About this episode
When the body of fourteen-year-old Chris Steiner was discovered floating in the Wisconsin River on July 10, 1994, it brought a heartbreaking end to the search for the boy who had mysteriously disappeared from his Baraboo, Wisconsin home a week earlier. Officially, the cause of death was drowning. His death was a tragic accident, and nothing more. But was it? A year later, a harrowing 911 call from 14 year old Thad Phillips would bring to light a monster in the boys' own neighborhood, one that would change the ruling in Chris Steiner's death and horrify the community forever. References Associated Press. 1997. Court awards $21M in torture case. October 14. Accessed April 6, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/5ded061aa228f6b8a597557fb8724258 . —. 1995. "Teen-age suspect in kidnapping-torture was taunted by peers about 1994 death." Wisconsin State Journal , August 11: 24. Chickering, Pam. 1994. "Baraboo teen-ager missing." Baraboo News Republic , July 8: 1. Clark, Anita. 1996. "Expert: Clark is a sadist, not insane." Wisconsin State Journal , September 18. Dvorak, Rich, and Troy Laack. 1994. "Clue's sought in teen's death." Baraboo News Republic , July 13: 1. —. 1994. "Missing youth's body found." Baraboo News Republic , July 12: 1. Elbow, Steven. 1997. "Expert witness denied voice at Clark trial." Baraboo News Republic , November 7: 1. —. 1996. "Formal charges filed in Steiner case." Portage Daily Register , September 26: 1. Grunig, Tara. 1995. "Clark charged as adult in Phillips case." The Daily Register , September 8: 1. Jaeger, Richard. 1995. "Autopsy discovers broken bones." Wisconsin State Journal , August 5: 1. —. 1995. "Kidnapping-torture similar to year-old case." Wisconsin State Journal , August 3: 1. —. 1995. "Teen questioned in '94 drowning." Wisconsin State Journal , August 4: 1D-2D. O'Connell, Mike. 1995. "13-year-old boy kidnapped, tortured." Baraboo News Republic , August 2: 1. —. 1996. "Clark's defense." Baraboo News Republic , September 17: 1. —. 1996. "'Do you know Chris Steiner'." Baraboo News Republic , September 17: 1. —. 1996. "Jurors bring swift decision; Clark faces 110 hard years." Baraboo News Republic , September 19: 1. —. 1995. "Report confirms incident details." Baraboo News Republic , August 2: 1. Seely, Ron. 1994. "Teen's parents left to wonder." Wisconsin State Journal , August 7: 21. State of Wisconsin v. Joseph C. Clark. 1998. 97-3584-CR (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, September 3). State of Wisconsin v. Joseph C. Clark. 1999. 98-2402-CR-NM (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, March 25). Wisconsin State Journal. 1996. "Broken-bome assault case brings plea of no contest." Wisconsin State Journal , September 6. —. 1996. "Shooting delays murder hearing ." Wisconsin State Journal , October 11. —. 1997. "Teen killer who tortured victims gets life in prison." Wisconsin State Journal , November 21. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.