Over in Wisconsin, a 19 year old fellow named Joseph Clark has been ordered
by a judge to pay $21 million dollars in damages to a 13 year old boy that he
kidnapped and took to his home. Joseph deliberately broke both of Thaddius
Phillips's legs, then tortured him by stomping down on the broken legs. He
also bit the boy, and locked him in a closet. After being held captive for
nearly two days, Thaddius was able to drag himself down the stairs and use a
telephone to call police for help.
This incident occured in July of 1995, so Joseph was probably only 17 years
old when he kinapped and tortured this boy, who was apparently 13 years old at
the time of the abduction. Joseph was found guilty last year of attempted
first degree murder and other charges, in this case. But it was until the day
before yesterday that the judge imposed this 21 million dollar against Joseph.
Joseph is penniless and serving a 40 year prison sentence for last year's
conviction. But this pathetically moralistic judge still imposed a 21 million
judgement agaionst Joseph, declaring that due to the "infamy" of the case, it
is possible that "media coverage", I.E. the writing of a book or making of a
movie about the case, might result in Joseph making some money.
I think the entire "Son of Sam" law is OUTRAGEOUS. When a person commits a
violent crime, your society should be allowed to seek ONE form of punishment
against him. EITHER a prison term, OR a monetary fine. But NOT both things
together, ESPECIALLY not when the criminal did not take or steal any money
from his victim.
In this case, 17 year old Joseph kidnapped & tortured 13 year old Thaddius.
Is it fair for the judge to declare that Joseph should have to pay the ACTUAL
medical bills that 13 year old Thaddius incurred as a result of Joseph
breaking his legs? Yes, that is fair. The amount of money would be less than
$20,000, I'm sure, in total medical expenses. So, a judgement against Joseph
for that amount of money would have been fair and logical. But 21 million
dollars? That is INSANE. There should be NO "punitive" money damages awarded,
in any case where the defendent is ALSO sentenced to prison.
Anyway, there is a very interesting fact given in this article concerning
Joseph. Back in 1994, a year before Joseph kidnapped and tortured Thaddius,
the body of a 14 year old boy was found in the Wisconsin River. Both of the
boy's LEGS WERE BROKEN! Police initially ruled that death to have been
accidental, but a year later, after arresting Joseph in connection with the
kidnapping and leg breaking of 13 year old Thaddius, they REOPENED their
investigation into that 1994 death. And they are now saying that Joseph, who
was only 16 years old back in 1994, DID break the legs and kill 14 year old
Christian Steiner, back in 1994! Fascinating!
Joseph has NOT yet been tried in court for the killing of Christian, but
prosecutors say they do plan to bring him to trial in that murder case.
So, it would seem that young Joseph had a desire/urge/compulsion to break the
legs of boys. I'd be a lot more interested if his compulsion involved breaking
bones in the FEET of girls, but that's just me. Different strokes for
different folks. Ya gotta admit, it's pretty impressive for a 16 year old boy
to abduct a 14 year old, break his legs, then drag him to a river, throw him
in, and for the police to not even rule the case as a homicide! Joseph must
have used good tactical skills that time. And if it wasn't for Joseph deciding
to abduct/kill another boy a year later, and BOTCHING the job by allowing the
boy to reach a telephone and call cops, it is 99.9999% CERTAIN that the 1994
killing of Christian would NEVER have even been reviewed or reopened by
police, or determined to be a homicide.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
BARABOO, Wis. (AP) - A teen-ager convicted of abducting a 13-year-old boy,
breaking his legs and locking him in a closet for days was ordered to pay $21
million in damages to his victim.
A judge ordered Joseph Clark, 19, to pay $31,566 in medical damages, $6 million
in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages to Thadius
Phillips, who was abducted from his home in July 1995.
Although Clark is penniless and serving a 40-year sentence, he may make money
off the case, the judge said.
``Given the sensational nature of this case, it is entirely possible that the
defendant could reap some financial gain, through media coverage in the
future,'' Judge Virginia Wolfe wrote.
The ruling was made Monday and released Tuesday.
Phillips testified that Clark kept him captive for 43 hours in Clark's home and
broke his legs before he was able to summon help by dragging himself
downstairs and calling police. He suffered fractures to both ankles, his left
knee and his right upper leg, as well as black eyes, bruises and bites.
Phillips said Clark was alternately cruel and kind, breaking his legs, then
trying to ``fix'' them, stomping on the injuries, then bringing food.
Clark was convicted last year of attempted first-degree intentional homicide,
among other crimes. Phillips also filed a civil suit against him.
