And oh, I laugh so hard that I think my throat is like all clogged up. Well, in my in my last episode, I like, you know, when you're reading
00:03:09
Eden & Briana
And you get so excited that you like skip over words. Yep. And then it's like, you've got to like tell yourself, stop, slow down. You're getting tongue twisted. That was me. I do that a lot. And then I get this stupid frog when it's my turn. Oh, it's actually in a good book. Man. So in true crime news in Orlando, Florida.
00:03:33
Eden & Briana
A 27, and here we go. A 27 year old Florida woman is facing murder and attempted murder charges for allegedly lighting herself and her two young children on fire, killing one of them.
00:03:50
Eden & Briana
They arrived, so so the deputies responded to a call about a fire involving a woman and two children, and they arrived to find the woman with 50 to 60% burns to her body, her eight month old son with 80 to 90% burns to his body, and her two year old son with minor burns. The eight month old did not survive his injuries. i If I read correctly, I think he did survive for about two months.
00:04:20
Eden & Briana
and passed because of his injuries, so. Well, think of how little eight month old is. Yeah, and then you you're 80 to 90%. That's a lot. His bum is probably the only thing that didn't get burned. You know what I mean? Yes, I do. So for more information on this story and other true crime news, you can go to truecrimenews dot.com. Did the mom survive?
00:04:48
Eden & Briana
Yes, she did. Well, yeah if yeah, she is being charged with murder and attempted murder charges. Did she say why? Well, I did read why. And I figured if you wanted to find out, you could read further. But it was something to do with she wanted to turn her two-year-old son over to her father and The father's mother and the father said that without a DNA test to prove that he was his, that they wouldn't take him. They wanted a DNA test and apparently she found that to be really humiliating and that was her reasoning. Just go take the DNA test, not a big deal.
00:05:35
Eden & Briana
It's not a big deal. OK. There's probably more to the story. We don't know if she messed around. And so he's really questioning the paternity. He has a right to know for sure. Right. But in I don't think they had any idea that she was going to go light them on fire either. You know what I mean?
Personal Fears: Fire and Water
00:05:54
Eden & Briana
Right. But how often is it that a mother says
00:06:06
Eden & Briana
I want you to take custody of my child. Not very. Even if you were questioning the DNA. The paternity, yeah. Take that child anyway. Because something is not right. Seriously wrong. When a mother says please.
00:06:36
Eden & Briana
Take this child. Yep. Agreed. Agreed. But we don't, like I said, it was very vague. Right. Now, should she have started herself and the kids on fire? No. She could have went and dropped him off at a hospital. Safe haven box. The same thing we said last week. Right. I got you. I know exactly what you're saying. That's so frustrating.
00:07:06
Eden & Briana
You think? You think. Something was obviously wrong. And I don't, I'm not putting blame on anybody. No, it probably could have been. But it should have put in perspective if she is saying take this kid from me. She wanted to leave. She wanted to take the eight month old and leave from what I read. And didn't want to take the two year old. Well, that's...
00:07:35
Eden & Briana
So what I would have done was taken the two year old anyway, then did the DNA and went from there, but I don't. Oh, that's ah's there's so many great areas in with how vague it's very, very vague, very, very vague. So and we're not assuming we're not, we're just giving our opinions. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions. You're entitled to yours. I'm entitled to mine.
00:08:05
Eden & Briana
We're not saying anything. It could have been handled differently, but we don't know all the circumstances that led them to come to that decision. So our opinions are based on the vague Switzerland yeah information.
00:08:21
Eden & Briana
so
00:08:24
Eden & Briana
Wow. That's so sad. And Wi-Fi.
1994 Reminiscence and Baraboo Introduction
00:08:30
Eden & Briana
That is such a painful. Right. I guess apparently she used an accelerant. Why fire? I mean, I can mean there could have been there i can think of 20 million better ways that are less painful than that. If you so had to do that. Yeah. Why fire? But you know, some people like, you know, I don't think I'm necessarily, well, obviously I'm scared of
00:09:03
Eden & Briana
Burning to death? I'm terrified of fire. But I am absolutely terrified of drowning.
00:09:13
Eden & Briana
It's fire for me. See, that I'm scared of it, yes. But my number one, if I had to choose, I would probably choose fire because I'm terrified of water and drowning. Totally opposite. I would choose drowning over fire. Yeah. See? We're just different. Yeah. yeah Well, that all depends too. Did the fire get you or was it smoke inhalation? Now, if it was smoke inhalation, yeah, I could have, yeah, okay. But actually physically burning to death? Screw that, dude, I'm out. No, I will take the water. Last chance for a smoking hot body. Yeah, it is, yeah. True that, true that.
