Erin stood wide-eyed in her pajamas, bewildered, as she surveyed the room. Penny was withdrawn for most of February, and she declined to go on a womens church retreat, saying that she needed to spend more time with her family. The seven-part series, which combines documentary and drama elements, focuses on a different real-life murder each week from the victim's point of view.Each episode includes interviews with the victim's family and friends, real witnesses, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers, as well as . When Erin turned sixteen, in July 2007, she got her drivers license and an old Chevy pickup and started working at the Sonic. I dont know, she mumbled. And yet, after Terry had seen every last piece of evidence, he continued to visit Erin and never wavered in his support, standing beside his daughter at each court appearance holding her hand. Sometime late in the night of Feb. 28, 2008, or early on March 1, Wilkinson and his friend, 22-year-old Charles Waid, stormed into the Caffey home while Erin and Waid's girlfriend, Bobbi Johnson, waited outside in the car. Knowing that he will never be able to walk his daughter down the aisle reduces him to tears. Charlie, who had narrated the nights events with stoic detachment, broke down as he recounted how Waid had then come upstairs and stabbed eight-year-old Tyler. Where am I?, Erins pastor, Todd McGahee, once joked that if he had five more of her, he could fill his church on Sundays. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. There was no overhead light, so he pulled a blanket off one of the windows to illuminate his view. "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. I never heard another sound after that until 3am when our bedroom door flew open. I didn't want to grow into a bitter, angry old man. She was very smart. Chrissy Lampkin Age, Height, Husband, Net Worth, C. Who is India Love? Caffey was born on July 27, 1991 to Terry Caffey and Penny Caffey. At that point, the church-going teen began to slip up in school. Wilkinson gave her a promise ring that belonged to his grandmother and told his friends they would marry, according to Killer Couples. Terry and Penny were fine with the relationship until Erin's grades started to slip and they took a closer look at Wilkinson, not liking what they found on his Myspace page. "They burst into our bedroom and opened fire, shooting me several times." Caffey also said Terry was rushed into emergency surgery, after which he was stable enough to talk. I wanted them to pay, especially those two boys. At 3:00 a.m. on March 1, 2008, Terry Caffey awoke to find his daughter's boyfriend standing in his bedroom with a gun. The Caffeys' daughter is being held on $1.5 million bond. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. Finally, they turned back toward the Caffey home and parked down the road. Im still here. Then, they discovered Erin Caffey in the trailer where he was living, and she appeared to be in a state of shock. The cabin appeared to have been burning for some time; the structure was engulfed in flames, and the metal roof had begun to buckle under its own weight. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. Our bathroom was the only place to get out. But then, one day, I went back to my property alone, which I had never done, and looking up into the heavens with both arms stretched out, I asked, God why didnt you take me, why did you take my family, I need an answer now, not next week, not next month, I need an answer today. Password recovery. As Wilkinson and Waid did the killing the girls waited in a car. Charlie Wilkinson and Erin Caffey's Dangerous Relationship Massacre of the Caffey Family The Trial And Sentencing Of Erin Caffey. He didnt bring me through all that for nothing. Somehow I pulled myself up and climbed over the mattress. I decided I would not become a bitter old man. "I am trying to climb over the bed but that's where the flames are and that's where I found Penny, and when I saw her, it was a terrible scene, her nearly decapitated head. Terry found a good listener in Sonja Webb, a pretty divorce he met in the course of his work as a home health aide. Penny noticed the ring on Erins finger a few days later at a church function and ordered her to give it back. Erin came from a conservative and protective family. The murders shocked the nation especially when the police revealed that Erin Caffey was the mastermind behind the entire massacre. Erin had invited him over to her house before and considered him to be her boyfriend. I mean, for what? On March 1, 2008, two men broke into the Caffey home in Alba, Texas, and set out on a horrific killing spree that left two young children and their mother dead. He told sheriffs deputies that it was Charlie Wilkinson. I believe he would have spared their life so I wrote letters and protested at the headquarters of the attorney generals office, asking them to spare the boys lives. A girl was sitting with her back to the wall, in a fetal position. Wilkinson and Waid were given life without the possibility of parole; Johnson got 40 years. Investigators at the Caffey house after the fire. That same month, Erin Caffey started talking about killing her parents in front of friends. You can read more about Terrys experience in his book. Bubba used to witness to whoever would listen, and Erin cried tears of joy when she sang her Sunday church solosso much so that sometimes she had to stop, mid-verse, to collect herself. An avid hunter, he spent much of his time fishing and tracking wild hogs through the brush, and like most of his friends, he was proficient with a firearm. Deputy Emig went inside to get Charlie a shirt and his cowboy boots. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. They shoot and murder Terry and Penny Caffey, the parents, in their bed. Erin Caffey - Teen Plans Family Murder. I was angry at these two young men, the other young lady that drove the getaway car. This page is in NO way shape or form representative of Terry Caffey or his brand.This page is based on factual information gathered about his. With Erin and Bobbi nearby, the two Charlies break into the house in the middle of the night, March 1, 2008. Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened. But nothing happened. Wilkinsons gun then jammed, so Waid pulled out a samurai-style sword and used it on Penny, almost decapitating her. They then took turns stabbing him like a rag doll; they stabbed him to death. 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. She gushed innocence, remembered a co-worker (who, like many teenagers interviewed for this story, asked to remain anonymous). 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. Erin Caffey today, seven years after the event that left her mother and brothers dead and her father gravely wounded on March 1, 2018, at the family's home in Alba. I dont think she actually thought he would go through with it. Her accomplices were her boyfriend Charlie Wilkinson,. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. It was an awful thing to have to do, to lay out to a man that his daughter wanted him dead and was responsible for the deaths of the rest of his family, Tanner said. Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. How did you get here? Fischer asked her. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. He now travels the country preaching what he has become good at, forgiveness. Penny informed her daughter that she was grounded. The Caffey Family. Waid was a few years older than Charlie, and Charlie and his buddies sometimes drank at his place and stayed the night. Furious with her parents, Erin told her aunt that she planned on running away to be with Charlie when she turned seventeen. She had always taken pride in how she looked, but then she began to slip and she became disrespectful towards Penny. "I was very angry," Caffey said of the murders. WARNING: Graphic. I wanted them to have the chance to find remorse, he explained. I put my RV right on the spot where my house once stood, and I stayed out there about four months. Erin Caffey And Charlie Wilkinson's Dangerous Relationship He said authorities later told him it took him about an hour to crawl the length of four football fields that night, but he had seen a killer's face and it was someone he knew. Charlie would later remember the electricity of the moment when Erin had glided up to his car window to deliver his order. Testimony from Wilkinson and Waid clearly laid the blame with her. Terry Caffey, his wife Penny, and their children, Tyler, Matthew 'Bubba' and Erin (Family Handout/ABC ) A Texas man who is the only survivor of a cold-blooded home invasion that left his wife. Once you love somebody, you cant quit, Charlie said. He crawled the length of four football fields to find help after being shot five times. She remained a mystery. Whats the holdup? Terry has forgiven his daughter. Documentary Biography A family suffers multiple tragedy in a deadly home invasion. Do you realize she is sixteen years old? Terry had already begun to grow uneasy with how fast the relationship seemed to be moving. The hardest thing [was] to hear that. His mother had moved to Del Rio after his parents divorced, and he saw her only once or twice a year. Very caring. With the scars still visible on his face, Terry Caffey talks Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, at his home in Gilmer. I was so stubborn, I thought, Ill be darned if somebody is going to run me off of our property. Items related to Terror by Night: The True Story of the Brutal Texas. This site uses different types of cookies. I ended up buying me a used RV, and I moved it back up on my land. A similar case happened in Italy a few years back. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Wilkinson and two other men, Charles Wade and Bobbi Johnson, then age 20 and 18 respectively, were also arrested. But that morning, the two officers felt only pity for the soft-spoken girl who had just lost her mother and two brothers. After taking multiple bullets himself, Terry Caffey watched his wife die as he lay beside her, unable to move or speak. He now travels the country preaching what he has become good at, forgiveness. In her flower-print pajamas, with her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, she seemed sweet and guileless. After everything we had heard, I was picturing a monster, for lack of a better word, said Sergeant Vance. Caffey has remarried and lives in Wills Point, Texas with his wife and two stepsons. Waid stared at the girl in disbelief and confirmed that she was Erin Caffey. At church functions, Erin was aloof and distracted. A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. Terry Caffey has maintained a relationship with his daughter, even after the massacre. The Caffeys lived in a modest cabin set deep in the woods along a one-lane gravel road outside Alba, a rural community of 492 people halfway between Sulphur Springs and Tyler. We thought it was just puppy love.. Terry and Penny Caffey were protectivesome said overly protectiveof their daughter. 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. It will also air on the TLC channel this Friday at 7 p.m., according to TV Guide. The Forgiveness Project is unaffiliated to any religion or religious entity, and owns the intellectual property rights for all images and text on this website, which should not be reproduced in any shape or form without express permission. Caffey broke down in tears at the thought of knowing he will never get the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day or see her have children. A week before the end of February, Terry Caffey went to visit his father, Clarence, who, unfortunately, passed away due to what was reported as natural causes. 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. Fischer recognized her from her drivers license photo. 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. Erin, she stammered. And then in walks this tiny, meek, blond-headed girl who couldnt fight her way out of a wet paper sack. The judge informed Erin of her rights and asked if she would be willing to speak with investigators. In fact, Caffey is the most dangerous woman I have met in my life. She nodded and looked as if she might throw up. 11yo reads from porn book at school meeting, Teens bizarre excuse for bashing teacher, Homeless man executed in broad daylight. If at any time she would have said, Well, were not going to do it after all, it never would have happened.. I spent days out there picking through the ashes. I would get on my hands and knees and just dig. . She asked him to lunch last June, and they never ran out of things to talk about. Filled with lovesick rage, she ordered her boyfriend and his buddy to carry out her revenge. Yes, Erin assured him, blinking back tears. Terry began allowing them to go out for dinner every now and then, with the assurance that Charlie would have Erin home no later than nine-thirty. terry caffey today remarried. I made it about halfway and just wanted to die. The threesome picked Erin up at the end of her parents driveway and rode around for an hour, talking about what to do. Along the way, he had fallen into a creek, where he had almost drowned, but he had kept moving, staggering toward Gastons house as the fire behind him grew more intense. Charlie talked about Erin twenty-four-seven. Though the Caffeys would not allow Charlie to take Erin out alone, the two teenagers still managed to spend much of their time together. Earlier that day, Penny had stopped by the local library, at her sisters suggestion, and gone online to look at Charlies MySpace profile, which had included comments about having sex and getting drunk. ABC's new TV series, "Final Witness," recreates the 2008 tragedy Wednesday at 10 p.m. Charlie crept into Terry and Pennys first-floor bedroom and fired at them until his gun jammed. Erin was cute and petite, with blue-gray eyes and a flirtatious smile, and she thrived on attention. He made an hour-long crawl to his nearest neighbors home to call for help and soon authorities were on their way. Were you involved in this? Fischer asked. Terry Caffey Story. 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. In rural communities as small as Alba and Emory, there are no strangers, and Fischer shook his head when he heard Charlies name. Here, the Caffey family is shown in an undated photo. "When nothing in life makes sense, God is good all the time. This is the true story of the brutal Texas murder that destroyed a family, restored one man's faith, and shocked a nation At 3:00 a.m. on March 1st, 2008, Terry Caffey awoke to find his daughter's boyfriend standing in his bedroom with a gun. Spent shell casings lay scattered across the carpet, and next to the mattress sat a box of ammunition. Terry maintained a relationship with his daughter for years after the massacre. The Caffey family were very devout