Erin was cute and petite, with blue-gray eyes and a flirtatious smile, and she thrived on attention. The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. Terrys father had died of a heart attack on February 21, and though none of the Caffeys had been close to him, they performed Amazing Grace in his honor. But nothing happened. It wasnt easy at first in fact, he contemplated suicide briefly, according to Texas Monthly. Terror by Night: The True Story of the Brutal Texas Murder That Destroyed a Family, Restored One Mans Faith, and Shocked a Nation. The brief account, put down in her girlish handwriting, echoed what she had told Chief Sanders: There had been smoke and strangers with swords, and she could not remember much else. Read More. I remember when I heard that, I just couldnt believe thats how they did [it], and it goes back to that guilt and I felt I should have been able to save them and I couldnt. TESTIMONY Terry Caffey: A Crime of Passion By Randy Rudder The 700 Club. Sanders passed the phone to Booth. He has since released a book called Terror by Night and is now happily remarried. Erin, she stammered. Case 170: The Caffey Family 34,744 views Mar 27, 2021 734 Dislike Share Save Casefile Presents 54.3K subscribers DESCRIPTION On February 29 2008, intruders stormed the Caffey family home in. And it wasn't until I was able to forgive that I began to experience peace and happiness again.". He wore a starched white inmates uniform, a buzz cut, and a doleful expression. Wilkinson and Waid then ransacked the house for valuables Wilkinson had allegedly promised Waid $2,000 that was stashed away and set fire to the place with lighter fluid. Why are you doing this?. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! I couldnt have got up if Id wanted to. If Erin and her brothers built a bonfire in the backyard after supper, as they often did, he lingered by her side. On the night of March 1st, 2008, in a quiet, rural Texan community, Terry Caffey's wife, Penny, and their two young sons, Bubba and Tyler, were brutally murdered by their 16-year-old daughter's boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson, and his friend Charles Waid. On the day of the massacre, Wilkinson and Waid pulled into the driveway of the Caffey home. Youre promising yourself to my daughter? I told him about her and Charlie having sex afterwards, which was by far the hardest thing to have to tell him. When the gun jammed, Waid broke out a samurai-style sword and finished Penny off with it, nearly severing her head, according to Texas Monthly. The Caffey Family. Filled with lovesick rage, she ordered her boyfriend and his buddy to carry out her revenge. MurderpediaThe Caffey family, with Erin on the far right. Charlie would later remember the electricity of the moment when Erin had glided up to his car window to deliver his order. Wilkinson, however, was openly heartbroken and angry, according to Killer Couples. And friends of Erin told Texas Monthly that the same month, Erin started talking about killing her parents. After learning about Erin Caffey, read about another teen murderer, Zachary Davis, who bludgeoned his mother to death and tried to set his brother on fire. For the many people who puzzled over his loyalty, there were many others, in the pews of Miracle Faith and elsewhere, who understood it as the scriptural imperative of unconditional love. Sheriffs deputy Serena Booth sat in. (Tyler, the youngest, preferred to play outdoors.) A mountain biker is mauled by a mountain lion, and a hotel receptionist goes into fight mode to survive a brutal attack by a man posing as a guest. I decided I would not become a bitter old man. And then I decided, no, theres been enough bloodshed. She asked him to lunch last June, and they never ran out of things to talk about. She was found facing their bedroom door. I put my RV right on the spot where my house once stood, and I stayed out there about four months. Terry and Penny had met at a revival meeting in Garland when she was 21 and he was 24, and their strong Baptist faith had always bound them together. The Slaughter Of The Caffey Family Unearthed A Dark Love Affair, Serena Booth: Erin Caffey, Charlie Wilkinson Had Time To Change Their Minds, Terry Caffey's Shock At Learning The Murders Were Erin's Fault. The heart-breaking moment a father realised his own daughter had killed his entire family has been revealed, due to a new documentary with Piers Morgan. It was Fischer, calling to inform Sanders that Erin had been implicated in the Caffey murders and she needed to be placed under arrest. Can you tell me what happened? Fischer asked. He knows Im innocent. I cried every time I left her jail cell., Only after learning the details of the criminal investigation did Lewis realize that Erin had been manipulating him. Once inside, Wilkinson made his way to Terry and Pennys room and fired away at the sleeping couple with a .22 pistol. As Emig carried them out to the porch, he noticed that they were spattered with blood. He had stumbled and crawled five hundred yards from his home, where he had been left for dead, to Gastonsa journey that had taken him nearly an hour, all told. Terry and his daughter Erin were the only members of the family to survive, but in the days after the tragedy Erin was arrested and charged with being the mastermind behind the murders. Chief deputy Fischer picked up Bobbi Johnson outside the restaurant where she washed dishes, and he pulled Charles Waid over driving her car. