On November 3, 1998, Maddie Clifton went outside to play and encountered a 14 year old neighbor boy, Joshua Phillips. The two began hitting a baseball back and forth when he suddenly hit the ball and struck her in the eye. Claiming he was fearing he would be in trouble with his parents, especially his abusive father, as he was not to have friends over when they weren't home and he had hurt Maddie, he took her into his house, strangled her for 15 minutes with a phone cord, but when this did not quiet her crying, he struck her in the head with a baseball bat and stabbed her with a pocket knife, then stuffing her body under his waterbed. He re-entered his room later to find that Maddie had not died, so he stabbed her again, this time in the throat, returning her body back to it's hiding spot, where a week later, his mother made the gruesome discovery.

Sources:

Mills, Gary. (NA). The Murder of Maddie Clifton-Timeline. Retrieved from: https://www.sutori.com/story/the-murder-of-maddie-clifton--8rtVFLKHAxZAhZnVsdWXY3Yh Sutori.

Kelley, Eileen. (2018, November 10). Lives Go On After Disappearance , death of Maddie Clifton, 8. Retrieved from: https://apnews.com/9b731b15a7b04f2399e5c5d8ef55c2c2 AP News.

CrimeInMyPocket. (2018, November 30). Joshua Phillips. Retrieved from: https://crimeinmypocket.com/2018/11/30/joshua-phillips/

AUDIO:

Josh’s Apology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwj5R6_omoE

Josh’s Mom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68oZoYn8y9U

News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1N3oAj758w