Terry Caffey previously told Nightline what happened that night. Im here. Caffey said his wife had been shot first. Charlie might strike his desk or storm out of the classroom when he was provoked, but he usually walked away from a fight. They attended Bible study on Wednesday nights and church every Sunday and set aside several hours each week to rehearse gospel songswith Penny playing piano, Bubba on guitar and harmonica, and Erin singing vocals. Before entering the property, Wilkinson warned Caffey that he had to kill her younger brothers so that there would be no witnesses left. 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. When the police asked the neighbor where Terry was bleeding from, he replied, where isnt he bleeding from?. Investigators at the Caffey house after the fire. Wilkinson and Waid are serving life without parole but were spared the death penalty because Terry Caffey asked for it to be taken off the table. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. Wilkinson would later tell investigators that he warned Erin that he would have to kill her younger brothers in order to leave no witnesses. She appeared to be in shock and claimed she had been kidnapped. That turned me around and got me thinking that God might have a plan for me. Yet Tanner had no doubt that Erin had masterminded the crime. 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. "You know that's any daddy's dream to walk their little girl down the aisle and hand them off and them giving you grand babies and that's hard, and that is so hard," he said. I wanted them to pay for what they did., I have met people that have gone through a lot less than what I have and theyve grown into bitter, angry people, and thats not who I am, and I saw myself coming that, he said. But the teenage Christian ended up masterminding the evil murder of her own family after she was barred by her parents from dating a boy they thought unsuitable. 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. There was no overhead light, so he pulled a blanket off one of the windows to illuminate his view. I hope that God forgives me, Charlie added. 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. She declined to meet with the Texas Ranger or Detective Almon, electing to make a written statement instead. Whats the holdup? Wilkinson even gave her a promise ring that had belonged to his grandmother and was open about his desire to marry her. Knowing everything he knew, I asked him, did he still love her? I have worked with some good liars, but Erin was one of the best, said Lewis, who has nineteen years experience counseling juvenile offenders. I went back to our property as soon as I was better. Charlie Wilkinson was his daughters boyfriend, Caffey told the detective, and he and his wife had recently demanded that Erin stop seeing him. Director Sally Howell Stars Terry Caffey Anne Hjelle Debi Nicholls See production, box office & company info Now, one year later, Terry is remarried, the adoptive father of two young sons, and working to rebuild his relationship with his 17-year-old daughter, who is currently serving two life sentences in a Texas state penitentiary for her involvement in the crimes. Once you love somebody, you cant quit, Charlie said. The investigation moved forward quickly on Saturday afternoon. A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. Yet when I visited him, he seemed hesitant. You know them family pictures that they print in movies and stuff? he said. I forgave my daughter more easily but to forgive the guys who did this, for a long time felt too much. After emergency surgery, Terry was stable enough to talk, and he told sheriff's deputies that he was certain one of the attackers was Wilkinson. 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. If I could just get to my neighbours, Tommy and Helen, they would make everything alright. "She's always started that Charlie was the first one to initiate the conversation, 'We've got to take your family,' Caffey said. Caffey has remarried and lives in Wills Point, Texas with his wife and two stepsons. I told him about her and Charlie having sex afterwards, which was by far the hardest thing to have to tell him. "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.". Erin Caffeys brothers eight-year-old Tyler and 13-year-old Matthew played the guitar and the harmonica, respectively. I made it about halfway and just wanted to die. Details about the Caffey family . With the scars still visible on his face, Terry Caffey talks Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, at his home in Gilmer. 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. A girl was sitting with her back to the wall, in a fetal position. She asked him to lunch last June, and they never ran out of things to talk about. I wanted them to pay for what they did.". 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. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Terry L. Caffey. 