00:09:56
Eden & Briana
do No, no, no, no, I'm gonna, ae I will forgo the smoking hot body. That time has passed, I'm old, I don't care anymore. Ew. So what do you got for me today? Well, I am, I don't know what keeps drawing me to these 90s cases, but once again, this is where we're going. Three in a row. Yes. Yours, mine, yours. Yes.
00:10:26
Eden & Briana
So we're gonna throw it back to the year of 1994, and happenings in 1994 included Nelson Mandela becoming the first democratically elected president of South Africa, Kurt Cobain's mysterious death, suicide, I don't know what side of the boat everybody's on on that, you know, conspiracy theory, what have you. Anyway, Tonya Hart- What do you think?
00:10:56
Eden & Briana
I, Switzerland, I don't know. You can see both ways. It it looked really sus to me, but I could see how it could have went either direction. So I don't know. I yeah i watched a documentary on it and everything, and I just, I'm still. Switzerland. Switzerland, I don't know.
00:11:24
Eden & Briana
Tanya Harding's attack on Nancy Kerrigan, I don't know if you remember that. and So they were both Olympic ice skaters, and Nancy Kerrigan was really, really, really way up there, and Tanya Harding took her out at the knees. Yeah, it was a big deal. like i She hit her with something. It was so long ago, I don't remember for sure, but yeah.
00:11:53
Eden & Briana
in incapacitated her so she couldn't compete. Yes. Wow. The launch of the Sony PlayStation. Radio. Wow. The movie Forrest Gump was released.
00:12:12
Eden & Briana
And the sitcom... I'm so old. Right? And the sitcom Friends made its debut. Yeah. R.I.P. chandler Pretty much, yeah. Yeah, Chandler. And now there's a bunch of conspiracy around his death or accidental drowning in the hot tub or what have you. I'm sure there'll be a documentary, something about that out at some point. So fashion trends kind of shifted from the grungy look to more feminine form-fitting styles.
00:12:51
Eden & Briana
with high-shine fabrics, animal prints, and really bright colors. Cool. There's that. So for this
Chris Steiner's Disappearance and Troubling Signs
00:13:01
Eden & Briana
episode, we are going to take a trip to Baraboo, Wisconsin. Baraboo? Baraboo. B-A-R-A-B-O-O. Baraboo. Cute. Reminds me of wanting to paint peekaboo with a bear. and Just saying. and Baraboo is in Sauk County located along the Baraboo River. Baraboo is home to the Circus World Museum and the former headquarters and winter home of the Ringling Brothers Circus. According, yeah. Is that the huge, the Ringling Brothers? Like the biggest, yeah. The biggest like traveling circus. Yeah. But it burned down. Oh, oh.
00:13:47
Eden & Briana
that Was that the right one? so Was that the w Ringling Brothers? That was devastating. I listened to a podcast on that. They used gasoline to, like, shoot the... Turpentine. Turpentine for the tent. The big tent. Yes. And it was very flammable. Yes. Now, I believe all the animals were saved, but people were trampled and burned and couldn't get out. Some animals.
00:14:18
Eden & Briana
I thought it didn't make it. Oh, didn't they? I don't think so. Oh, God, I don't know for sure. But it was huge. I don't know if that was Ringling Brothers. You want to look it up? Yeah, you can you can keep talking. OK, so according to the 2020 census, the population of Baraboo was twelve thousand five hundred and fifty six residents, which for us would be the most comparable town I could find for us was Jamestown.
00:14:49
Eden & Briana
The size-wise? Oh, yeah. The but comparison? Oh, yeah. Excuse me. What'd you find? Was it the w Ringling Brothers? Ringling and ringing Brothers in Barnum and Bailey Circus? She's trying to find which one burnt down here. I'm going to take a drink. Just hold on for a second.
00:15:18
Eden & Briana
Actually, I think I'll pause it. Yeah, go ahead and it so we can find this. OK, so the big fire was not the w Ringling Brothers, but I'm going to let Brianna tell you exactly what that was. So it was the Hartford Circus Fire, which happened on July 6, 1944, and is one of the deadliest circus fire disasters in history, killing at least 167 people and injuring more than 700.
00:15:51
Eden & Briana
I think it doesn't say anything about like the animals, but, um, I just kind of talked about like the, the, uh, people. There's a podcast out there. I can't remember what, but they did morbid was it morbid? Yes. They did cover the heart for there was certain spires and people there. There was 7,000 people there. Yeah. Holy crap. Yeah. It was huge. Oh, wait.
00:16:20
Eden & Briana
The Hartford Circus fire occurred on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut during an afternoon performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus before a crowd of 7,000 people. So they were affiliated with the Ringling Brothers, maybe?
