Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Mom Grilled After Beating, Starving Son to Death

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Danielle Dauphinais was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the murder of her 5-year-old son, Elijah Lewis. Elijah disappeared in September 2021 from their home in New Hampshire. Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joe Stapf, were questioned by detectives the following month. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through Dauphinais' police interview in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lccrimefix and access information about almost anyone!Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. So, tell me about Elijah and what you understand of why we're here to talk about Elijah. Because he's missing. A mother questioned by detectives as they investigate her son's disappearance. We have never, ever hurt that little boy. We love that little boy no matter what. Months and months later, Danielle Dauphiné admits to the unthinkable. I have the tragic case of Elijah Lewis. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm

Anjanette Levy. Elijah Lewis was an adorable five-year-old boy, but sadly, his life was miserable. And in 2021, he died, and investigators in New Hampshire said his mother, Danielle Dauphiné, and her boyfriend, Joe Staff, were responsible. Danielle Dauphiné was sentenced last October to 53 years in prison. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Elijah's death. The little boy disappeared in September of 2021. Investigators believe he died between September 21st and September 24th of that year. Elijah lived in New Hampshire with his mother, Danielle Dauphiné, and her boyfriend, Joe Staff. They were struggling with addiction and admitted to using drugs. After Danielle gave birth to a baby, they turned that

baby over to a hospital under the safe haven law. That's when it was discovered that Elijah was missing and an investigation into the boy's whereabouts began. Police tracked Danielle Dauphiné and Joe's staff down in New York City. Why are you guys laughing now? Come on, let's go. She's double up. She's coming. She's down, head down. Come on. She's up. Hello, this is Fire 1.

Hello, this is Fire 1. 9998, you are to cross 70, first aid, bump change, please to the 6th floor, and back up. What's your name? What's your name? Danielle. Danielle what? Dauphine. Now, Danielle Dauphine acts surprised that she's being taken into custody.

Babe, I love you. I love you. I don't know what the f*** is going on. What's going on? We're going to fight. Okay. Who's coming? What? Who's coming to pick us up?

Who's coming to pick us up? Whatever he said, I have no idea. Sorry. What Danielle Dauphiné did to her son is beyond the pale. She tortured him. She beat him and starved him. She said she hated him. She may have given birth to him, but she wasn't much of a mother.

I searched her in Truthfinder.com, which is one of the largest public record search services out there. Danielle appears in Truthfinder, having lived in New Hampshire. And under criminal and traffic records search results, her criminal record for endangering children and second-degree murder appears in those results. She'll likely spend the rest of her life in prison for Elijah's death. Truthfinder is great because it will show you a person's past and current addresses, phone numbers, social media accounts, and of course, criminal and traffic records. If you want to try Truth Finder, you can get 50% off of confidential background reports.

Just log on to www.truthfinder.com slash lccrimefix, log on, and start accessing information about almost anyone. Police take Danielle and Joe to the police station to interview them. Danielle is taken to a room with two detectives. So I'm sure you have a lot of questions for us, and we have some questions for you. Absolutely. But before we jump into that, it's really important that we go through some paperwork and that I inform you of your rights. You understand that? Yeah.

It's October 17th when this interview takes place. Danielle had given birth 10 days earlier, and she knows exactly why she's there. So tell me about Elijah and what you understand of why we're here to talk about Elijah. Because he's missing. Okay. What can Okay, so Elijah, when I got Elijah, I got Elijah back in May 26 of 2020. Okay. And his dad just like literally drove across the United States and just dropped him off to me. He's a very, very troubled child. He has a lot of mental issues. He likes to... Elijah likes to sneak out of the house.

So we have a slider door. I don't know if you guys have been there. I have, yeah. So you've been to my house. Have you felt the slider door, the wiggly handle? I didn't know if you guys have been there I have yeah so you've been to my house so you have you felt the slider door the wiggly handle I didn't touch the handle okay so the slider door doesn't lock doesn't latch it's he likes to sneak out while we sleep he goes he wanders while we sleep he's a wandering little boy so he's done that so many times. You know, we would wake up and we'll find him. He'll come back and he'll wake up, come back in,

you know, whatever. So you heard that Danielle say Elijah was a troubled child and she suggests that he may have simply wandered out of the house. She said it's something that he's done in the past. Then Danielle admits that she and her boyfriend, Joe Staff, were using drugs. Well, Joe and I started using drugs again. We were in active addiction. Okay. When did that happen? I don't honestly don't remember. So are we talking... When I was pregnant. Months ago, years ago? Months ago, when I was pregnant with my son.

It's kind of unbelievable, but Danielle says she and Joe started using drugs again because Elijah was so difficult. She blamed Elijah for their drug use. She said other things about Elijah, too. Because Elijah is just so much to handle. He's, he would touch our daughter in her private spots. Okay. She would hide knives under his bed, tacks under his bed. He would steal things from our kitchen and he would just do a bunch of stuff that not a normal little boy

would do so we started like we just fell off the train and just started using drugs so in September I don't know the date I honestly don't know the date.

