Random Horrifying Story Of The Boy Who Survived The Bonebreaker Killer (11 items)

• (#7) Phillips Threw Himself Down A Flight Of Stairs To Call For Help

  After his attempted escapes, Thad Phillips was placed in a bedroom closet while Clark left the house on the evening of July 31st. Locked in the closet, Phillips felt around for a weapon until he found an electric guitar, which he used to break down the closet door. Phillips then crawled from the bedroom closet and threw himself down the stairs, passing out multiple times due to weakness and the excruciating pain of his injuries.

  Once he made it downstairs, Phillips was able to find a phone and call 911. Police arrived at the scene before Clark's return and quickly put him under arrest. 

   
• (#3) Clark Told Thad He Enjoyed The Sound Of Bones Breaking

  After the initial attack broke Thad Phillips's leg near the ankle, Joe Clark threw the shocked boy on the couch downstairs. Phillips, trying to figure out an escape plan, told Clark he wouldn't tell anyone what had happened and that he'd say he tripped over a table. Clark maintained no one would believe this. 

  Phillips then attempted to reason with Clark, asking why he would do this. Clark said he enjoyed the sound and feeling of bones breaking at his whim. He said he'd done something like this before and described how much he loved it. 
   
• (#11) Phillips Never Received His $21 Million Settlement From Clark

  When he entered the hospital, Thad Phillips had serious, potentially life-threatening internal bleeding. Doctors said he was possibly hours away from passing. He received immediate medical care, but to repair his legs and hope to save the boy's mobility, he required many surgeries over several years. 

  As part of the $21 million settlement, Phillips was to receive $31,566 in medical damages, $6 million in compensation, and $15 million in punitive damages. However, Clark has never had the money to pay Phillips for the years of expensive surgeries and medical treatment he's undergone.

  In April 2023, Baraboo local Olga Johnson and her husband set up a GoFundMe with a $100,000 goal to help Phillips. Johnson said at the time of Phillips, "He saved the community and I wanted to say thank you to Thad. He brought peace to Chris [Steiner]'s family."
• (#5) Clark Would Act Like Him And Thad Were Friends

  In between his attacks on Phillips, Clark reportedly feigned friendship. During this downtime, Clark would carry Phillips to the couch so that the pair could watch movies together. Reportedly, he would talk as if nothing was wrong.

  Clark spoke about his family, his car, how he lived with his brother in his filthy house, and his girlfriend, who was in the house at the same time that Phillips was being held captive. 

  The most shocking revelation came when Clark told Phillips that he had already murdered two other boys.
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  (#1) In 1995, Joseph Clark Kidnapped 13-Year-Old Thad Phillips

  On the evening of July 29, 1995, 13-year-old Thadius “Thad” Phillips was sleeping on the couch with his sister in their new home in Baraboo, Wisconsin. When someone picked Phillips up off the couch, he assumed it was his father carrying him to bed, which was a common occurrence.

  Disoriented when he woke up, Phillips found he was outside with an unfamiliar, older teen boy. The boy seemed friendly, asking if Phillips could help him with his car. Phillips, still sleepy and confused, went with the boy back to his home, which was only a half mile from Phillips's new home. 

  Once there, the mysterious boy introduced himself as “Joe” and said he would soon throw a party. He named other boys Phillips knew and said they'd be there soon. In the meantime, he asked if Phillips wanted to check out his model cars upstairs. Phillips followed, unaware of the violence that awaited him.
   
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  (#9) Thanks To Thad Phillips, Joe Clark Was Linked To The Murder Of A Teen Boy

  Phillips would later testify that Clark had told him about murdering a boy named “Chris” the year prior. Police were then able to link this testimony to the murder of 14-year-old Christian Steiner who had gone missing from his home of July 4, 1994. His parents had awakened that morning to find the window screen in Steiner's bedroom slashed, and there were muddy footprints throughout the house. Although Steiner's parents first thought he had snuck out of the house, they soon realized he had likely been kidnapped.

  Steiner's body was found on the banks of the Wisconsin River five days later. His cause of death was drowning, but the manner of Steiner's death was undetermined. Following Phillips's testimony, Steiner's body was exhumed and an autopsy confirmed that both of his legs had been broken.

  A boy who had been with Clark in juvenile detention also testified that Clark had bragged about murdering a boy and hanging the body over a tree. However, police were never able to link Clark to a second murder.

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