00:16:42
Eden & Briana
Kind of sounds that way. Because I think it it happened in Hartford, Connecticut, but I think it was. Was the Ringling Brothers? Yeah. OK, maybe it was the Ringling Brothers here. The Hartford Circus Fire of the herd. OK, yes, it was the Ringling Brothers, you guys. And Barnum, so it was like two combined. Well, Ringling and Barnum go together. And Bailey? Mm-hmm. Oh, OK. So yeah, I guess it was. Yeah, it was. OK, it was a Ringling. All right. I'll be down. We cared that. Now we have our answers. If you guys want to listen to that,
00:17:18
Eden & Briana
i it I think Morbid covered it. I believe they did too. And here in a minute, I can look up and see what episode it was. It was devastating. it was hard That was a hard one to listen to. Because there was children being trampled. And as people were, well, it was dark. They couldn't see the smoke. And I believe there was hot turpentine or whatever dripping down. It was terrible.
00:17:47
Eden & Briana
But anyway, awful so what do you need? yeah we can possibly And we're back. Okay. So on July 3rd, 1994, 14 year old Chris Steiner worked his first shift of his very first paying job. His first real job. steiner Chris Steiner. Gary.
00:18:13
Eden & Briana
gary He was hired to work at McDonald's and he was actually really excited about this job because his older brother worked there. okay So exciting, right? yeah So after his first day at work, Chris was egg exhausted. Like, you know, just new job, a lot of information. First
From Drowning to Homicide: Chris Steiner's Case
00:18:34
Eden & Briana
day, first real job, he was exhausted and he literally fell asleep in his work clothes.
00:18:42
Eden & Briana
I mean, he was done, right? Just done. So around 10 p.m., Chris's dad peeked in on him before he retired for the night. And Chris was still sleeping in his work clothes. He was still sawing logs. The next morning, Chris had to work. Excuse me. So his dad went in to wake Chris up about 6.15. Chris wasn't in his bed.
00:19:11
Eden & Briana
So, you know, they ran through the house and looked and and Chris wasn't even in the residence anywhere. So how did you say his age? Fourteen. Fourteen. Not there. Okay. Just not there. Obviously, as with any parent, as I would, they panicked. They knew that there was no way that he would just disappear from the home. So it's so Something had to be wrong, right? So Kathy and George, which are Chris's mom and dad, they literally found that a window screen had been cut open, and both the back patio door and the front door were unlocked, which is these doors were always locked. There was also ah footprints leading towards the house and also muddy footprints trapped inside the house, and these prints
00:20:10
Eden & Briana
were way too large to be made by Chris. So as with any parent, they called the police and they reported him missing. Now initially it was thought that maybe Chris's friends talked him into sneaking out, but that wasn't in Chris's character.
00:20:34
Eden & Briana
It's just not something that would be the norm. Right, and if they suspected he snuck out with his friend, why was the screen cut when the doors can just be unlocked and we can sneak out? Exactly. The evidence really appointed towards something other than sneaking out or running away, which running away was also suggested by the police.
00:21:03
Eden & Briana
Imagine that, you know, 1990s, that's quick to go to that, right? Chris's friends were questioned, but none of his friends had actually seen or heard from Chris that night. He'd been at work all day and he came home and he passed out just exhausted. Kathy knew her son did not run away. And I'm going to sit here and I'm going to tell you, moms always know.
00:21:28
Eden & Briana
It's like we have some kind of internal alarm system when it comes to our children that other people just don't possess and they don't understand. Moms know. George- Sorry guys, if you can hear my dog, he's pitching a fit. Oh, well, we can just add that to the hectic craziness of miners in mayhem. He said thanks for- He said it in the beginning. Barking dogs. Usually it's rain though. Yeah. Rain's not here today. But anyway, so George and Kathy made a public plea to the community to come forward with any information regarding Chris's disappearance. But there was just nothing. Not one lead. There was nothing. He just vanished.
00:22:09
Eden & Briana
Just gone, just gone. But the search for Chris would come to a sad end just six days later when his body would be found caught on a tree submerged in the Wisconsin River. He had to be identified by dental records due to the level of decomenation decompensation, sorry,
00:22:34
Eden & Briana
It was the decomposition, decomposition, decomposition.
00:22:43
Eden & Briana
I know I said it wrong. um I'm tripping over my tongue. Give me a freaking break. Should I just let him out here? He's kind of
Thad Phillips' Ordeal and Escape
00:22:53
Eden & Briana
distracting. OK, I'm going to pause this because I think the dog is going to freak it out. And we're back. And Gary is in the house. So sorry about that, guys. Hi, Gary. So we're going to go back to where I stumbled over my tongue. um He had to be identified by dental records due to the level of decompensation. I'm sure it's decompensation.
00:23:16
Eden & Briana
Yeah. Isn't it position? What? Do you call position?
