DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — For the first time, the confession of Joseph Daniels was played in public Thursday inside a Charlotte, Tennessee courtroom.

For about six hours, the interrogation video played in the courtroom before the defense started playing the video again from a different angle.

Prosecutors charged the father of Joe Clyde with homicide, following a confession that he has since recanted. 

Five-year-old ‘Baby Joe’ disappeared more than two years ago from their family home in Dickson. While he is believed to be dead, the child’s remains have never been found.

Joseph Daniels’ attorney requesting that the confession be thrown out, saying his client was coerced over hours of questioning.

Joseph’s response to the TBI agent evolved in the video from “I didn’t touch him” to a much different story hours later.

“You were beating him, closed fist, in his body. How many times did you hit him in the head?” the investigator asked.

“A couple times,” Joseph responded.

“A couple times? A little more than that, wasn’t it?” questioned the investigator.

Joseph responded, “yea.”

The investigator asked,  “How many times was it?”

Joseph said, “Several, several times.”

The emotional confession brought tears to some of his family members who were sitting just behind him in the courtroom Thursday, including his mother and stepmother. Joseph’s father was also at the courthouse to be a potential witness, but the hearing didn’t make it that far.

There are 12 motions on the hearing and they stopped at 2 p.m., with plans to resume Friday at 10:30 a.m.