With gunshot wounds all over his upper body, including one in his face, Caffey miraculously was able to crawl to a neighbor's house. 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. 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. He crawled the length of four football fields to find help after being shot five times. Around one-thirty the next morning, he told Almon, he and a friend had gone to the Caffey home. The . Waid, who held out the longest, finally confessed under Almons relentless questioning. I don't care just do what you gotta do, she allegedly said, according to Killer Couples.. And so Erin accepted a plea dealtwo life sentences to be served concurrently, plus an additional 25 yearswhich ensures that with good behavior she will be eligible for parole when she is 59 years old. I feel like for the most part I believe her, he replied. Detective Almon, a plainspoken Navy veteran with a blunt, intense manner, led the interrogation, while Texas Ranger John Vance assisted. He hesitated, and Fischer thought he might reach for the gun. Youre a tough little girl, Sanders told her. . She did not want to be identified, but did want to talk about the man she married. But that morning, the two officers felt only pity for the soft-spoken girl who had just lost her mother and two brothers. I wanted to die where they died. The father wasn't home, and he still visits the daughter. 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. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. 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. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. There was nothing he could do for his family at that point. He led Charlie outside in handcuffs and sat him on the porch; he read the teenager his Miranda rights and told him that he was being taken in for questioning. Everyone knew everyone in Emory, so Waid and Johnson were also rounded up almost immediately. . 16 year old Erin Caffey made her first appearance before a Rains County Judge Monday. After the killing spree, Charlie told the detective, he had carried a suitcase of Erins belongings, which she had previously packed, out to the car. Why did a small-town girl have her family brutally murdered? I told them that killing these boys will not bring my family back. Terry missed being a husband and a father, Tommy Gaston says. 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. 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. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Of the Caffeys, he painted a nostalgic portrait. 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. The two then went upstairs and murdered young Tyler and Matthew. Not only did Caffey forgive them all, including his daughter, but he asked them to be spared from the death penalty when the case went to trial. He had never gotten over Charlies nonchalant attitude when they first met; Terry had come home from work, and Charliehis legs slung over the side of Terrys armchairhad not bothered to stand up or shake his hand. Again I heard Bubba cry out, no Charlie, no; then I heard more shots and fell back onto the floor. as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Their children also shared their devotion. "The house is exploding, it's totally engulfed, and I'm forced back in the bedroom," Caffey said. I didnt find mucha Hot Wheels car; a broken ceramic cup; a horseshoe-shaped belt buckle that the kids gave me for Christmas. If I could just get to my neighbours, Tommy and Helen, they would make everything alright. ", "When you hold on to that un-forgiveness or that bitterness, it's like that person still has a part of you," he continued. Yet despite her effect on boys, she struck people as hopelessly naive. Wilkinson and Waid were given life sentences without the possibility of parole. Her parents decided to take to the internet to learn more about this bad-news boyfriend. I ended up buying me a used RV, and I moved it back up on my land. On February 27, three days before the murders, the Caffeys demanded that Erin break up with Charlie. I would never be able to honour my family if I let this destroy me. 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. The friend, whom he initially refused to identify, was his hunting buddy Charles Waid, Matthews younger brother. She seemed confused, repeatedly telling the officers that she was fourteen years old. Knowing everything he knew, I asked him, did he still love her? Article continues below advertisement Watch Killer Women with Piers Morgan tonight at 8 p.m. on Investigation Discovery (ID). Terry and Penny had wanted to be closer to Miracle Faith, where they were then serving as the churchs youth ministers. This was a vulnerable 16-year-old girl with a controlling, psychopathic guy.. She insists to her father that she tried to run away from Wilkinson the night of the murder, but was forced to wait in the car. 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. For more on the Caffey family slaughter, including Terrys terrifying ordeal and the twisted relationship between Erin and Wilkinson, watch Killer Couples at Oxygen.com and airing Thursdays at 8/7c. Youre breaking up with him today. Youre Erin Caffey? chief deputy Fischer asked the girl again. During a Valentines Day dinner that was hosted by her youth group, she stood idly by, too preoccupied to even fill water glasses. ET from court documents and interviews with those involved, and Caffey detailed what happened that fatal Friday night for "Nightline. She had him around her finger, pretty much, said a girl who was a senior at the time. Terry started dating Sonja 4months after the horrific murders of his entire family & they were married just 7 months after the tragedy. But once she began to date Charlie she changed considerably. She couldnt sing a lick.. He and his new wife also adopted three children. YouTubeErin Caffey being interviewed by Piers Morgan for his show Killer Women. Shortly after that he worked up the nerve to ask her out. She declined to meet with the Texas Ranger or Detective Almon, electing to make a written statement instead. He was frank about the horror of what he had done and made no excuses for himself. She was too young to have a baby, she said, and as long as her parents were alive, she and Charlie would have to be apart. "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. When I was at their house, that was what the family was like. Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. I forgave my daughter more easily but to forgive the guys who did this, for a long time felt too much. Analytics cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously. I hope that God forgives me, Charlie added. 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. In her flower-print pajamas, with her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, she seemed sweet and guileless. I honestly believe she was not the mastermind. At a bend where the trees thinned out, he spotted a murky orange glow in the distance. She was very smart. ", "I am sound asleep in my bed and just immediately the gunshots went off," he said. 