00:23:23
Eden & Briana
Oh my god. We're starting over.
00:23:42
Eden & Briana
My freaking tablet doesn't recognize decomposition. Oh my god. Oh, I am so done. Done. Done. Stick a fork in me. I am done. Oh. But how many times have I like thought like back ground? Back. Back ground. Oh my god. Don't know if you're bad. It happens to the best of us. How many times?
00:24:10
Eden & Briana
Do I have to say this word and how many times is it wrong in this frickin' report? Decomposition. Decomposition. Oh my, okay, sorry guys. He had to... Oh, I'm so done. He had to be identified by dental records due to the level of...
00:24:32
Eden & Briana
I'm looking at my word and I'm getting rid of that. Shit. Fuck, should I pause this? No. Oh God. Oh, I snorted. No. Okay, so my notes say decomposition to the level of- Decom. No, decomposition.
00:24:54
Eden & Briana
This is- So sorry, guys. No, we're not. It's hilarious. It's funny. I mean, yeah. So anyway,
00:25:03
Eden & Briana
decom Decomposition. There you go. Oh my god. It was A for effort. I usually don't make these kind of mistakes. This is me. and You're the funny one. You're the one that... That's why I get to say don't pause it because it's fucking like this. You're the one that is... Oh, you're so pretty. Yeah. Can you tell me? You're so pretty. Oh, I love you. Thank you so much.
00:25:30
Eden & Briana
Okay. Anyway. i Yeah. chief I can't read what is written by autocorrect and make my mouth say what I'm supposed to say. But anyway, so it was the dog days of summer. So the heat was horrible. So obviously the decomp was pretty bad.
00:25:49
Eden & Briana
And I mean no disrespect that we're laughing, by the way, because this is not funny. No, it's not just a word. So when autopsy was performed and this cause of death was basically ruled as accidental drowning and the cause undetermined, OK? Just hang with me. Oh, look. I disagree. Look, the next word is spelled correctly, decomposition.
00:26:17
Eden & Briana
Decomposition made finding any traumatic injuries virtually impossible. Down. Is this a cold case? I'm not answering shit right now. Down. It will be cold for a year. Down. But I'm just going to tell you right now, there is one badass in this story. Oh, good. I like that. And because of this badass, this will only stay cold for a year.
00:26:47
Eden & Briana
Awesome. Okay. So on July 14th, 1994, 14 year old Chris Steiner was laid to rest with many questions being left unanswered. I mean, his parents knew he didn't run away. His parents knew that he didn't drown. His parents, his mom knew, she knew.
00:27:10
Eden & Briana
But anyway, we're going to move on. But we will be circling back to Chris a bit later because the truth will come out. okay We're going to fast forward to the summer of 1995, so a year after Chris's alleged accidental drowning. 13-year-old Thaddeus Phillips, who goes by the name Thad, moved to Baraboo with his family, which included his dad,
00:27:39
Eden & Briana
his mom, and three younger siblings. Thad was described as a kind boy who loved football and baseball. On July 28, 1995, Thad fell asleep on the couch with his five-year-old little sister. They were watching TV and they just crashed. In the middle of the night, Thad woke up to someone picking him up off the couch. Still half asleep,
00:28:07
Eden & Briana
Thad, you know, being groggy, he assumed that he was being carried to bed by one of his parents. How many times have you carried me to bed? Probably a lot. It wasn't until he woke up enough to actually open his eyes that he realized that he was actually outside being carried by an unfamiliar older teenager. Oh my God.
00:28:35
Eden & Briana
sir Now, this older teenager was friendly enough as he put Thad down, asking him if he wanted to go to his house with him, still not fully awake and and quite confused. Thad went with the older teen. And the 17-year-old introduced himself as Joe. He told Thad that he was throwing a party. And he began naming some of the teens that were going to be coming over.
00:29:04
Eden & Briana
and Thad actually recognized some of them. So I can only assume that this kind of put him at ease because he recognized some of the people that were supposedly coming to this supposed alleged party. So. Did he six? No, his sister was five. He's 14. He's 13. Wait a minute. Let me go back up again. I'm pretty sure I said 13. 13. He's 13.
00:29:34
Eden & Briana
So like I said, he introduced himself as Joe and and said some names that Thad had actually recognized. And so. And it's that time period, again, that's not really unusual.
00:29:52
Eden & Briana
Well. Being lifted off your couch by a stranger is a little bit unusual. That's unusual, but like having your friend sneak in to wake you up to go to a party. That would probably happen. But I'm not being carried out. That's weird. I'm not sure that ever met Joe before. Well, you see that's, yeah, you're right. That's weird. um I'm not 100% positive. i didn't I didn't find anything about him knowing him. No, it said unfamiliar older teenagers. So he didn't know him. But if they had mutual friends,
00:30:31
Eden & Briana
right Maybe one of the friends said, hey, go get my friend Thad. He lives over here. Bring him to the party. So I can kind of see where Thad's thinking was, like, hey, oh, cool. I know these people. They're going to be at this party, right?
