Joe Clark

Joe Clark a.k.a. The Bonebreaker or The Baraboo Bonebreaker is a teenage unclassified killer and abductor, convicted of the murder of Chris Steiner and the torture and attempted murder of Thad Phillips in Wisconsin.

History[]

On July 4, 1994, Clark abducted 14-year-old Christian Stainer and held him captive at Clark's house for five days. Throughout the captivity, Chris was tortured by repeated brutal dislocations of joints in his legs and feet. On July 9, Clark transported Chris to the Wisconsin River and threw Chris into the water while he was still alive. As Chris' legs were too shattered for him to swim, he drowned. he was found the next day, caught on a tree submerged in the stream. His murder was written as a tragic accident in spite of his leg injuries.

On July 29, Clark carried Thaddeus Phillips out of his front door and made him in his groggy state run to Clark's nearby home, lying that he needed help with his model car for an upcoming party with friends. Clark forced Thad to Clark's bed upstairs and tortured him through the night by twisting his ankles, then his thigh joints, until they snapped. The violence got worse when Thad tried to escape. Thad described Clark as going from taunting him with how he enjoyed the sound of Thad's bones breaking, and threatening to kill Thad, to taking Thad downstairs for movies and treating him as a confidant for Clark's personal life. Thad remembered Clark confessed to killing two boys before Thad, but he only remembered Chris' name by the time police would question him. Thad refused to give up on escaping, so Clark locked him in a closet. Still persisting, Thad broke out of the closet by smashing the door with an electric guitar, made his way to the nearest phone, and called the police. He was rescued, and Clark was arrested. After speaking with Thad, Chris' remains were exhumed; the coroner found that he had injuries similar to Thad's and reclassified Chris' death as a homicide. Thad would permanently walk with a limp as a consequence of the torture, but he for the most part recovered.

Clark was tried as an adult for first-degree attempted murder of Thad. Clark took a no contest plea and was sentence to 100 years in prison. Clark was charged with first-degree murder of Chris, where Thad was set to testify. Before the scheduled date, 15-year-old Michael Huebsch, the neighbor and friend of Clark, shot Thad twice in his back with a hunting rifle in a rage over Clark's legal troubles. Thad still gave his testimony once he recovered. Clark was found guilty and sentenced to life with an additional fifty years imprisonment. The Phillips family successfully won a lawsuit of $21 million, but Thad and his family were never paid. Olga Johnson and her husband have set a GoFundMe page in Thad's name to pay for his medical bills, which has so far amassed more than $13 grand. In 2018, Huebsch would later be sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of a teenage girl.

Modus Operandi[]

Clark targeted Caucasian teenage boys from town, younger than him. He abducted them either by carrying them out of the house or making them run with him to his. The boys would be held captive by twisting their legs and feet until their joints were painfully dislocated, for Clark's pleasure as much as convenience. Clark would then make crude attempts to reset the boys' joints with socks and ace bandages. Clark would torture the boys either out of his own petty daily rage or retribution when they tried to escape, using other means including kicking their stomachs by hopping on them or non-fatally smothering them with pillows. They would either be left around the house or locked in a closet (the latter when people were visiting or they tried to get away). When Clark killed Chris Steiner, he threw him into the Wisconsin River, where Chris was carried away by the currents and drowned because his legs were too broken for him to swim.

Known Victims[]

Chris Steiner and Thad Phillips — Clark's confirmed victims, left to right: Chris Steiner, Thad Phillips

Baraboo, Wisconsin:
- July 4-9, 1994: Christian Steiner, 14 (tortured and dislocated his legs; later drowned)
- July 29-31, 1995: Thaddeus Phillips, 13 (tortured and dislocated his legs; he escaped)
Note: Clark confessed to two murders of boys to Phillips while holding him captive. Police haven't yet located a potential second murder victim. Police also found in possession the names of dozens of other boys Clark was stalking and planning to attack.

On Criminal Minds[]

While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, Clark appears to be an inspiration for the following unsubs.

Season Six
- Jane Gould ("Today I Do") - Both are murderers and attempted murderers targeting victims the same respective gender as themselves in their local communities, (allegedly in Clark's case) killed two victims, held victims captive for prolonged periods of time, tortured victims with severe injuries to their legs and feet that kept them from walking, left victims in isolated natural bodies of water, had one surviving victim who escaped despite their injuries and were rescued by police, and refused to take responsibility for their respective crimes.
Season Ten
- Donnie Mallick ("Nelson's Sparrow") - Both are killers and abductors targeting victims of a certain gender (female in Mallick's case, male in Clark's case), used ruses to abduct victims, tortured them by dislocating their limbs, held them captive for prolonged periods of time, left them in isolated nature after murdering them, and were involved in a rifle shooting outside of their primary spree meant to prevent leval action against them (Mallick shot Gideon with a rifle at his own cabin when Gideon was investigating him, Clark's friend shot his only surviving victim with a rifle in an attempt to kill him for testifying against Clark).

Joe Clark

Contents

History[]

Modus Operandi[]

Known Victims[]

On Criminal Minds[]

Sources[]

Fan Feed