Joe Clark

Case overview

Joe Clark was a juvenile offender who kidnapped and tortured boys. He was sentenced to life in prison on November 7, 1997.

Timeline

• July 4, 1994 — Chris Steiner, 14, disappeared from his home in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
• July 4, 1994 (after his disappearance) — Chris Steiner’s bedroom window screen was found sliced open; muddy footprints were evident on the carpets; a patio door was found unlocked.
• July 9, 1994 — Chris Steiner’s body was found on the edge of a Wisconsin River sandbar, draped over a partially submerged tree.
• July 29, 1995 — Thad Phillips awoke and was taken from his living room couch; Joe Clark carried him outside and into a nearby ramshackle home.
• July 30, 1995 — Clark locked Thad Phillips in a bedroom closet; Phillips later broke out with an old, heavy guitar, reached a kitchen phone, dialed 911, and explained his location and predicament; officers responded and rescued him.
• November 7, 1997 — Joe Clark was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years.
• On the day he was sentenced (trial outcome described) — Clark maintained his innocence in Chris Steiner’s murder from a prison cell.

Background

Chris Steiner was 14 years old and disappeared from his home in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Thad Phillips was taken from his bed while he slept.

The offence

Chris Steiner kidnapping and death

Chris Steiner disappeared on July 4, 1994. Investigators concluded that he had been kidnapped based on a shoe impression outside his bedroom window and muddy tracks inside.

Steiner’s body was found five days after he disappeared, caught on a tree along a bank of the Wisconsin River. An autopsy attributed Steiner’s death to drowning, and the manner of death remained undetermined.

Clark’s mother provided an alibi. She said that if Joe Clark had left home on the night Steiner was abducted, she would have known because he would have passed through her bedroom. It was shown that she was a heavy sleeper and that he had managed to slip by her before.

An exhumation of Steiner’s body revealed injuries to Steiner’s ankles that were identical to those Thad Phillips endured.

A former fellow juvenile detention inmate testified that Clark admitted to her that he had killed a boy and placed his body over a tree.

Joe Clark maintained his innocence in Chris Steiner’s murder from a prison cell to this day.

Thad Phillips kidnapping and torture

On July 29, 1995, Thad Phillips awoke feeling like he was being picked up from the living room couch and carried through the house. He thought one of his parents was escorting him to bed after he had fallen asleep watching TV. Instead, he was hoisted outside and carried to a ramshackle home about a mile away.

Joe Clark introduced himself by his first name and forced Phillips to his upstairs bedroom. Clark tossed him on a soiled bed and twisted and turned one of Phillips’ ankles until it snapped and splintered. Phillips freed himself and, after limping downstairs, was caught by Clark and thrown onto a couch. Clark then pushed Phillips’ leg upward toward Phillips’ own head and leaned in until the thigh snapped.

The abuse continued after Clark dressed Phillips in crude casts of socks and ace bandages. Clark left Phillips alone on the bed while he went out, apparently convinced Phillips was no longer a threat to escape due to the extent of his injuries. After Clark and a girl arrived later and sat down on the couch, Phillips was lying silent in the next room. When Clark’s friend left, Clark discovered Phillips and dragged him upstairs again to continue the punishment. During this time, Clark threatened to kill Phillips.

On the evening of July 30, 1995, Clark locked Phillips in the bedroom closet before leaving. Inside the darkened cubicle, Phillips found an old, heavy guitar and battered the door down with it. He was dehydrated with his legs useless, dragged himself down the stairs again, passed out repeatedly from pain and fatigue, reached the kitchen phone, and shook the cord until the receiver fell from the hook. He dialed 911 and explained his location and predicament to a dispatcher. Officers quickly responded to the Clark house and rescued him. Phillips had been held captive for about 43 hours in total and sustained fractures to both legs requiring several surgeries over the years and resulting in a permanent limp.

Soon afterward, Clark was arrested. Phillips told officers that Clark had spoken of brutalizing two other boys, one named Chris and another boy whose name he could not recall.

A search of the Clark home uncovered a notebook with three lists written in Clark’s handwriting, including names of eighteen local boys. The headings were “Get to now,” “Can wait,” and “Leg thing.” One heading referenced “The Leg Thing.”

Investigation

Chris Steiner death investigation

After Chris Steiner disappeared on July 4, 1994, police investigated indications consistent with an abduction. Steiner’s body was found on the edge of a Wisconsin River sandbar five days later, draped over a partially submerged tree.

An autopsy found no traumatic injuries. Police remained convinced foul play was involved. Steiner’s death was caused by drowning and officially listed as “undetermined.”

The case went cold due to no clear leads. Police did not look for a perpetrator because it was not clearly a murder.

Linking the cases and forensic evidence

After Thad Phillips was taken from his bed in the same town and survived to tell the story, investigators learned that they had not taken X-rays for Steiner’s body. They exhumed Chris Steiner’s remains and re-examined the body. Forensic analysis identified four separate breaks in Steiner’s legs. Investigators concluded that if Steiner had been thrown into the water with those breaks, he could not have used his legs to swim and could easily have drowned—as he actually did. This evidence supported probable cause to search Joe Clark’s bedroom.

Investigators found a notebook with three lists and headings including “Get to now,” “Can wait,” and “Leg thing.”

Arrest

Clark was arrested after Thad Phillips told officers that Clark had spoken of brutalizing two other boys and after the subsequent search uncovered a notebook listing names of eighteen local boys.

Trial

Attempted homicide case relating to Thad Phillips

Clark was first tried for the Phillips attack. Clark entered a plea of no contest to attempted homocide and other charges. Clark was sentenced to a 100-year prison term.

Clark claimed to have no recollection of Thad Phillips’ abduction and torture.

Trial for Chris Steiner’s murder

Clark elected to plead not guilty in the Steiner case.

The evidence included the injuries to Steiner’s ankles revealed by exhumation, testimony from other witnesses that Clark regularly snuck out of the house via an upstairs window, and testimony from a former fellow juvenile detention inmate that Clark admitted killing a boy and placing his body over a tree.

A jury found Clark guilty of Chris Steiner’s murder.

Sentencing

On November 7, 1997, Clark was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

The Steiner case ended with a conviction and remained part of Clark’s imprisonment. Clark maintained his innocence in Chris Steiner’s murder from a prison cell to this day.

Other details

The facts included that the investigative context for Steiner’s death involved evaluating cause, mechanism, and manner of death, with “undetermined” used when death could not be classified as Natural, Accident, Suicide, or Homicide. The account stated that it was estimated that some 15–20 percent of deaths around the country occur in a manner that is undetermined.