00:30:50
Eden & Briana
so Oh, sorry. When they arrived and entered Joe's house,
00:31:02
Eden & Briana
That couldn't help but notice. Oh, I got a hiccup. Sorry, guys. How messy the place was. There was empty cans, empty beer cans. There was garbage. There was rotten food strewn around the place. And it kind of smelled rather moldy-like. It just kind of sounded nasty to me from what I gathered.
00:31:27
Eden & Briana
in Joe asked Thad if he wanted to see his model car collection that was up in his room while they waited for the others to show up. Thad said yes, and they headed up to Joe's room.
00:31:44
Eden & Briana
Are you ready? When they got to Joe's room and the door was closed, Joe turned into someone completely different. The friendly smile vanished. His face became blank.
00:31:58
Eden & Briana
and his eyes were stone cold. Sorry, I talked with my hands. His eyes were stone fucking cold. Sorry, Brad. in
00:32:09
Eden & Briana
He threw Thad on the bed and held him down. He grabbed Thad's ankle and he twisted it until there was a loud pop of breaking bones and his foot was completely facing the wrong direction.
00:32:29
Eden & Briana
I'm going to let you think about that for a second. I'm going to pause it because I and need a drink. Hold on. We're back. So like I said, he twisted it until his foot was facing the wrong damn direction. Now, overwhelmed by the need to get away, Thad mustered up all of his strength and he pushed Joe off of him, which would have been no easy feat because he was only a 13-year-old weighing in at 90 pounds. That's tiny. Joe was bigger, older, and way freaking stronger. With his broken ankle, Thad only made it a few steps towards the door before being taken down to the ground by a now very enraged Joe. Joe immediately started beating Thad
00:33:28
Eden & Briana
kicking, hitting, you know, just a general beat down. When Joe was done beating the ever-loving shit out of Thad, I suppose he felt once again like he was in control of the situation. He picked Thad up, carried him downstairs, and placed him on the couch. But he then took Thad's leg and pushed it over Thad's head until his thigh snapped, let me say that again, over his head until his thigh snapped and then started carrying on a conversation like nothing had happened.
00:34:17
Eden & Briana
Let that sink in. Sinking in, is is it sinking in for everybody? I've never broken a bone in my life.
00:34:27
Eden & Briana
Ever. So I have no freaking idea. His thigh bone? Yep.
00:34:38
Eden & Briana
That's the femur. Oh, let me keep going. The femur is like almost. It's the strongest bone in your body. Impossible to
Connecting the Dots: Joe Clark's Crimes Revealed
00:34:49
Eden & Briana
breathe. Yeah, well, not today. oh At this point, Thad told Joe that if he'd just let him go home, he would keep his mouth shut and explain away his broken ankle and his thigh as a trip and fall in injury. When that didn't work, Thad actually asked why he was doing this and Joe's reply was, and I quote, I just love hearing the sound of bones snapping, unquote.
00:35:25
Eden & Briana
It was at this point that Bad knew he was in a horrible situation. And this was confirmed when Joe admitted that this was not the first time he had hurt other boys and one of them actually died.
00:35:45
Eden & Briana
Over the following days, which I do believe that he was there being tortured for 43 fucking hours. Let me repeat that. 43 fucking hours of torture. barbara Sorry, Brad. Sorry, Brad.
00:36:07
Eden & Briana
The torture was usually preceded by something or other that had set Joe off. So Thad's right ankle and the thigh are already broken, but it doesn't end there. Joe snapped Thad's left ankle, both femurs, dislocated both of his knees, and he would continue to twist, pull, and jump on Thad's already broken legs, breaking them even further. Torturing this poor boy
00:36:44
Eden & Briana
Joe placed a pillow over his face, holding it there until Thad literally thought that he was going to die.
00:36:54
Eden & Briana
Do you need to breathe for a minute, Bree? No, keep going. I'm gonna let this over. Oh, it's not gonna be over. it This is the long one, guys. When Joe left the house one day to go visit his girlfriend,
00:37:11
Eden & Briana
Thad attempted to escape, but unfortunately, Joe returned with his girlfriend before Thad could get very far because obviously his body is broken. And he he was actually hiding just a few feet away from Joe and his girlfriend from where they were sitting on the couch. And when the girlfriend was gone and Joe discovered that Thad had made an escaped attempt, Joe went on to dislocate one of his hips.
