NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A surprising twist to the high-profile Joe Clyde Daniels homicide case. There's now word of new evidence against the father who admitted to killing the five-year-old before recanting his confession.
The boy's body has never been found, but recorded telephone conversations will help make the case against the father.
NewsChannel 5 has learned that Joseph Daniels -- against the advice of his lawyer -- continues to make phone calls from his jail cell, and like all inmate calls they are recorded.
What exactly he's said is not public, but the content is said to confirm the details of his confession...the confession he now claims to have recanted.
Joseph Daniels will not stand trial until this August -- more than two years after his son disappeared.
Why the delay?
Well, more time for DNA testing on possible evidence and also more time for Daniels himself to slip up, which now seems to be the case.
Five-year-old Joe Clyde Daniels disappeared from his Dickson County home in April of 2018. Police consider the boy to be dead, but his body's never been found.
Still, they charged his father Joseph with homicide based on his own confession.
When asked if the only reason Daniels is charged with homicide was his confession, Daniels attorney Jake Lockert back in 2018 said, "Oh, absolutely."
He said his client actually confessed several times, but, that he's since recanted. Lockert plans to hire experts to argue investigators manipulated and confused his client.
"If you have a person who is very suggestible and has mental health issues and then the techniques police use," Lockert said.
With no body, and little physical evidence, prosecutors need the original confession to stand up in court.
"The state needs to give the jury a theory of the entire case. He killed the child and this is how he disposed of the child," legal analyst Jim Todd said.
The father may have recanted his confession, but if he's since talked on the phone about what happened to his son, then those calls will be played for the jury.
Joe Clyde's parents will stand trial together in August. The father Joseph Daniels on the homicide charge. The mother Krystal Daniels on a charge of aggravated child neglect.
Previous stories:
Private investigator to continue search for Joe Clyde Daniels
Joseph Daniels pens letter claiming Joe Clyde was killed by his mother
Joe Clyde Daniels case: Mother speaks, says she hopes boy is alive