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. Caffey was also sentenced to life, though she will be eligible to apply for parole after 40 years. As they had driven away from the burning house, he said, Erin had cried out, Holy shit, that was awesome!. Wilkinson and Waid were given life without the possibility of parole; Johnson got 40 years. Erin Caffey has two brothers that are Mathew 13 years old and Tyler 8 years old. Sanders passed the phone to Booth. Erin Caffey, far right, was given two life sentences for her role in the deaths of her mother and two young brothers in March 2008. Then, in early February, Penny overheard Erin giggling one night past her phone curfewErin had sneaked her cell phone into her room to call Charlie. Slowly, though, he began to parcel out information. Were you involved in this? Fischer asked. He didnt bring me through all that for nothing. Almon crouched beside the gurney and asked him a few hurried questions. Terry has remarried since the murders and has one more biological child. It is the loudest sound you can ever imagine. January 22, 2022 . When she spoke to Lewis, Erin insisted that Charlie had a volatile temper; he had killed her family after she had broken up with him and then framed her. Does your company belong on our site? However, in fall 2008, Erin found something that began to draw her interest away from godly things: She fell in love with 18-year-old Charlie Wilkinson. The chief deputy brought her into the living room, where Matthew Waid and his girlfriend sat on the couch. They received a call en route that Erin was now a suspect and cuffed her. She was taken to the juvenile detention center in Greenville, where she was held on charges of capital murder. WARNING: Graphic. Her story was already beginning to unravel, though, as Charlie was being questioned at the sheriffs office in Emory. She seemed confused, repeatedly telling the officers that she was fourteen years old. His dad worked at a paper mill outside Dallas. The Caffey is a church-going family in Texas. Not so much for your sake, but for my own. When Sanders asked if she had anything else to say, Erin whispered, Theyre coming after me.. Erin Caffey was the vocalist of the family until she met Wilkinson. Erin, the daughter of God-fearing. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. She was, he recounted, still pretty pissed off about her parents telling us we could not see each other. Once again, she told him that she wanted them dead. He pushed the hair aside to get a better look and watched, dumbfounded, as two eyes opened. Were me and your mom good parents? he asked her as they sat on opposite sides of the Plexiglas divider. YouTubeErin Caffey being interviewed by Piers Morgan for his show Killer Women. Erin had invited him over to her house before and considered him to be her boyfriend. At the sheriffs office that afternoon, she played dumb with the officers until they told her they had Waid and Wilkinson in custody, at which point she admitted what she knew. 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. Here, the Caffey family is shown in an undated photo. Public DomainThe mugshot of Erin Caffey, taken after she orchestrated the murder of her own family. 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. After consulting with the attorney generals office, Vititow honored his wishes and offered them a plea deal. Fischer had already informed the couple that the Caffey family was dead. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. (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.) Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened. When I saw the phone records, I realized that it didnt matter if a single one of the other defendants testified against her. Can you tell me what happened? Fischer asked. Just beyond him, sprawled across the living room floor, was Terry Caffey. Terry Caffey, who survived the murder attempt, visits the graves of his wife and two young sons. When I look back on it now, this was all just stupid. Fischer told them he needed to talk to Charlie Wilkinson. Learning to forgive those who murdered his family was an excruciating process for Terry Caffey. Terry started dating Sonja 4months after the horrific murders of his entire family & they were married just 7 months after the tragedy. Why did he have to die? Yet Charlie said he thought he had also stabbed Tyler at least once. I had passed out a second time and when I woke up the room was on fire. Now, one year later, Terry is remarried, the adoptive father of two young sons, and working to rebuild his relationship with his 17-year-old daughter, who is currently serving two life sentences in a Texas state penitentiary for her involvement in the crimes. Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened. Forgiveness took months with me praying continuously even when I still had rage towards God. he was a student at Rains Middle School. 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. Filled with lovesick rage, she ordered her boyfriend and his buddy to carry out her revenge. But the kicker was from 1:22 a.m. to 1:58 a.m., when she called him seven more times. It was Fischer, calling to inform Sanders that Erin had been implicated in the Caffey murders and she needed to be placed under arrest. Erin Caffey On March 1, 2008, two men broke into the Caffey home 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. Terry has since remarried and is now pursuing ministry full-time. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. They were perfect. When I visited the subject of his role in Tylers murder, he grew quiet and studied his hands, his eyes slowly filling with tears. Erin, she stammered. That comported completely with what Charlie told us, which was that she kept calling and saying, Where are yall? I remember trying to raise myself up but I couldnt feel the right side of my body. On the day of the massacre, Wilkinson and Waid pulled into the driveway of the Caffey home. Terry cried a lot and kept asking, Why? He said, I dont understand. The Caffeys abruptly pulled their children out of school a month into the academic year, and Penny began teaching them a Bible-based curriculum at home. On February 27, three days before the murders, the Caffeys demanded that Erin break up with Charlie. Who is she dating? You can read more about Terrys experience in his book. Read More. Around one-thirty the next morning, he told Almon, he and a friend had gone to the Caffey home. I think she thought Charlie was just blowing smoke, Terry said. Yet despite her effect on boys, she struck people as hopelessly naive. I wanted them to pay, especially those two boys. I told them that killing these boys will not bring my family back. While being treated at the hospital, Caffey said he had given up hope and wanted to die, until he received word that Erin was still alive. