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Josh Phillips (murderer)

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Name
  
Josh Phillips


Role
  
Murderer

Josh Phillips looking at the back during his trial while wearing eyeglasses, orange t-shirt prison uniform, and gray sweatshirt

Born
  
March 17, 1984 (age 40) (
1984-03-17
)

Criminal penalty
  
Life sentence no parole

Criminal status
  
Parents
  
Melissa Phillips, Steve Phillips

Similar People
  
Eric Smith, Lionel Tate, Mary Bell, George Stinney, Jesse Pomeroy

Abc25 breaking news josh phillips arrested 11 10 98 aircheck


Joshua Earl Patrick "Josh" Phillips (born March 17, 1984) is an American convicted murderer from Jacksonville, Florida. He was convicted in July 1999 of murdering an 8-year-old neighbor, Maddie Clifton, in November 1998, when he was 14 years old. He is currently serving a sentence of life in prison without parole. The murder was the subject of national television coverage, including a documentary on 48 Hours titled "Why did Josh Kill?"

Contents

Mug shot of Josh Phillips while wearing a blue t-shirt

Josh phillips


Early Life

Josh Phillips speaking while wearing a blue t-shirt

Phillips was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 17, 1984. Josh's father, Steve Phillips, a 6 ft 6 in (198cm) man, dominated his wife and son and had a violent temper. In Too Young to Kill: 15 Shocking Crimes Josh recalls at one point in his life he walked in his parents room to see his father's fist smashed through a wall, this made him terrified of his own father. Steve gave his son strict rules. He was also a drug addict and alcoholic.

The disappearance

Josh Phillips featured on the news while wearing a black coat, white long sleeves, and eyeglasses

On November 3, 1998, around 5:00pm, Maddie Clifton disappeared. The first suspect named in the case was neighbor Larry Grisham. Grisham had been arrested twice in the past, both times between 15 and 20 years earlier, in sexual battery cases, but in both incidents, charges were dropped. Grisham failed a lie detector test in relation to Maddie's disappearance, but provided an alibi.

Mug shot of Josh Phillips while wearing a blue t-shirt

Police called off the search for Maddie, but the community, including over 400 volunteers, persisted. A reward was offered; that was initially $50,000 but it was later doubled. One of the volunteers was Phillips.

Mug shot of Josh Phillips while wearing a blue t-shirt

The FBI became involved in the case. Flyers were distributed around town, including at a local Jaguars-Bengals game. Television series America's Most Wanted also offered to broadcast the story.

Murder case

Josh Phillips, in one of his interviews, speaking with hand gestures, and wearing a white shirt underneath a blue shirt, eyeglasses, blue pants, and identification badge

The search ended a week after the disappearance when Phillips' mother Melissa went to clean his room and found that his waterbed seemed to be "leaking". Upon further examination, she discovered Maddie's body hidden inside the base of the waterbed. She promptly ran outside her home and went across the street to get the police.

Josh Phillips speaking, with mustache and beard, while wearing eyeglasses and orange t-shirt prison uniform

Phillips was arrested that day at his school. He was held in maximum security as he made his first court appearance. It was determined that Clifton's cause of death was due to stabbing and clubbing with a baseball bat. Phillips claimed the event happened one afternoon when he was home alone, Maddie came to his house asking him to come outside and play baseball, Phillips agreed even though he was not allowed to have friends over while his parents were not home. As the two were playing baseball, Maddie threw the ball at him and he hit it, which caused the ball to strike the 8-year-old's eye, causing her to bleed, leading Clifton to cry and scream. Phillips panicked, fearing the reaction that his dominate father would give when he got home and saw the aftermath. Phillips proceeded to drag Clifton into his home and then into his room and strangle her with a phone cord for approximately 15 minutes. Soon after, he hit her again with the baseball bat and stashed her under his bed, not long after Josh's father entered the house, Phillips went to interact with his father for a short moment and then went back to his room and found that Clifton was still alive moaning under his bed, he took off the mattress and stabbed her 11 times, killing the 8-year-old.

Josh Phillips with a serious face while wearing a beige polo

Phillips was charged with first-degree murder. His trial was held in Polk County due to the massive amount of media coverage. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole. Because he was under 16, he was not eligible for the death penalty under Florida's law at the time.

Josh Phillips with a serious face while wearing a black shirt

While the autopsy did not reveal any sexual assault, Maddie's body was found nude from the waist down.

Josh Phillips with a serious face

The murder appears to have been motivated by Phillips's fear of his abusive father, who would have been very angry had he found Madelyn inside their house. Phillips stated on the TV program Too Young to Kill: 15 Shocking Crimes that if he could take it back, he would, subsequently breaking down into tears.

Phillips attended Blackstone Career Institute, a distance learning program, graduating with a paralegal degree in 2007. He works as a paralegal, helping other inmates with their appeals.

Sometime after the trial, Maddie Clifton's parents, Steve and 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 upheld Phillips' conviction. In December 2004, Melissa Phillips began to seek a new trial for her son, noting that his young age at the time of the murder should have carried more weight in his sentence.

In 2005, new hearing dates were set for Phillips.

In 2008, two of the officials behind his sentence – States Attorney Harry Shorstein and Sheriff Nat Glover – confirmed their belief that Phillips deserved jail time, but admitted having second thoughts about the no-parole life sentence for the 14 year old.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sentencing juveniles to mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional. It was unclear at that time if Phillips' attorney would seek re-sentencing.

In November 2015, Phillips' attorneys were considering the Supreme Court ruling as a basis to file a re-sentencing hearing.

In September 2016, after Phillips' attorneys successfully appealed the court, he was granted a new sentencing hearing as a result of retroactive application of the Supreme Court's ruling which declared his current sentence, mandatory life in prison without parole, unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. A resentencing date was set for February 2017.

In February 2017 Phillips' lawyer asked for more time to prepare and subsequently a new sentencing hearing was set for June 2017. At the June hearing, the victim's mother requested that his sentence be upheld. The decision is set to be announced after a hearing on September 22, 2017.

In the media

The murder of Maddie Clifton was featured on the Season 2 premiere of Killer Kids.

References

Josh Phillips (murderer) Wikipedia