00:37:45
Eden & Briana
So from that point going forward, Joe would lock that up in a closet whenever he had to leave the house. Now, I don't know what kind of superhuman entity this kid was, but he wasn't going out like this. Just wasn't going to happen. Could you freaking imagine? Nope.
00:38:13
Eden & Briana
ah kind of pain so and being conscious like to make decisions. But he, this guy is, that is, I can't even explain that. And it's not over. It's far from fucking over, sorry Brad. Because there's a twist at the end that's just gonna make you shit yourself.
00:38:43
Eden & Briana
in So like I said, he was locked in a closet every time that Joe left the house. The next time Joe left the house, that found an electric guitar and he actually pried open the closet door. That drug his broken body through the house.
00:39:10
Eden & Briana
I mean, we're talking from the upstairs bedroom down a flight of freaking stairs, passing out several times from the excruciating pain that he was in. I imagine. Several times. He would make it a few feet, down a couple of stairs, pass out. Come to, make it down the stairs a couple, pass out. I mean, this was,
00:39:38
Eden & Briana
on and on, but this little superhuman sucker didn't give up, man. he he wasn't goingnna He was all in. He made it to the kitchen where there was a phone actually located on the wall. Now we're talking back in the 90s. So the phones were on the wall. i can I can see exactly what kind of phone they're talking about. We probably had one. With his legs being nothing more but wet noodles,
00:40:07
Eden & Briana
He had to pretty much pull himself up with his arms and using what little upper body strength he had left to successfully reach the phone. But he did reach that damn phone. I don't know how. Sheer will and determination and superhuman, freaking whatever, Deadpool, you ain't got shit on this guy. He managed to dial 911.
00:40:38
Eden & Briana
Thad told the dispatcher, so when he got the dispatcher, Thad told the dispatcher that he had been kidnapped by 17-year-old Joe Clark and that his legs were broken. Now, the police and ambulance were sent out, sirens fricking blazing, man, because they had been looking for him for to for almost two days, 43 hours. They arrived to find Thad in just unimaginable shape. I mean, he was in rough shape. Both of his feet were obviously not in the normal position. His knees were twisted. His thigh was grotesquely swollen. His legs were black, blue and yellow.
00:41:23
Eden & Briana
And literally the doctors were afraid that they were not gonna be able to save his legs. That is the unspeakable amount of damage that this child had to his legs. The doctors were just, they didn't know if they could save him.
00:41:42
Eden & Briana
And doctors also believed that if Thad wouldn't have gotten out when he did, More than likely, he would have lost his life very soon, like within hours, due to the internal bleeding that he was suffering from the injuries.
00:42:04
Eden & Briana
The surgeon compared Thad's injuries to what a person would so sustain in a high-speed car accident.
00:42:17
Eden & Briana
It would take several surgeries to repair Fad's mangled legs, but they were saved and he would walk again. Maybe with a slight limp, but he would walk again. While in the hospital, Fad dropped the bombshell that Joe had done this to others and that one boy had not survived.
00:42:42
Eden & Briana
Could Chris Steiner be the boy that Joe mentioned? Have a take. George and Kathy Steiner never once believed that their son accidentally drowned, given the evidence, the cut window screen, the unlocked doors, the footprints that are too big for Chris's. So it was decided to exhume Chris's body and perform a second autopsy. The first autopsy was difficult due to bloating and decomposition. Oh my God.
00:43:17
Eden & Briana
company but decon And for some reason, the body had not been x-rayed the first time around. Now, I don't know morgue procedures, so i I cannot say why this wasn't done the first time, but it was done this time, and it showed that Chris had near identical injuries to fads. Now, remember the first report said accidental drowning and undetermined.
00:43:48
Eden & Briana
Chris was still alive when Joe threw him in the river. With his legs mangled the same as Thad's were, there was no way that this child would have been able to swim and Joe would have known that. So I truly can't help but wonder if the sick bastard stayed to watch Chris drown. Because he couldn't swim. He wouldn't surprise me at all.
00:44:14
Eden & Briana
Just talking about I'm getting tears in my eyes. My chest is tight. Kris Steiner's cause of death was officially changed to homicide. Good. Now, when Joe's house was was searched, they found a list containing 29 names of local boys. And these names were
Justice for Chris Steiner: Conviction of Joe Clark
00:44:41
Eden & Briana
arranged under three different headings.
00:44:44
Eden & Briana
These headings were, quote, can wait, get now, the leg thing, unquote.
00:45:02
Eden & Briana
wow Any thoughts so far? No. No? OK. I can't. So the 17-year-old Joe Clark would be charged with kidnapping, attempted murder,
00:45:14
Eden & Briana
mayhem, causing bodily harm to a child, causing mental harm to a child, and enticement of a child. Add to those charges the first degree murder of Chris. Now, I'll let you guess at what his plea was, and I know you will nail it. Not guilty.
