A 13-year-old boy survived a harrowing two-day ordeal at the hands of a killer dubbed the 'bone breaker,' escaping by throwing himself down a staircase and ultimately helping authorities solve a tragic cold case.
In 1995, Thad Phillips and his family moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin. Described by neighbours as "cheerfully cocky," Thad was a popular, sporty boy and a keen baseball player. One late July evening, while half-asleep in his living room, an intruder broke in. Believing the stranger was his father carrying him to bed, Thad went willingly.
The teenager took Thad into the woods near his home, speaking amiably about people Thad knew from school. He led the boy into a dilapidated property, claiming people were coming to meet them. Inside, Thad noticed a foul smell and litter and dirt everywhere. The man told him to follow upstairs, saying he had something to show him before the party.
Two Days of Torture
Thad unknowingly entered the room where he would be held hostage for 43 hours. The teenager identified himself as Joe Clark, a 17-year-old with a disturbing obsession with breaking human bones. Clark spoke normally to Thad, discussing baseball and cards, giving Thad a false sense of security.
The mood shifted when Clark revealed he had murdered two other boys a year earlier. Overcome with fear and terror, Thad had no chance to respond as Clark hurled him onto the bed and wrenched his ankle until the bone fractured. Thad later said: "My feet were backwards. He kept twisting and twisting." His skin was described as looking like a "twisted rubber band," according to GoalCast. The pain was so excruciating that he lost consciousness.
When Thad regained consciousness, Clark reverted to a calm, amiable demeanour, leaving Thad in a fragile emotional state. Thad asked for a phone to tell his family he was safe. Clark agreed, but when Thad tried to dial, he discovered the cord had been severed. Despite the crushing disappointment, Thad turned his focus to survival. Throughout the night, he lay awake, paralysed by fear.
Escape Attempts and Final Break
The next morning, Thad tried to build a rapport with Clark to "buy time" and deter further assaults. When Clark briefly left the room, Thad sprinted down the stairs, feeling the fractured bone in his ankle shift up his leg. But Clark caught him outside and hauled him back inside, later breaking his hip.
Clark then told Thad his girlfriend was visiting and left him in the bedroom. Thad crept downstairs silently while Clark and his girlfriend watched television. He reached the kitchen but knew any noise would draw attention, so he waited there. When Clark found him, he tortured him further, fracturing his femur.
Despite two failed attempts, Thad remained determined. Clark put him in a dark cupboard before leaving the house. Inside, Thad found an old electric guitar and used it to smash down the door. Unable to walk, he threw himself down the staircase, sustaining further injuries, and crawled to the kitchen to call the police. Police initially thought it was a prank call, but Thad pleaded "No, no, just get me out of here."
Arrest and Cold Case Solved
Officers found Thad on the kitchen floor with severe injuries: his knee twisted completely backwards and both ankles broken. Clark was arrested at the scene but claimed to have "kind of blacked-out" and no memory of events. Thad was rushed to hospital, where he slowly recovered.
At trial, Thad revealed Clark had confessed to killing two other boys. Police reopened a cold case involving a boy named Chris Steiner, whose death had been recorded as accidental drowning. A fresh autopsy showed Steiner's legs and ankles had been fractured identically to Thad's, leading to a revised cause of death. Officers could not identify the second boy, but a search of Clark's home uncovered notebooks containing a kill list of between 25 and 30 further boys.
Clark entered a no contest plea, citing not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, with his mother's heavy drinking during pregnancy believed to be a contributing factor. He received a life sentence plus an additional 50 years. Several appeals were rejected, and he remains behind bars.
Thad was awarded $21 million in damages but reported he never received a single penny. He continues to live with the physical and psychological scars of his ordeal but remains deeply thankful to have survived.