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. Now nineteen, he looked impossibly young for someone who will never step beyond the guard towers and concertina wire again. Google Universal Analytics short-time unique user tracking identifier. On March 1, 2008, most of the deeply religious Caffey family, of Emory, Texas, was slaughtered in the dead of night with .22 caliber bullets and swords before their humble, cabin-style home was burned to the ground. He and his new wife also adopted three children. I didnt want to grow into a bitter angry old man. I wanted to die where they died. He pushed the hair aside to get a better look and watched, dumbfounded, as two eyes opened. Her voice faltered, and her cousin, who did not have her natural talent, outshone her. He was frank about the horror of what he had done and made no excuses for himself. If you love me, youll do it. (Explaining her own inability to put the brakes on the plan, Johnson said, I just wanted to go home, but Charlie said it was too late, that I was already involved. His mother had moved to Del Rio after his parents divorced, and he saw her only once or twice a year. You want us to do what now? Booth asked, incredulous. He survived being shot five times and the arson that burned down his Alba, Texas, home. "But that hope would be short-lived because just within a half an hour of finding out she was alive, my sister came to me and told me [Erin] had been arrested and had been charged with murder.". She also showed no symptoms of smoke inhalation. Caffeys mother Penny was shot, then stabbed with a samurai sword and almost decapitated. I showed him photos of the suitcase that Erin had packed and the burned-out lockbox that was open to the combination that she had given Charlie. I do forgive her, he said. Virginia Daily became hysterical and grabbed Erins face. I want them to wake up every day and think about what they took and hopefully one day they will find remorse in their hearts. - Published on February 4, 2014. There were just things about him that didnt sit right with me, he later said. At that point, the church-going teen began to slip up in school. While the suspects were being questioned in the sheriffs office in Emory, Erins grandparents were driving her to the hospital in Tyler, escorted by Chief Sanders and Deputy Booth. Tom Ford. I warmed my supper up, ate a little and went straight to sleep. The funeral was private. Since the tragic loss of his first wife, Penny, and their sons, Matthew and Tyler, he has gone into full-time ministry, speaking and reaching out to others who have suffered unspeakable tragedy and sharing his personal message of God's faithfulness. "The first few bullets hit her and then I raised up and I threw my body out and I took a few rounds in the upper body part and the chest and I got shot in the face. My heart tells me there have been enough deaths, Terry wrote in a letter to the Rains County district attorney, Robert Vititow, this past fall. At the suggestion of Detective Almon, she was interviewed in the hospitals trauma room by Shanna Sanders, the young, personable chief of police for the Rains Independent School District who was on a first-name basis with most of the high schools students. Less than 24 hours after the murders, Waid, Johnson, Charlie, and Erin were all in custody. Charlie Wilkinson was his daughters boyfriend, Caffey told the detective, and he and his wife had recently demanded that Erin stop seeing him. I mean, for what? It was a question that preoccupied him more than his doubts about her innocence. And thats when I decided to move on. But when you took all the different factors and put them togetherhow young and seemingly normal the perpetrators were; how ruthless they were; how stupid they were; how cavalier they were; how utterly undeserving this family wasit was, without question, the most disturbing case Id ever dealt with., The crime also defied easy explanation. Im going to take all of the pain pills they gave meall the depression medication, the Xanax, everythingdrink me a bottle of Jim Beam, put a hose in the tailpipe