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 . 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. Despite all hed been through, he still believed in the forgiveness that his faith had taught him. They left the room, and then Charlie came back and cut Pennys throat to make sure she was dead. Charlie went upstairs and told the boys to come out of Erins room and go to their beds. I grabbed the mattress, the cover, anything I could to pull myself up. He . He needed somebody to lay down beside him at night who he could tell his troubles to. They said their vows in October at Miracle Faith, just a few feet from where Terrys wifes and sons caskets had rested seven months earlier. 02:08:53. 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. That's probably better than being all alone in this world. Caffey is serving a minimum of 42 years and wont be eligible for parole until shes 59. That comported completely with what Charlie told us, which was that she kept calling and saying, Where are yall? 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. Terry Caffey, who survived the murder attempt, visits the graves of his wife and two young sons. Erin Caffey with her boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson. 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. Sanders pulled her squad car into a parking lot, and the Dailys followed. A freelance writer from the UK, Danielle Tinning studied media & communications at the University of Cumbria before beginning her career at a small publishing house in 2013. Charlie crept into Terry and Pennys first-floor bedroom and fired at them until his gun jammed. No, sir, Charlie said, shaking his head. I dont really like to talk about that, he said. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. If at any time she would have said, Well, were not going to do it after all, it never would have happened.. Were you involved in this? Fischer asked. It was an isolated existence for an otherwise social girl whose life was largely circumscribed to Miracle Faith and her parents house, six miles from town. Whats the holdup? Not only was I angry at God, but I was angry at my daughter. The tragic fate of the Caffey family was set in motion five months before they were killed, when Erin Caffey began dating 18-year-old Charlie Wilkinson. For more information about Terry Caffey, visit his website: http://www.terrycaffey.com, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Erins parents believed she appeared to have accepted their decision. Perhaps the most surreal moment of our interview came when she sang Amazing Grace, pitch-perfect. Several kids had already seen her sitting on a picnic table behind the church, kissing the boy while he eased his hand up her shirt. 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. ERIN Caffey is 24, and has been in a high-security prison in Gatesville, Texas, for eight years. 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. 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. "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. The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. With Erin and Bobbi nearby, the two Charlies break into the house in the middle of the night, March 1, 2008. At school, where she enrolled as a freshman, she and Charlie were inseparable; they ate lunch together and walked down the hall hand in hand, and sometimes they slipped away to Erins pickup to fool around. 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. Murderpedia Juan Ignacio Blanco MALE murderers index by country index by name ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ FEMALE murderers index by country index by name However, the relationship didnt bode well with her parents, with Terry Caffey noting that he had reservations about Wilkinson from the start. Caffey was also sentenced to life, though she will be eligible to apply for parole after 40 years. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? He had no ill words for the people he had so viciously attacked. Virginia Daily became hysterical and grabbed Erins face. 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. Often they went to a friends house where they could be alone, and after Christmas, they had sex for the first time. Penny noticed the ring on Erins finger a few days later at a church function and ordered her to give it back. As Wilkinson and Waid did the killing the girls waited in a car. Sheriffs deputy Serena Booth sat in. Erin stood wide-eyed in her pajamas, bewildered, as she surveyed the room. I had it made.. All I heard was the word home. I thought, I dont have a home. I couldnt have got up if Id wanted to. "She's always started that Charlie was the first one to initiate the conversation, 'We've got to take your family,' Caffey said. Let me see your hands.. It took me about an hour to crawl the lengths of about four football pitches. 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. 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. Fischer had already informed the couple that the Caffey family was dead. Caffey has remarried and lives in Wills Point, Texas with his wife and two stepsons. 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. Wilkinson and Waid were given life without the possibility of parole; Johnson got 40 years. Fischer drew his gun and commanded her to show him her hands, but she just stared at him. In an exclusive interview with KLTV 7, Waid's estranged wife talked about her disbelief in what her husband may have done. Yes, Erin assured him, blinking back tears. I never heard another sound after that until 3am when our bedroom door flew open. The judge agreed. I was just angry. Theyre all gone, Caffey told the sheriffs deputy, his voice breaking. Terry Caffey lives in Wills Point, Texas, with his wife, Sonja, and their two sons, Blake and Tanner. I dont think Im going to make it, Caffey sputtered, straining to catch his breath. Details about the Caffey family . He spoke first to Waid, who remained impassive, and then to Charlie. Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened. She was instantly taken with him, and Charlie too seemed to be infatuated. 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. His face and upper body were caked with blood. CBN.com - March 1, 2008 is a date that will be emblazoned in Terry Caffey's memory forever. Forgiveness took months with me praying continuously even when I still had rage towards God. 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. A few days earlier wed found out what kind of character Charlie really was, with the drinking and the sex, and told her to break it off. The Caffey family had been attacked and killed earlier that morning, Fischer informed him. The answer was as simple and as complex as first love. I joined the Army to do whatever needed to be done without thinking. 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