I honestly don't know the date. But September, he decided to wander off again. And us being in active addiction and not wanting to lose our kids, you know, we tried to find him. We looked for him, and we're like, okay, well, he's going to come back. He always came back. So we waited, we waited, we waited. He didn't come back and we're freaking out. We're like, where's Elijah? Where's Elijah? Never came back. Then Danielle breaks down.

Okay. Would it be okay if I asked you some questions about that. Okay. Take your time. Danielle tells the detective that Elijah sneaked out of the house about a dozen times. If I wasn't using, like I would get reported and missing like right away, but it sounds so up. I'm so sorry. The detectives listen as Danielle tells her story. They let her talk and they listen very calmly, but they likely don't believe a word she's saying. Their priority is finding Elijah. Well, tell me, so when did he go missing? I don't know when. We were sleeping. Okay. So we don't know when he went missing. No, I mean like a date or a day. Oh, I don't. Oh, God.

Dates don't register for their years. Was it summertime? No, it was September. It was September. September, yeah. This was right before. Yeah, he was excited that we were having our baby and everything. He was so excited that the baby was coming

because we were so close to delivery. Yeah, walk me through it sequentially. I'm trying. I mean, like, it's, like, obviously I came back in and I took the stuff and I went and got high because I was freaking out. So it's all a blur. So you said you went, you walked outside and then came back inside and got high? Mm-hmm.

Okay. Because I'm like, I can't find him. I can't find him. I can't find him. So did you get high before or after you woke Joe up? After. Okay, so you woke Joe up and you said, Elijah's gone. And what did he do?

He was like, what the f*** again? I'm like, yep. I'm like, but this time I can't find him. I was like, I don't know what to do. I'm freaking out. I was like, I need to do something. I need to do something. I need to calm down.

I need to do something. Did Joe get high with you? Mm-hmm. And then what happened? And then we were just trying to think of what to do, where to find him. We've been looking for him every day. Every day. Why didn't you call the police?

Because we're using. We didn't want anything to happen. we're using we didn't want any this anything to happen because dcyf would get involved and then my daughter would get taken away so i i don't know i it's it's so hard to explain to people that aren't addicts why we do the things we do like why we ran because we're scared we're human. You know, it's a reaction. We didn't know what, just like we didn't know what to do. And when you say you ran, you're talking about when you fled from New Hampshire last week. The detectives already realize, and they know, that this sweet little boy in the photos is likely

dead. At one point, Danielle talks about Elijah doing things to harm himself. So he'd be poking himself with a tax. And what other self-harming behaviors would he do? He would scratch his throat. Like his dad, like the first time I FaceTimed him, he had scratches on him. Like, what happened to your throat buddy? Tim did not tell me any of his behaviors before I took on him.

If I knew all these behaviors, I would have made sure I had stuff lined up for him. I'm not going to take on a child that has mental health issues and not have anything for him. That does not make logical sense. And he didn't say that

he just said he might be autistic okay and this is not autistic i have an autistic nephew who is but yeah he would scratch okay he would sit there else did he do? He would, like, slap him in his, like, do weird stuff. Like, I just didn't, like, I couldn't, I couldn't, I needed him out of my house. I needed him out to get help. Not that I didn't love him and want him. I loved him. I love him so much. I just needed him to get help.

And I was just watching him suffer, and I couldn't do anything. You know what I mean? I couldn't do nothing. But slowly, Danielle begins to reveal some things that add some background to her story. I was depressed. I was so, I never loved a house. We never loved a house. Never loved a lot. I felt like a prisoner in my house. Sure. Almost a year I haven't left my house. The only time I left my house is now. I haven't left my house since. Wow.

Do you drive? No. Okay. And you don't have a car. You don't drive. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

That's... It's a lot. Sounds overwhelming. It have a car. You don't drive. Okay. Yeah. That's, it sounds overwhelming. It was a lot. And I was scared because I was using drugs because I didn't know how to cope. Okay. If I wasn't using, like, I would get reported and missing, like, right away. But it sounds so f***ed up. I'm so sorry. Danielle mentions how Elijah and all of her problems were causing her stress in her relationship with Joe. Our relationship was definitely going downhill

because of this. Okay. So you're home all day with the kids. Elijah's behaviors are escalating. You're stressed out and pregnant. And then your marriage or relationship, you're not married, right? Your relationship is stressed out because of this. Sounds like your living situation is stressed out because of this. Where, to the extent that Joe's mom was saying she wanted you guys gone, where would you go if you weren't living there? I mean, we would save up and get our own place.

Okay. Was that your plan? Yes. Okay. Okay. So you were saving money for that? Well, I mean, no, not necessarily because we had a drug problem. Okay.

But we were actually going to go to detox before we left. But then this shit hit the fan and I just got scared because we were using. And I didn't want to detox in jail. But still, Danielle doesn't admit to harming Elijah. And she said he was fixated on water. How can we find Elijah? Look everywhere. If I knew, I would have found him.

Did you guys search the lake? I don't know. I don't know. I didn't search the lake. I don't know if he could be in there or if someone took him or if he went on the main road or if he, I don't know. I don't, I want to find him. That's all we wanted.