of my daughters pickup, run it up to the window, and just fall asleep and not wake up again. When the attorneys told me they wanted the death penalty, I prayed again and asked what would Jesus do? But that hope would be short-lived because just within half an hour of finding out she was alive, my sister came to me and told me [Erin] had been arrested and had been charged with murder.. When I came round I heard commotion and two voices. When Sanders asked if she had anything else to say, Erin whispered, Theyre coming after me.. As he was bleeding from his gunshot wounds, Caffey said he tried to get through the bedroom door and all he could see were flames and black smoke. Rebecca sensed that something was spiritually wrong with the girl. I told them that killing these boys will not bring my family back. Terry Caffey lives in Wills Point, Texas, with his wife, Sonja, and their two sons, Blake and Tanner. Erin Caffey - Teen Plans Family Murder. Picture: Supplied When the police arrested them all, she claimed to have been drugged and kidnapped. The Caffey family had been attacked and killed earlier that morning, Fischer informed him. . A former special-ed student with a heavy-lidded gaze, Waid showed no remorse, and he casually recounted how he had killed the two boys. Her accomplices were her boyfriend Charlie Wilkinson,. There was nothing he could do for his family at that point. Wilkinsons Myspace page was littered with sexual references and talk of drinking alcohol. Terry cried a lot and kept asking, Why? He said, I dont understand. Erin Caffeys brothers eight-year-old Tyler and 13-year-old Matthew played the guitar and the harmonica, respectively. He continued to visit her at the county jail, but what disturbed him most, at the end of a year of counseling, was the realization that he could no more explain why she had wanted her family killed than on the day he had first met her. Terry and Bubba played harmonica, with Penny on piano. On it were the words, Youre sovereign; Youre in control.. Faith was the cornerstone of the Caffeys lives. That is where I found Penny. 16 year old Erin Caffey made her first appearance before a Rains County Judge Monday. The family lived in a cabin in rural Alba, TX, with a population of just under 500 people. Terry Caffey's daughter Erin made international headlines when she murdered her mother and two young brothers back in 2008. But the most gruesome is saved for last. Upon visiting his burned-out property, Terry noticed a . Around one-thirty the next morning, he told Almon, he and a friend had gone to the Caffey home. (If certified, she would face the same punishment at trial as an adult, including life without parolewith one notable exception: Even when certified, a juvenile cannot receive the death penalty.) Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. Caffey was interviewed for a new series called Killer Women With Piers Morgan. I know my daughter. A girl was sitting with her back to the wall, in a fetal position. This Week In History News, Mar. The investigation moved forward quickly on Saturday afternoon. 02:08:53. Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened. Article continues below advertisement Watch Killer Women with Piers Morgan tonight at 8 p.m. on Investigation Discovery (ID). And I was blown out of bed," he said. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! . They all gave similar accounts, with Erin serving as the driving force behind the killings. "Then I had something to live for, I had some hope, so I began to fight," he said. She needs to have it looked at., But Charlie was more bewildered by Erins behavior than bitter. "They own you. Terry maintained a relationship with his daughter for years after the massacre. he was a student at Rains Middle School. But Erinwhose jubilant singing often brought parishioners to their feetturned in a listless, halfhearted performance. They entered through the front door, which Erin had left open. Erins car keys and phone were taken away, and for weeks, her parents drove her to and from school. Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. He was engulfed in grief. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. ET from court documents and interviews with those involved, and Caffey detailed what happened that fatal Friday night for "Nightline. All I heard was the word home. I thought, I dont have a home. I would never be able to honour my family if I let this destroy me. Fire, she said, her voice trailing off. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. In the living room, he found a camouflage-colored purse with a drivers license inside it belonging to Erin Caffey. Charlie Wilkinson was not the most polished guy to take an interest in Erin. Erin Caffey is a young American citizen who was convicted of murder in 2008. She told the police she had been kidnapped. He hesitated, and Fischer thought he might reach for the gun. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Terry Caffey Net Worth 2023, Age, Height, Relationships, Married, Dating, Family, Wiki Biography. Charlie dropped by the Sonic every afternoon during Erins half-hour break, and at night, he was a frequent guest at the Caffeys house. Caffey and his wife believed Charlie, Erin's first boyfriend, was bad for her. "It was so loud and it's even hard to describe. After the burial, Terry said that they saw disturbing sexual and alcohol abuse content on Erin's boyfriend's Myspace page. terry caffey today remarried. They stayed with her for five hours until she was released from the hospital, then offered to accompany her and her grandparents to the intensive care unit at the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler to see Erins father. November 16, 2022 2 Mins Read. According to Charlie, the girls had stayed behind in the car while he and Waid went inside. I knew thats not what I wanted to do. Caffey's other son, Tyler, was found stabbed to death. Somehow I pulled myself up and climbed over the mattress. All of them played instruments, and Erin used to sing so passionately during services that she would sometimes break down in tears, according to Texas Monthly. Today Terry lives in a tidy brick house in Wills Point, about thirty miles southwest of Alba, just down the road from the cemetery where Penny and the boys are buried. Terry Caffey has forgiven his daughter, Erin, who was just 16-years-old when she plotted to murder her family after her parents told her she couldn't see her boyfriend anymore Determined not. Perhaps the most surreal moment of our interview came when she sang Amazing Grace, pitch-perfect. His father used to joke that he had lost puppy dog syndromehe tried to help whoever was down on his luck; Erin was someone he wanted to rescue. Erin Caffey, 16, is an American teenage girl sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in Texas for her role in the deaths of her mother and two young brothers. The only survivors were 16-year-old Erin Caffey and her father, Terry Caffey, who was shot multiple times before the two intruders set the house on fire. Erin Caffey How did you get here? Fischer asked her. Ive got so many questions, and I dont want to hit her with them all at once, he said. My first impression of her was that she seemed gentle and unthreatening, as befits someone who came from a loving, stable home, had never been in trouble and sang in the church choir every Sunday with her mum, dad and two younger brothers. Erin Caffey, a 16-year-old from Alba, Texas, met 18-year-old Charlie Wilkinson at her part-time job at Sonic, a fast food joint. They were ridiculous reasonsnot even reasonsjust an excuse, Waid told me. I was just angry. Less than 24 hours after authorities responded to the murders in the Caffey home, all four suspects were in police custody, and they were all talking. Mr Caffey believes Charlie Wilkinson carried out the attack as Erin's parents wanted her to break up with him. She couldnt have asked for a better mom or dad. But why? And it was Erin who had insisted that her brothers be killed, according to both Johnson and Waid. They brought along Waids girlfriend, a bubbly high school senior named Bobbi Johnson, whose silver Dodge Neon they were driving. Terry Caffey was married to Julie C. (Lemoine) Caffey on September 7, 1976 in Lubbock County, Texas and they separated on August 17, 1983 in Gaines County. Caffey and three co-defendants are all accused of killing her mother Penny Caffey and her brothers Matthew and Tyler Caffey, before setting the family's house on fire in Emory. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers. The pair met while Caffey was working part-time as a waitress at a Sonic fast-food joint, and the relationship got serious pretty quickly. She remained a mystery. She was so sheltered, said her co-worker. And she said, Why are you asking me this? "I knew that's not what I wanted to do. This is totally inappropriate, he told the boy, who shrugged. Caffey, you can go home now, Terry told me when I visited him this spring. I had it made.. She organised the killing of her family at the age of 16. Erin and her brothers had initially enrolled in their new public schools; she started the eighth grade at Rains Junior High, and Bubba and Tyler attended Rains Elementary. However, the relationship didnt bode well with her parents, with Terry Caffey noting that he had reservations about Wilkinson from the start. Erin Caffey was the vocalist of the family until she met Wilkinson. The judge agreed. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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