00:45:40
Eden & Briana
Is there more to that? by reason of intensity. You nailed it. Um, what is, uh, when you get charged with mayhem, like what, what does that consist of? I did not look. Okay. Are you going to look, I'll pause it. She's going to look at exactly what mayhem is. Okay. We have a definition of mayhem and Brianna's going to tell you what that is. Mayhem is a general intent to maim or cause bodily harm accompanied by an unlawful act of physical force that either permanently dismembered the victim or disabled the use of some part of their body. That fits. Which makes complete sense. Yep. So he pled he pleaded, I'm sorry, that's the correct term, is pleaded. I always want to say pled.
00:46:38
Eden & Briana
um guilty by reason of sanity. Now Joe's mom, Bertha Clark, claimed that Joe had been in a really bad bike accident the year before, and he was thrown like 25 to 30 feet, and he landed on his head, which could have caused traumatic injury to his brain, explaining that after this accident, he became very short tempered. Joe, excuse me, Joe claimed that he only wanted to hang out with Thad,
00:47:09
Eden & Briana
And he simply blacked out, having no recollection of ever harming Thad. But Joe was evaluated and no mental disorders were identified. So yeah, nice try on the insanity tactic, Mr. Pond scum.
00:47:35
Eden & Briana
Thad took the stand and told the court every detail of his horrific torture unleashed upon him by Joe Clark. Some attendees were actually sobbing during- He testified? He? Thad? You fucking ate that badass mother sticker testified. Holy cow. Yes, he did. And he explained every detail of his horrific torture that was unleashed upon him by Joe Clark.
00:48:05
Eden & Briana
Now, some of the attendees were actually sobbing during Thad's heart-wrenching testimony. And Thad actually had a rough time, and he actually broke down crying himself when he finally asked, quote, please, can I stop talking about this? Unquote. I'm sorry. A 14-year-old goes through immense torture. Yes. Then has the gonads to testify in court. Not only did he have the gonads to testify, he had the gonads to fucking save himself. He took his broken body and saved himself. Yeah. This guy is... I'm sorry. Yes, you may.
00:49:03
Eden & Briana
Stop talking about it. Exactly. Yes, you may stop talking about it. My dear child, you may stop. Oh, I want to hug him too. So Joe was found guilty on all of the charges and he was actually sentenced to 100 years in prison. But you would think that the story would stop there, right? You don't. It doesn't stop there. It doesn't end here.
00:49:33
Eden & Briana
We're going to jump into the first degree murder charge for Chris Steiner, who suffered the same fate as Thad, but did not survive. And God bless his heart. I hope he's resting in peace. My heart bleeds for him. My heart bleeds for his family.
00:49:59
Eden & Briana
The story didn't end for Thad either. as he would be a key witness in Chris's case. Obviously. So he would have to testify again because it's a separate trial. Yep. And obviously he would be testifying for the prosecution side. So once again, he will have to give a heart-wrenching testimony and basically paint the picture of what Chris went through So basically, he was Chris's voice, so to speak. Right, because he was key sustained pretty much the exact same injuries. Yep, the exact same injuries. So Thad had to become Chris's voice and bless his heart. But Thad will have to face another massive hurdle before he can give Chris a voice. Brianna, do you have any guesses what that might be? And I'm sure you probably don't, but I'm asking you anyway because
00:50:59
Eden & Briana
You know, there's that I need to take a break. What is, do you have any guesses as to what possible hurdle that this young man could have to face before he's able to give Chris a voice?
00:51:16
Eden & Briana
I mean, obviously there's gotta be PTSD. No, I need you to go even further than that. I need you to go. I need you to go away from mental health. I need you to go from an outside source. Did he end up back in the hospital due to infections? Nope. Oh, he ended up back in the hospital, but not for that. I'll just go there. Oh my God. I'm going to need you to take a big, long swig of your drink. Take a drink. You're going to need it.
00:51:50
Eden & Briana
Take a deep breath. Did he get out on them? Take a deep breath. Okay. Buckle up. And in fact, you're actually going to need a five point racing harness for the shit. Not just a regular seatbelt, a five point racing harness. Uncle Brad, can we borrow your racing harness, your Hans device and all of the above? You're giving me anxiety. Okay. Are you ready?
00:52:19
Eden & Briana
Just two days before Thad was to attend the court proceedings, a friend of Joe's shot Thad twice in the back with a fucking rifle.
00:52:34
Eden & Briana
Are you kidding me? Does this face look like I'm fucking kidding you? Sorry, Brad.
