1988 saw a lot of disruption as a result of Maddie Clifton’s sudden disappearance from her Southside Jacksonville home, and after making a startling discovery everyone went into a frenzy.
According to NamUS, the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, approximately 600,000 persons go missing in the United States each year. The majority of the missing have been found, which is wonderful news, but many of them have never been found.
Although going missing can be incredibly painful and have a lasting impact on family members and friends, many missing person cases lie unsolved for years.
This article will discuss the circumstances regarding the case of Maddie Clifton and inform you of what truly happened.
The Case’s Beginning
On November 3, 1998, Maddie Clifton who was only eight years old went missing from her area where she resided.
Maddie disappeared from her Lakewood neighborhood on Jacksonville’s Southside. Her mother, Sheila Clifton, filed a missing complaint against a daughter.
Maddie Clifton
Madelyn (Maddie) Rae Clifton was an eight-year child who was born on June 17, 1990, in Jacksonville, Florida, US. She grew up in an era when parents let their kids roam the streets freely.
She was a playful and happy kid. One day, she went outdoors to play with friends on November 3, 1998 and never came back home.
The day Maddie went missing, she was wearing a red YMCA basketball shirt. But where she went was a riddle that had yet to be solved.
The neighborhood searched the streets for the lost young girl for six exhausting days, and a £72,000 bounty was announced for her safe return. Also, the FBI got involved after the local police had no findings.
Who Is Joshua Phillips?
Born on March 17, 1984, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Joshua Earl Patrick Phillips was a child who was always scared of his abusive father, Steve Phillips.
Computer expert Steve Phillips, his father, was quite forceful and repressive with his wife Melissa too.
Josh’s family relocated to Florida in the early 1990s across the street from the Cliftons. Steve had strong restrictions for his child.
He used to get irritated if there were other kids around the house while he wasn’t there, and had a strong hatred for young girls.
Mother of Josh, Melissa also claimed she hadn’t ever comprehended her husband’s feelings toward women.
However, Phillips was “quiet and friendly” by nature, according to his neighbors. He was a well-liked kid in school, according to his school teacher, who also described him as humorous and entertaining.
Maddie Clifton Went to Josh Phillips’ House
On November 3, 1998, Maddie Clifton came to Phillips’ house when he was home alone, according to Phillips.
She lived directly across the street from the Phillips’. She went to his house and urged him to play baseball with her outside.
He hesitated before responding, although he knew his parents were away. Then, he claimed, he threw his ball and hit her in the eye by mistake.
She screamed and started to bleed. In his confession, Phillips said that while dragging Maddie to his bedroom to hide from his dad, who was about to get home, her underwear fell off.
Maddie did not stop screaming. He then used the baseball bat to strike her three times in the head while forcing her under his waterbed to quiet her.
However, Phillips said that when his father came, he still could hear Maddie crying. Panicking, he took her out and used a pen knife to stab her in the chest and neck seven times.
Seven days had passed since Maddie’s disappearance, while Josh had also helped with the investigation.
Parents of Maddie Clifton, Steve and Sheila Clifton were winding up a television interview on November 10, 1988 in the hopes that it might lead to the recovery of their daughter.
On the same day, Melissa Phillips while cleaning her son’s room saw leakage in his waterbed. She quickly alerted a police officer after finding Clifton’s body after closer inspection.
Maddie’s hand was still gripping Phillips’ bed frame when authorities subsequently took her body out, indicating that she had been alive when Josh shoved her back beneath for the last time.
After being caught later at his school, Phillips quickly confessed to the killing. He also claimed that he committed murder because he was afraid of his father’s anger.
The Official Trial
Police were shocked because despite conducting three searches of the Phillips house, they mistook the smell of numerous pet birds for that of Maddie Clifton’s death.
A few of Phillips’ claims were contested by the prosecution. Harry Shorstein, the state’s attorney, speculated that the murder may have had a sexual motive.
Although prosecutors maintained that the absence of sand and dust on Clifton’s remains did not verify Phillips’s claim that her clothing fell off as he carried her into his room, the autopsy showed no indication of sexual assault.
The prosecution maintained that Phillips’ account of what happened was not supported by the fact that no blood was discovered in the backyard or on the baseball that Phillips claimed hit Clifton.
Additionally, according to prosecutor Harry Shorstein, the murderer spent 30 minutes before the crime browsing violent and p*rnographic sites on his desktop pc.
On January 13, 1999, the results of Maddie’s postmortem were made public, showing that she had suffered several traumatic head traumas and many skull fractures.
Her death could have been influenced by neck stab wounds. But the medical examiner decides that there was no sign of a sexual assault.
The Sentence
The well-known trial started on July 6, 1999, barely lasted 2 days. Josh Phillips was found guilty of first-degree murder by the jury after only two hours of testimony.
His life in jail without the possibility of release was imposed by the judge on August 26.
During the hearing for his new sentence in 2017, Josh went before Circuit Judge Waddell Wallace III. Phillips expressed regret to Maddie’s family throughout the proceeding. He said:
“I don’t pretend to know or understand your pain or to grasp the void I created in your lives. I can say this, I do understand pain. I have become quite intimate with suffering. Growing up in prison, I’ve seen many dark things and I’ve been to some dark places. Many times throughout this journey, I came close to ending my life, just to escape it all.”
Two years later, Joshua requested a resentencing. According to testimony from a psychologist, Phillips had undergone rehabilitation and was regretful for his actions.
The expert also stated that if released into society, his horrible crime would not have any impact on his actions.
Josh’s sentence will be reviewed in 2023, after serving 25 years of it, according to the court, which once more affirmed the verdict.
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