Clark filed motions Tuesday for a new trial and his lawyer asked a judge to
throw out the convictions of attempted homicide, mayhem and causing mental
harm to a child, saying the prosecutors didn't provide enough evidence to
support them.
Clark is also to stand trial in the death of 14-year-old Christian Steiner,
whose body was found in 1994 in the Wisconsin River. His legs were broken.
Steiner's death was considered accidental until Clark was accused of torturing Phillips.
AP-NY-10-14-97
Here is a slightly more detailed article on this interesting case out of
Wisconsin, where 19 year old Joseph Clark is about to go on trial for
kidnapping, torturing, and killing a 14 year old boy, back in 1994, when
Joseph himself was only 16 years old. He has already been found guilty of
kidnapping and breaking the legs/torturing a 13 year old boy, Thaddius
Phillips, a year later, in 1995. Thaddius managed to break out of a closet,
drag himself with two broken legs to a phone, and call police, thus avoiding
his own likely murder at the hands of Joseph.
Not a lot of additional information in this news report, but we do learn that
during the 43 hours of torture, as Joseph was breaking Thaddius's legs and
then stomping on the broken bones, Joseph VERBALLY told Thadius that he
ENJOYED breaking bones, and that he had broken the bones of a previous victim!
At least Joseph was in touch with his True Reality. He knew what he liked and
enjoyed doing, and was happy to tell his victim this fact. I also think that
because Joseph did tell Thaddius that he had broken the bones of a previous
victim, it appears certain that Joseph DID fully intend to KILL Thaddius after
having his bone breaking/torture fun. It would be totally irrational of Joseph
to tell his victim that he had previously tortured another person, unless he
FULLY intended to kill Thaddius and thus never give him a chance to inform the
police of a possible previous victim that he had killed.
Once again, you see the importance of TACTICS. It was simply poor tactics on
Joseph's part, that allowed Thaddius to break out of a closet, drag himself to
a telephone, and call 911.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of the 10/15/97 online edition of The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper:
Tortured teenager awarded $6 million
By Jo Sandin
of the Journal Sentinel staff
October 15, 1997
A Baraboo teenager who escaped with two broken legs from the closet where his
kidnapper had locked him was awarded more than $6 million in damages this week
from the man convicted of torturing him.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Virginia A. Wolfe awarded Thadius F. Phillips, 15,
and his parents, Donald and Connie Phillips, $31,566 in medical damages and $6
million in compensatory damages for pain and suffering from Joseph C. Clark.
"The question is how do you collect it?" said Thomas M. Jacobson, who acted as
guardian in the suit for Thadius. "Now I have to figure out how I can possibly
convert the judgment into a money reality."
Wolfe addressed that question in her judgment against Clark, 20, who is serving
a 40-year sentence at Green Bay Correctional Institution for abducting Thadius
on July 28, 1995.
He also is being prosecuted in the death of Christian Steiner, 14, of Baraboo,
whose body was found in the Wisconsin River in Columbia County in 1994. After
Thadius reported his own assault, Christian's body was exhumed and found to
have similar injuries.
In her decision, Wolfe found that Clark had no assets.
"However," the judge wrote, "given the sensational nature of this case, it is
entirely possible that the defendant could reap some financial gain, through
media coverage in the future."
Jacobson said: "In the real world the sicker and more disgusting the act, the
greater the media feeding frenzy. Actually, this suit ensures that Joseph
Clark can't exploit the issue for his own personal profit."
A jury ruled in September that Clark was sane when he tortured Thadius by
jumping on his legs and breaking his bones.
At the trial, Thadius testified that Clark forced him to go to Clark's house,
where he was held captive for 43 hours. During Thadius' captivity, Clark
jumped on his legs and broke his bones. Thadius suffered fractures to both
ankles, his left knee and his right upper leg, as well as black eyes, bruises
and bites.
During Thadius' ordeal, Clark said he enjoyed breaking bones and had broken the
bones of a previous victim, Thadius testified.
"Thad has been traumatized by this, and he will never forget what happened,"
Jacobson said. "However, he literally saved himself. He broke through the
closet door, dragged himself to a phone and dialed 911. But for him, the facts
in this other case would never have surfaced."
> I think the entire "Son of Sam" law is OUTRAGEOUS. When a person commits a
> violent crime, your society should be allowed to seek ONE form of punishment
> against him. EITHER a prison term, OR a monetary fine. But NOT both things
> together, ESPECIALLY not when the criminal did not take or steal any money
> from his victim.
>
> In this case, 17 year old Joseph kidnapped & tortured 13 year old Thaddius.
