I wanted them to die. The Caffey family had been attacked and killed earlier that morning, Fischer informed him. 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. I wanted to find these guys; I wanted to strangle them. I guess what it all boils down to is choices, she said, almost matter-of-factly. 28 - Apr. And I was blown out of bed," he said. 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. Charlie Wilkinson, I want to say to you today, I forgive you. Erin came from a conservative and protective family. Terry Caffey's daughter Erin made international headlines when she murdered her mother and two young brothers back in 2008. When I look back on it now, this was all just stupid. I was just angry. Dickerson realized that he was looking at the Caffey home. Faith was the cornerstone of the Caffeys lives. A US school student read out loud sexually explicit passages from a library book as he raged against its content at a school board meeting. This was not the most brutal or cold-blooded case I had ever prosecuted, she told me. I feel like for the most part I believe her, he replied. He was good-looking in an unassuming kind of way, with sandy hair and light-blue eyes, and he nearly always wore Wranglers, black cowboy boots, and an oversized black Western hat. Let me see your hands.. Wilkinson testified that he had insisted they run away together. I had it made.. I hope that God forgives me, Charlie added. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. 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. Johnson, who had recently played a minor role in the Rains High School production of Oklahoma!, seemed to be in high spirits. I put my RV right on the spot where my house once stood, and I stayed out there about four months. Wilkinson even gave her a promise ring that had belonged to his grandmother and was open about his desire to marry her. A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. Erin Caffey's father Terry was shot several times in the attack, but survived. "I knew that's not what I wanted to do. Tommy Gaston, the neighbor, said Monday that Terry Caffey was improving and should recover. Erin was not sentenced to life without parole; she will be eligible after 25 years of her life sentence, according to Killer Couples.. The take, along with the contents of Terrys wallet and Pennys purse, amounted to $375 and some change, he said. A slight, pretty blonde, she was known for her beautiful singing voice, which she showcased in soaring gospel solos at Miracle Faith on Sundays. If I want to heal and move on, I must find some forgiveness in my heart, and that has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do because you took so much from me.. Penny noticed the ring on Erins finger a few days later at a church function and ordered her to give it back. Webb was raising two sons on her own. I was scared shitless.) Erin had seemed elated after the killings, Johnson explained, and said that she was free. In fact, Johnson said, Erin had wanted to get out of the car to make sure that everyone was dead. 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. 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. If Charlie was startled by the news that he had left behind an eyewitness, he did not give himself away. It was so loud and its even hard to describe, he said. I remember the nurse coming in and saying, Mr. I decided I would not become a bitter old man. 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. 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. Caffey has remarried and lives in Wills Point, Texas with his wife and two stepsons. I heard footsteps going up the stairs and I began to panic. May 13, 2016 11:27am. The family lived in a cabin in rural Alba, TX, with a population of just under 500 people. 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. The threesome picked Erin up at the end of her parents driveway and rode around for an hour, talking about what to do. "When nothing in life makes sense, God is good all the time. I want to go. The only motive appears to be that a few days before the murder spree, Penny and Terry told their daughter she could no longer see Wilkinson. Bring on the Shiplap? 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. "I have met people that have gone through a lot less than what I have and they've grown into bitter, angry people, and that's not who I am, and I saw myself becoming that," Caffey said. I watched the "Final Witness" on ABC on Sept 14, 2010. Family. A girl was sitting with her back to the wall, in a fetal position. Erin's story fell apart while she was on her way to see her dad in a hospital in nearby Tyler, along with her grandparents and sheriff's deputies. ABC's new TV series, "Final Witness," recreates the 2008 tragedy Wednesday at 10 p.m. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! "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.". 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. I mean, for what? Her father, the man who she tried to have killed, is the only person who still visits her. This might just hold water if it were not for a previous boyfriend, Michael Washburn, revealing that Erin had said to him too that she wanted her family dead. They all gave similar accounts, with Erin serving as the driving force behind the killings. And then I decided, no, theres been enough bloodshed. as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Their children also shared their devotion. Terry maintained a relationship with his daughter for years after the massacre. Very caring. Just a few minutes into the drive, however, Sanders cell phone rang. More and more she and her mother were at odds, and Erin once called Charlie in tears to report that Penny had slapped her in the heat of an argument. Forgiveness took months with me praying continuously even when I still had rage towards God. You can read more about Terrys experience in his book. 