That's all we wanted was to find him so everything would be okay. That's all we wanted. That's all we wanted was to find him so everything would be okay. That's all we wanted. We wanted to find him. We just didn't know where to look. I mean, we don't know how to look in the lake. I don't know. Is that where you think he is, the lake?

I mean, that's a huge possibility. You know what I mean? We have a lake in our backyard and a little boy. I don't know. Like, I don't know. I don't know. It could be a possibility, but I don't know.

I can't say. I can't say. I don't know. I hope not. This interview with Danielle goes on for more than two hours, and the detectives try to get Danielle to tell them where Elijah is by empathizing with her. You had more than your fair share on your plate, okay? And I think that anybody who was in your shoes, in your situation,

would have lost it. Oh, no your situation, would have lost it. Oh, no, I definitely would not hurt him. No. No. If that's what you're going with, no way. No. No. So, Danielle, you don't have to get upset, okay?

Just hear me out, okay? This kid had a lot of problems. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and he brought a lot of problems into your home. Mm-hmm And I think everybody has limits I'm telling you guys the truth. I did not do anything to hurt that little boy. I will swear on everything No, I swear on everything. I swear on everything. I swear. Detectives are interviewing Joe Staff in another room around the same time. He ran out of the house. I don't know if he ran or walked or crawled or whatever it was.

But he missed him. I had no control over a young boy walking away or whatever that happened. Okay, well, let's just call it what it is. We already told you that that's not what happened. You and I both know that's not what happened. No, it is what happened. Joe. 100%.

Then the detectives turn up the heat on Danielle to see if she'll turn on Joe. If I knew where he is, I would honestly tell you right now. Is that because Joe disposed of him? No. Did Joe bring him somewhere? No. No. No.

No. Absolutely No. No. No. No. Absolutely not. Okay. Well, that's what I think. I wouldn't know that, though. Because I was with him, and he did not do anything. We have never, ever hurt that little boy. We love that little boy no matter what.

But I don't want you to have the weight of the world on your shoulders for the rest of your life. We didn't do anything. There's no body. Then where is he? I don't know. Where do you think he would go?

I don't know. He could have been in the lake. Did anybody check the lake? Of course. Nothing. Yes? No? What? I haven't found him. No. I don't know. Where do you think that we should look? Everywhere.

Well, I mean, try to be a little bit more specific than that. All over Merrimack. I don't know. There's woods surrounding. Well, I mean, try to be a little bit more specific than that. All over Merrimack. I don't know. There's woods surrounding. Well, he was on foot. Our neighborhood I'm talking about. There's woods. He searched all the woods. I don't know. I don't know if someone saw him on the road and took him. I don't know. I don't know. I don't have a body. I wish I did. I don't. About a week after this interview, Elijah's remains were found buried at a state park in Massachusetts. His autopsy showed that he died from violence and neglect. He had injuries to his face and scalp and acute

fentanyl intoxication. He was malnourished and had pressure ulcers. Prosecutors said Danielle beat and starved her son to death. He was tortured. Danielle Dauphinese was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder. Joe Staff pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge. Danielle later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. At her sentencing, her attorney said she was abused as a child. The prosecutor read texts between Danielle and Joe where she wrote, he said he wants food and he wants me to stop starving him because it's not nice. Another text from Danielle to Joe read, I'm going to kill this kid, Joe, effing screaming on the top

of his lungs for effing water. There were also some photos found on Danielle's phone showing just how bad of shape Elijah was in. The judge didn't hold back when sentencing Danielle to 53 years in prison. I look at this, this is not a magnet. It's a beautiful little boy. Your words shine the light on your intentions. October 25th, today, we went from I hate him, I just whipped the maggots ass to I love you Elijah. All of that has a profound impact on my view of you as an individual. Your words that I've seen are damning in this case. They are cords of terror that rain down on this little boy. They are cords of terror that showed your knowledge,

your awareness of the torture you were inflicting upon this little boy. You heard that. Danielle called her son a maggot. After the sentencing, Elijah's aunt, the sister of his father, spoke about Danielle. Justice, I feel, was served a bit today. Knowing that she won't be getting out and she'll most likely die in prison is a huge relief, I think, for everyone right now. I think the judge said everything to her that we are all thinking. There's no excuse for what she did. She did not show any remorse at all for her son, and she deserves everything that she gets, and I am glad to hear that she's being haunted by him. That's what she deserves. She is a snake. She's a chameleon, and she will do anything she

can to manipulate her way to, you know, look better to people. I've seen many sides of her over the years. One thing I will say is that this person I'm seeing today, that's not who she always was. She did receive love. She did have many supportive people in her life. And all of this is just an excuse. And police say Elijah's case is one that will never leave them. Everyone that's worked this case, it will stay with all of our lives. It was such a heinous and horrible crime that she did and that Mr. Staff did. It's going to be with us her whole life. And we're going to look out for each other as well. That's something we do at our department, which is police, same way. We're going to make sure that we take care of ourselves and make

sure if we need help, we will. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.