Christians. When I was at their house, that was what the family was like. If you live in relative isolation with a disapproving family you might find it difficult to explore life and express yourself. Further, Penny Caffey is the mother of Erin who plays the Piano in church. May 13, 2016 11:27am. I laid on my sisters couch for a few days, and thats when the despair hit me. Teenager Erin Caffey was 16 when she had her mother and two younger brothers killed in their Texas home. Terry Caffey's daughter Erin made international headlines when she murdered her mother and two young brothers back in 2008. Theyre all gone, Caffey told the sheriffs deputy, his voice breaking. Click to reveal. Although accounts still differ on who was the mastermind Terry refuses to believe it was his daughter's idea a hideous plot was soon hatched. When Erin came home that afternoon, her father and mother were waiting for her in the living room. With gunshot wounds all over his upper body, including one in his face, Caffey miraculously was able to crawl to a neighbor's house. I found out that Tyler, eight-year-old little Tyler, was hiding upstairs in a closet and the two killers, Charlie and Charles [Waid], took turns stabbing him to death, Caffey said. Fischer drew his gun and commanded her to show him her hands, but she just stared at him. Then, that fall, an incident at the junior high had upset Terry and Penny: A girl who had been showing interest in Erin had kissed her in the hallway. On the night of March 1st, 2008, in a quiet, rural Texan community, Terry Caffeys wife, Penny, and their two young sons, Bubba and Tyler, were brutally murdered by their 16-year-old daughters boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson, and his friend Charles Waid. Webbs boysBlake, who is seventeen, and Tanner, who is ninebear a passing resemblance to Bubba and Tyler. TOP 5%. Its time to enjoy life again. On it were the words, Youre sovereign; Youre in control.. Dr. Phil continues his exclusive jailhouse interview with Erin Caffey, who is serving two life sentences plus 25 years in prison for her part in the murders of her mother and two younger brothers, and attempted murder of her father, in 2008, when she was 16. Charlie, who turned eighteen that month, wanted to be with Erin, and he promised to do whatever it took to make her happy. Wilkinson told investigators that he had initially encouraged Erin to run away from home, but she told him, No I want my mom and dad killed, according to police interview audio featured on Killer Couples., All four were charged with three counts of capital murder, and prosecutors initially sought the death penalty against Wilkinson and Waid. Wilkinson and Waid both told police the same story: the murders were all her idea. When the attorneys told me they wanted the death penalty, I prayed again and asked what would Jesus do? Around one-thirty the next morning, he told Almon, he and a friend had gone to the Caffey home. But why? And that's when I decided to -- it's time to move on. Assistant attorney general Lisa Tanner, a seasoned prosecutor who has sent four men to death row in her eighteen years as a trial lawyer, was assigned to the case. Terry stepped in, however, still believing in the forgiveness his faith taught him, and asked prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table, according to Killer Couples., All four eventually pleaded guilty. Why did a small-town girl have her family brutally murdered? Twice a week, Terry made the trip to Greenville to see his daughter. Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. WHAT'S POPULAR TODAY. He played for the New England Whalers and the Calgary Cowboys of the World Hockey Association, as well as for the Chicago Black Hawks and the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League between 1969 and 1976. The phone calls, she told her father, were to dissuade Charlie from coming at all. I wanted them to pay for what they did.". I mean, can you imagine someone standing over you and shooting when youre sound asleep and now youre being attacked in your bed?. I went back to our property as soon as I was better. The sound of gunfire had woken Bubba and Tyler, who called out for their parents and then locked themselves in Erins room. When I came round I heard commotion and two voices. He has since released a book called Terror by Night and is now happily remarried. Erin Caffey was convicted of three counts of capital murder and will not be eligible for parole until she is 59 years old. I told him about her and Charlie having sex afterwards, which was by far the hardest thing to have to tell him. Perhaps the most surreal moment of our interview came when she sang Amazing Grace, pitch-perfect. But the other three all immediately said she was the ringleader. Her only once or twice a week, Terry Caffey & # x27 ; daughter being... Cowboy boots Erin was cute and petite, with blue-gray eyes and a smile. 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