Teen killer ‘cool as a cucumber’ after hiding girl’s body in waterbed for a week

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Joshua Phillips, who was 14 when he killed Maddie Clifton, 8, in Florida in 1998, showed no emotion when police searched his home where her body was hidden – now 41, his family are fighting to keep him behind bars as his sentence faces review

A “chilling” killer showed no emotion after bludgeoning an eight year old girl with a bat, slashing her throat and concealing her lifeless body inside his waterbed frame.

Murderer Joshua Phillips was just 14 when he killed Maddie Clifton in 1998. The youngster’s death devastated the local area as her family, police and volunteers frantically searched for her for more than a week.

Maddie’s older sister, Jessie Clifton, told News Jax 4: “Her nickname was ‘Giggles’. We fought a lot, just as sisters do, but we loved each other very much.”

Patrol Sergeant Tom Hackney, who took part in the hunt for Maddie, recalled speaking to Phillips just one day before the little girl’s body was discovered. He described the encounter as “chilling.”

Hackney told News Jax 4: “He was cool as a cucumber. He was absolutely not shocked. Our engagement with him was actually in the bedroom where she was recovered, and he sat on the bed, petting his dog, and just was as unemotional, unaffected by law enforcement being in his house. It’s chilling, thinking about it now.”, reports the Mirror US.

Twelve months after the horrific crime, Phillips was found guilty and handed a life sentence behind bars without the possibility of parole.

In 2017, Phillips faced re-sentencing after a 2012 Supreme Court ruling declared mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional. However, despite the re-sentencing, Phillips was handed another life term, with the possibility of review after 25 years.

“I know that’s his right. I understand children have a child brain and not an adult brain,” Maddie’s sister Jessie expressed.

In 2025, the news that Phillips’ sentence was up for review left Maddie’s Northeast Florida family devastated. In July, the now 41 year old’s lawyer asked the judge to postpone his hearing.

Maddie’s family were unequivocal in their opposition to this development. Jessie declared her intention to testify at Phillips’ sentence review and read out a victim impact statement.

She elaborated: “This time, I’m really going to sit down and I’m going to take my time and I’m going to write something that’s, that’s going to hopefully make him feel… I mean, I guess that’s not the goal, really, to make him feel bad.

“That’s not my intention. But I want him to see how bad I’m hurting and that I don’t really care that he’s hurting or wants to get out of jail. So, my hurt is forever. His should be also.”

Sheila DeLongis stated that Phillips “knew what he was doing” when he murdered Maddie.

She added: “Maddie didn’t get a second chance. She didn’t get to grow up, graduate, fall in love, or have a family of her own. Maddie’s sentence was final. Her killer’s should be, too.”

Phillips confessed to police that Maddie’s death began as an accident but escalated into murder due to fear of his abusive father. As part of a sentencing review, his lawyers will attempt to present their case.

Maddie’s heartbroken sister said: “He knew how badly she was hurt, and he could have gotten help twice, and she was still alive. And that to me, I just, I can’t see past child brain, adult brain, alien brain. I don’t, I don’t care. I truly do not. I think you know right from wrong.”

Ahead of Phillips’ review, the family issued a powerful statement which read: “As a family, we continue to live with the devastating loss of Maddie every single day.

“It’s been more than 25 years since her life was violently stolen, yet time has not healed this pain, it has only deepened our understanding of what was taken from us.

“Maddie was eight years old. She was full of life, joy, and potential. None of that was spared when she was brutally murdered by our 14-year-old neighbor in 1998.

“Today, we are once again thrust into the spotlight, not by choice, but because the individual who took Maddie from us is seeking to have his sentence reduced. He is back in court for a hearing to schedule a sentencing review that he doesn’t deserve.”

The family made their position crystal clear: “Let us be clear, we do not support Joshua Phillips being released. He may have been a juvenile when he committed this heinous act, but he made a conscious decision to beat, stab, and hide the body of an innocent child. He knew what he was doing, and he took deliberate steps to cover it up.”

They concluded with a quote from Benjamin Franklin: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are. Benjamin Franklin

“Maddie didn’t get a second chance. She didn’t get to grow up, graduate, fall in love, or have a family of her own. Maddie’s sentence was final. Her killer’s should be, too.”

“It is emotionally exhausting to continue revisiting this trauma in courtrooms, in headlines, and in hearings that reopen wounds we never asked to have. We ask the public, the media, and the court to remember who the true victim is. Maddie deserves that dignity.

“We are committed to ensuring her voice is not lost to legal technicalities or shifting ignorant opinions. Those that know the truth and facts would never consider releasing this individual back into society.

“Maddie’s life mattered, and still does.”