Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
To free… or not to free?
CHILDREN WHO KILL ITV, 9pm
“WHY did you kill Maddie?” This is the chilling question Susanna Reid puts to murderer Joshua Phillips who bludgeoned and stabbed the eight-year-old to death when he was just 14.
It was a crime that shocked America, and Phillips was given life without parole for killing his neighbour and childhood friend Maddie Clifton 20 years ago.
A chilling home video, taken by the teenage boy, shows him playing with Maddie just hours before he killed her.
In this shocking documentary, Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna steps into Sir Trevor Mcdonald territory as she visits America to meet child murderers.
Adult crime usually means adult time in the US, but a change in the law in 2016 ruled that convicts can now have their sentences re-examined for parole.
But should they ever be freed? Maddie’s family certainly don’t think so, and there is emotional testimony here from her mother and her sister Jessica.
As Phillips’ case comes up for appeal, Jessica says: “She doesn’t get to walk the face of this Earth again, so why should he?”
There is also an interview with Phillips’ mother Melissa, who describes the horror of finding Maddie’s body stuffed into his water bed while cleaning his bedroom.
As the killer prepares for his hearing, his interview with Susanna makes for compelling viewing.
Susanna also meets Morgan Leppert, described as “the blueeyed devil” after brutally murdering a disabled man when she was 15.
One of the jurors tells Susanna that Morgan is “evil” and should never be released.