> Is it fair for the judge to declare that Joseph should have to pay the
>ACTUAL
> medical bills that 13 year old Thaddius incurred as a result of Joseph
> breaking his legs? Yes, that is fair. The amount of money would be less than
> $20,000, I'm sure, in total medical expenses. So, a judgement against Joseph
> for that amount of money would have been fair and logical. But 21 million
> dollars? That is INSANE. There should be NO "punitive" money damages
>awarded,
> in any case where the defendent is ALSO sentenced to prison.
Joe, I must say you are wrong in this case. ESPECIALLY given the nature
of this case. Why would you want this Joseph guy to be able to make money
off of his horrendous crimes? Could you imagine if you were held captive
in a closet for 2 days, had your legs broken and stomped on, bitten, and
tortured the way this boy was? This boy certainly deserves compensation.
He is going to remember this for the rest of his life. Surely he will
never be the same again. And there is no way this guy who tortued this boy
deserves any compensation for the crimes he committed, especially monetarly.
Shannon
OOOHLALAA
>> I think the entire "Son of Sam" law is OUTRAGEOUS. When a person commits a
>> violent crime, your society should be allowed to seek ONE form of
>punishment
>> against him. EITHER a prison term, OR a monetary fine. But NOT both things
>> together, ESPECIALLY not when the criminal did not take or steal any money
>> from his victim.
>>
>> In this case, 17 year old Joseph kidnapped & tortured 13 year old
>Thaddius.
>> Is it fair for the judge to declare that Joseph should have to pay the
>>ACTUAL
>> medical bills that 13 year old Thaddius incurred as a result of Joseph
>> breaking his legs? Yes, that is fair. The amount of money would be less
>than
>> $20,000, I'm sure, in total medical expenses. So, a judgement against
>Joseph
>> for that amount of money would have been fair and logical. But 21 million
>> dollars? That is INSANE. There should be NO "punitive" money damages
>>awarded,
>> in any case where the defendent is ALSO sentenced to prison.
oooh...@aol.com (OOOHLALAA) Wrote:
>Joe, I must say you are wrong in this case. ESPECIALLY given the nature
>of this case.
Hello Shannon,
You have a differing opinion on the right of a victim to collect punitive
damages against his assailant. And you have an absolute right to your opinion.
That does not make me "wrong".
> Why would you want this Joseph guy to be able to make money
>off of his horrendous crimes?
Because this is a free market economy and anyone who writes a book or sells a
movie script, for WHATEVER reason, is entitled to keep the money that he
LEGALLY earns, via the writing of the book or making of the movie. Murder is
illegal. Writing a book is legal. Therefore ALL writers should receive 100% of
the monetary profits, less expenses, agent fees, printing costs, etc... that
the written book generates.
> Could you imagine if you were held captive
>in a closet for 2 days, had your legs broken and stomped on, bitten, and
>tortured the way this boy was?
No, I can't imagine having this done to me. I can imagine doing it to someone
else.
> This boy certainly deserves compensation.
The only compensation he deserves is for the actual treatment of the injuries
he suffered. If he desires compensatory funds, he should allow his attacker to
go free and get a job, at which point he might deserve 10-15% of his
attacker's monthly take-home pay. If his attacker is imprisoned for the crime,
then the boy deserves no monetary compensation, beyond ACTUAL medical expenses
incurred as a result of the attack.
>He is going to remember this for the rest of his life. Surely he will
>never be the same again.
Every incident that occurs affects every person's life, to some degree. Your
society does not have the right to impose a financial penalty on top of a
criminal conviction that results in jail time, IMNSVHO.
> And there is no way this guy who tortued this boy
>deserves any compensation for the crimes he committed, especially monetarly.
In a free market economy, all money that is legally earned belongs to the
earner. If Joseph writes a book, or aids in the production of a screenplay
that is made into a movie, he is entitled to FULL payment for his deeds, since
these deeds are LEGAL.
Take care, JOE
>Shannon
>OOOHLALAA
>If someone says that a 17 year old can kidnap, brutalize, and break the legs
>of
> a 13 year old and can lawfully make money off the crime; the person is not
> only wrong, they are immoral.
Hello Peter,
It was I who said this. And I consider myself amoral, rather than immoral.
There is a difference between the two philosophies.
>Where does some of this logic come from?
It comes from my insightful and amoral mind, which is highly intelligent and
unbiased and unbrainwashed, unlike the minds of 99.5% of the irrational and
hypocritically moralistic humans who infest your society.
Your society reaps what it sows. It chooses to create human predators, and I
choose to embrace the right of those created predators to stalk YOUR world,
and claim their justifiable vengeance, as they, and they ALONE, deem
appropriate and see fit.
Take care, JOE
>Peter
Where does some of this logic come from?
Peter