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. But Caffey said God showed him another way to deal with his grief. At the same time, he said, Erin was given ample opportunity to call off the plan. For a man who had been shot five times and climbed out the window of a burning house, he could consider himself lucky; he had a broken nose, two fractured cheekbones, and minor nerve damage in his right arm. Given the complexity that four capital murder cases posed for a small, rural county, the Texas attorney generals office was asked to assist the Rains County district attorney in bringing the four defendants to trial. Erin broke down in tears and assured her grandparents that she had nothing to do with the slaughter of her family, according to Texas Monthly. I knew she was gone.". Inside, Wilkinson fired away with a .22 pistol in Terry and Penny's room. I would get on my hands and knees and just dig. It was a question that preoccupied him more than his doubts about her innocence. Erin Caffey has two brothers that are Mathew 13 years old and Tyler 8 years old. Wilkinson would later tell investigators that he warned Erin that he would have to kill her younger brothers in order to leave no witnesses. Now nineteen, he looked impossibly young for someone who will never step beyond the guard towers and concertina wire again. Wilkinson and his two accomplices, Charles Wade and Bobbi Johnson, were convicted of the same charges. His boys were friends with the clean-cut high school senior and had fished and gone four-wheeling with him many times before; in fact, Fischer told the detective, he had spotted Charlies car parked outside Matthew Waids trailer while driving to the crime scene. She carried out her plans on March 1, 2008. At nine oclock, the Caffeys made sure that Charlie was headed for the doorbut after he said goodbye, Erin usually called him and talked to him until her ten oclock phone curfew. He visits his daughter in prison every few months. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. She smiled and said, Im glad thats over. He and Waid went back inside and retrieved the lockbox, which Charlie opened using the combination that Erin had given him. In December that year, Erin asked her parents to return to public school and, after they agreed, she and Wilkinson became inseparable, according to Texas Monthly. But Erinwhose jubilant singing often brought parishioners to their feetturned in a listless, halfhearted performance. I want to get Erin. Somehow I pulled myself up and climbed over the mattress. Teenager Erin Caffey was 16 when she had her mother and two younger brothers killed in their Texas home. He had met Erin at the Sonic a few weeks before the start of his senior year, having just returned home from boot camp at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with his Texas National Guard unit. I didnt want to grow into a bitter angry old man. Terry fell . . One was shot in the face and the second was killed with a sword, according to Texas Monthly. She needed to explain to him why prosecutors were asking the court to certify Erin as an adult. Erin Caffey being interviewed by Piers Morgan for his show. 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. Her accomplices were her boyfriend Charlie Wilkinson, 18, his pal Charles Waid, 20, and Waids girlfriend Bobbi Johnson, 18. At church functions, Erin was aloof and distracted. At the outset, Charlie muttered, Im in a lot of trouble. Almon informed Charlie that he had been identified by a victim who had survived the attack and asked him to tell them exactly what had happened the previous night. They werent beating me, they werent starving me to death. We didnt see any of this coming.. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. Charlie went upstairs and told the boys to come out of Erins room and go to their beds. His son Bubba had come out of his bedroom to the railing to see what was happening and was shot in the face. Slowly, though, he began to parcel out information. That Saturday I got home at midnight, I came in from a 14 hour shift and I was tired. Leave them blank to get signed up. I didnt find mucha Hot Wheels car; a broken ceramic cup; a horseshoe-shaped belt buckle that the kids gave me for Christmas. After consulting with the attorney generals office, Vititow honored his wishes and offered them a plea deal. I know theres no such thing as perfect, but in my book, they were, said Tommy Gaston, who was a frequent guest in their home and played in a gospel band with Penny. 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 dont care, she reportedly said, just do what you gotta do.. Caffey's other son, Tyler, was found stabbed to death. And so Terry sat opposite the only other surviving member of his familythe girl who investigators were telling him had wanted him and his wife and sons deadand conversed with her about subjects as mundane as the weather. Were you involved in this? Fischer asked. Yet Tanner had no doubt that Erin had masterminded the crime. Why did he have to die? Yet Charlie said he thought he had also stabbed Tyler at least once. Erin was taken by ambulance to the Hopkins County Memorial Hospital, in Sulphur Springs, where she was given a full medical assessment. I was going to lay down and shoot myself right there on the spot where I lost my family. He feels that God has restored what the enemy had stolen. 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. They were ridiculous reasonsnot even reasonsjust an excuse, Waid told me. 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. ERIN Caffey was just 16 years old when she organised for her family to be killed. I want us to walk away, arm in arm, and never look back," Caffey said. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Its time to enjoy life again. If Erin and her brothers built a bonfire in the backyard after supper, as they often did, he lingered by her side. 02:08:53. As a juvenile, Erin could not be taken directly to the sheriffs office for questioning, and so she appeared that afternoon before a justice of the peace. The chief deputy brought her into the living room, where Matthew Waid and his girlfriend sat on the couch. Often they went to a friends house where they could be alone, and after Christmas, they had sex for the first time. 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