00:52:45
Eden & Briana
I'm gonna let you take that in for a second. And yes, you heard me right. He was shot twice in the back from one of Joe's friends. Now. How could you be a friend with a freaking monster like that? I don't know. Well, if you're willing to shoot him, shoot a boy because your friend on your friend's behalf, you're a fucking monster too. Oh yeah. So not only did Thad recover from this shooting?
00:53:24
Eden & Briana
This superhuman child went on to testify at Chris's murder trial. Two days later? do no No, no, no, no, two days before the trial. No, he had they they delayed the trial because he needed to recover. Oh, thank God. Because there would be no trial because he was a key witness.
00:53:44
Eden & Briana
so Thad recovered from this and he went on to testify at Chris's murder trial. So, stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Joe Pond Scum Clark.
00:53:57
Eden & Briana
Despite his mother trying to give her worthless son an alibi, which makes her just as freaking worthless in my book, by saying that he was home in bed when Chris went missing, the jury thanked sweet Jesus wasn't having it. And they found him guilty of first degree premeditated murder. And he was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. He is serving on top of the 100 years for he's not getting out. He's serving a sentence at the Fox Lake Correctional Institution in Dodge County, Wisconsin.
00:54:41
Eden & Briana
Now, can we just take a minute to appreciate The person that Chris Steiner probably would have become and what his parents missed, I am so, so sorry that Chris Steiner didn't make it. But I want to also go on and appreciate the simple fact that Thaddeus Phillips is not only a superhuman, he was a hero.
00:55:16
Eden & Briana
because he answered all of the unanswered questions and gave Chris a voice. Wow.
00:55:33
Eden & Briana
So that is my case. My sources for this case were Killer Kids, Volume 12 by Robert Keller, Wisconsin court system, murderpedia,
00:55:46
Eden & Briana
and Ranker. Thank you so much for putting this out there where we can see this information and make and make our podcast. Thank you for joining us this week. If you enjoyed our little baby podcast, go leave us a rate and review so we can move on up out of these diapers and into some pull-ups. If you'd like to contact us,
Conclusion and Upcoming Content
00:56:09
Eden & Briana
you can do so at minersofmayhem at gmail dot.com.
00:56:12
Eden & Briana
or via Facebook Messenger. Type in Miners of Mayhem in the search bar and you will find us. And don't forget to hit that follow button while you're there. This is where you will find case photos and any updates pertaining to the show information. In the meantime, please refrain from being pond scum. Life is too short and keep your happy asses safe out there. Now, for those of you who don't want to stick around for conversation, please exit. And for those of you who want to stick around,
00:56:41
Eden & Briana
um We're going to start yakking. I ain't yakking. You must have some thoughts. I can't. I cannot wrap around my mind around what Thad went through and what I just I can't. You know,
00:57:12
Eden & Briana
That is a freaking hero. And so is Chris Steiner. absolutely Unfortunately, Chris Steiner didn't make it. But thank God that Fab did because he was able to give a voice to Chris from beyond. Bless your heart, Fab and Chris, rest in peace. I hope his parents found some peace some kind of solace. I can't imagine losing a child, especially like that. But I hope that they got a little bit of comfort from the justice that was served and the answers that they so desperately were searching for for over a year.
00:58:10
Eden & Briana
You know how you're here? on other podcasts, there's always that one case that sticks with you. This
00:58:32
Eden & Briana
Yeah. And i hope I hope that we did this case justice I'm sure there's a lot more information out there. I hope I did a good job in my research.
00:58:50
Eden & Briana
um And Thaddeus Phillips, if you're out there and ever want to reach out, hey, we'd love to hear from you. i You're in my prayers. you You are amazing. Just unreal. He's a hero. I mean, superhuman.
00:59:13
Eden & Briana
Deadpool, Superman, they ain't got shit on this kid. And he's not a kid anymore. I'm sure he's an adult by now. Because he's got to be about your age. No, he's older than you. Because in 1990, what was it, four? 1994, 1995, he would have been 14. He would have been two, right? So he's got to be in his 40s by now.
00:59:42
Eden & Briana
but Yeah. Yeah.
00:59:53
Eden & Briana
i um I can't. I think both of us are pretty. um Well, I knew because I did all the research and I had to present this case. So I knew what was coming. You, however, had no idea. So Yeah, it's kind of, ah you'd never heard of this case? Well, I'm glad to present you a case that you weren't aware of. I'm sorry that I made your face look the way it looks right now. Yeah. Okay. Well, I think with that, we're just gonna, we're gonna check out. We'll see you next week.
01:00:40
Eden & Briana
It will be Brianna's week to present. And I think after Brianna presents, I'm going to bring you a real doozy. I am not 100% sure if it will turn into a two-parter because it it's terrible.
01:00:57
Eden & Briana
um So keep coming back and checking in. We love you guys. And we will see you next week. Bye.