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. I got drunk last night and passed out.. In December Erin asked her parents if she could return to public school. 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. It was like she was seeing the world for the first time. One day at a church fellowship meeting, Miracle Faiths new youth director came upon Erin making out with a teenage boy. Terry's account of the murders, Terror by Night, was recently released and was co-authored by James Pence. Her belief was that it was the only way she could be with Wilkinson. Now, one year later, Terry is remarried, the adoptive father of two young sons, and working to rebuild his. Charlie dropped by the Sonic every afternoon during Erins half-hour break, and at night, he was a frequent guest at the Caffeys house. They shoot and murder Terry and Penny Caffey, the parents, in their bed. Charles Dickerson was the only officer on duty on March 1, 2008, when the call came into the Rains County sheriffs office just after four-thirty in the morning that there had been a shooting at the Caffey residence. I was so stubborn, I thought, Ill be darned if somebody is going to run me off of our property. I still long for the day when I know what was hurting her bad enough to make such a decision., Erin declined my interview requests, but the three other defendants each agreed to sit down with me and revisit the early morning of March 1, 2008. Erin stood wide-eyed in her pajamas, bewildered, as she surveyed the room. You could not have paid her to say anything negative about her parents, he said. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. 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. Caffey, you can go home now, Terry told me when I visited him this spring. The officers put Charlie in the back of the squad car, where he stared out the window in silence as they drove through the woods toward Emory in the predawn gloom. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Bring on the Shiplap? Wilkinson testified that he had insisted they run away together. 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. In time, God has shown me what it means to forgive, Terry said as Charlies eyes shone with tears. She was so sheltered, said her co-worker. Ive got so many questions, and I dont want to hit her with them all at once, he said. She informed them that she had been instructed to arrest their granddaughter in connection with the Caffey murders and requested that Erin step out of the car. Despite all hed been through, he still believed in the forgiveness that his faith had taught him. The old-timey ones with the white fence? They also had two sons: Matthew, known as Bubba, who was in the seventh grade, and Tyler, a fourth-grader. For more information about Terry Caffey, visit his website: http://www.terrycaffey.com (On MySpace, he went by the name Hillbilly.) She could get him to do whatever she wanted. I was suicidal. 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. Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. I used every ounce of strength and just kept focused on the light in Tommy and Helens window. Caffey said he has talked to his daughter about what happened the night of the murders and he said Erin is "very remorseful," but claims she did not initially plot to kill her family. 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. He has since released a book called Terror by Night and is now happily remarried. "I found out that Tyler, 8-year-old little Tyler, was hiding upstairs in the closet and the two boys [the killers], Charlie and Charles, took turns stabbing him to death," Caffey said. Two nights before the murders, they had forbidden her to see him again. Terry heard his son Matthew cry out, No, Charlie. As Emig carried them out to the porch, he noticed that they were spattered with blood. 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. It was Charlie who had wanted the family dead, and when he came to the house, she had been powerless to stop him. 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. 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. We didnt see any of this coming.. If Charlie was startled by the news that he had left behind an eyewitness, he did not give himself away. Wilkinson and Waid both told police the same story: the murders were all her idea. I was just angry. I have my moments, my days, where I cry but those days come further and further apart. "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. Perhaps the most surreal moment of our interview came when she sang Amazing Grace, pitch-perfect. He wore a starched white inmates uniform, a buzz cut, and a doleful expression. 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. She remained a mystery. The two then went upstairs and murdered young Tyler and Matthew. My first instinct was that one of the kids had had a nightmare; then gunfire erupted. Almon clambered out of the ambulance and shared what he had learned with chief deputy Kurt Fischer. "About 3:00 in the morning, Penny and I would be awoken to the sound of our door knob hitting our dryer in the laundry room, which was next to our bedroom," Terry tells The 700 Club. I found out later they had come in with samurai swords and found Tyler in the closet. Too much has been lost already, it seems, for him to give that up as well. With gunshot wounds all over his upper body, including one in his face, Caffey miraculously was able to crawl to a neighbor's house. Charlie told several friends that he intended to kill her parents. 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