As time went on I began to realise that my grief and anger would destroy me. Terry Caffey Story. She talked about the idea relentlessly. He now travels the country preaching what he has become good at, forgiveness. I refuse to grow into a bitter old man. He was engulfed in grief. 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. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. Courtesy Terry CaffeyErin Caffey with her boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson. But the other three all immediately said she was the ringleader. I would never be able to honour my family if I let this destroy me. 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. Fischer drew his gun and commanded her to show him her hands, but she just stared at him. Charlie went upstairs and told the boys to come out of Erins room and go to their beds. Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. I was just angry. Erins parents believed she appeared to have accepted their decision. 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. She was so sheltered, said her co-worker. 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. Detective Almon, a plainspoken Navy veteran with a blunt, intense manner, led the interrogation, while Texas Ranger John Vance assisted. Come back, and Ill keep the dog quiet., Tanner sat down with Terry Caffey and showed him the phone records this past June. CBN.com - March 1, 2008 is a date that will be emblazoned in Terry Caffey's memory forever. She also showed no symptoms of smoke inhalation. Erin, she stammered. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry's wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. In November they each pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder. 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. Instant vibe, he said, snapping his fingers. 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. None of the four involved were drunk or had taken drugs on the night of the murders. It was the only way they could be together, she seemed to believe. They also had two sons: Matthew, known as Bubba, who was in the seventh grade, and Tyler, a fourth-grader. But Caffey said God showed him another way to deal with his grief. It's time to forgive. All the lights were out in the rundown blue single-wide when Fischer and sheriffs deputy Ed Emig pulled up outside. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. 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. During the many hours in which they made polite conversation, he ventured only once to ask her a question of substance. Once you love somebody, you cant quit, Charlie said. . This site uses different types of cookies. Her voice faltered, and her cousin, who did not have her natural talent, outshone her. According to Charlie, the girls had stayed behind in the car while he and Waid went inside. I told him about her and Charlie having sex afterwards, which was by far the hardest thing to have to tell him. Wilkinson and his two accomplices, Charles Wade and Bobbi Johnson, were convicted of the same charges. he was a student at Rains Middle School. At 16 you aren't all about singing in the church choir anymore, I don't care who you are. At a bend where the trees thinned out, he spotted a murky orange glow in the distance. Google Universal Analytics short-time unique user tracking identifier. "They own you. Do you believe her version of events? I asked Terry. On it were the words, Youre sovereign; Youre in control.. I heard footsteps going up the stairs and I began to panic. He wore a starched white inmates uniform, a buzz cut, and a doleful expression. Perhaps the most surreal moment of our interview came when she sang Amazing Grace, pitch-perfect. When we pulled away from the house, she was happier than a kid on Christmas morning., One afternoon this spring, I visited Charlie at the Polunsky Unit, in Livingston, the imposing, maximum-security prison that is best known for housing death row. Wilkinson and Waid were given life without the possibility of parole; Johnson got 40 years. I want to get Erin. WHAT'S POPULAR TODAY. Documentary Biography A family suffers multiple tragedy in a deadly home invasion. Charlie Wilkinson shot my family.. I would get on my hands and knees and just dig. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. 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. He said that if anybody said anything to anyone, that person would be taken care of. Rebecca sensed that something was spiritually wrong with the girl. 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. Later that day, when the bodies of the two Caffey boys were pulled from the rubble, one firefighter, overcome with emotion, fell to his knees. 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. She had always taken pride in how she looked, but then she began to slip and she became disrespectful towards Penny. I could not do it, he said, covering his face with his hands. Terry Caffey and Penny Caffey were husband and wife. Terry and Bubba played harmonica, with Penny on piano. Erin was cute and petite, with blue-gray eyes and a flirtatious smile, and she thrived on attention. Caffey said his 16-year-old daughter Erin's boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson, then 19, was one of the men who was in his house the night his family was killed. The Story Of Erin Caffey, The 16-Year-Old Who Convinced Her Boyfriend To Murder Her Entire Family. Now shes explaining why she did it. 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. A girl was sitting with her back to the wall, in a fetal position. When I leave, it will be when Im ready and when Gods ready for me to leave. Some nights it was pitch-black by the time I got home, and I had to work up the courage to get out of the car. As they had driven away from the burning house, he said, Erin had cried out, Holy shit, that was awesome!. 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. Less than 24 hours after the murders, Waid, Johnson, Charlie, and Erin were all in custody. He was frank about the horror of what he had done and made no excuses for himself. I honestly believe she was not the mastermind. Erins anointing had lifted, she said. Her father, who now visits her in prison, will be in his 80s by the time she gets out. Terry has since remarried and is now pursuing ministry full-time. Authorities immediately tracked down Wilkinson and brought him in for questioning. "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. 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. That's probably better than being all alone in this world. Youre not going to see that boy no more, Terry told her. But the kicker was from 1:22 a.m. to 1:58 a.m., when she called him seven more times. 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. Her father, the man who she tried to have killed, is the only person who still visits her. 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. "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. If you live in relative isolation with a disapproving family you might find it difficult to explore life and express yourself. But then I thought, if I couldnt save my family Ive got to live long enough to make the people who did this accountable. Let me see your hands, repeated the chief deputy. As late as two days before the murders, he gloomily admitted to the same friend that he wished he could just get her pregnant so the Caffeys would have no choice but to accept him. The kids were homeschooled, Terry was training to be a minister, and a Bible verse was etched into a wooden sign hanging above their driveway. I grabbed the mattress, the cover, anything I could to pull myself up. He . Terry found the visits agonizing, but he felt compelled to be in the presence of his only living child. In the end, Caffey, Wilkinson, Waid, and Waids girlfriend were all charged with three counts of capital murder. He visits his daughter in prison every few months. It made me question a lot of things, Charlie said, his voice trailing off. Charlie crept into Terry and Pennys first-floor bedroom and fired at them until his gun jammed. I have my moments, my days, where I cry but those days come further and further apart. Faith was the cornerstone of the Caffeys lives. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Does your company belong on our site? My only thought was, god make it quick. 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. as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Their children also shared their devotion. Above their driveway hung a polished cedar plank with the inscription: The CaffeysJoshua 24:15. The verse, which Terry had committed to memory, was a reminder that they had chosen a righteous path: If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve . He survived being shot five times and the arson that burned down his Alba, Texas, home. 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. They brought along Waids girlfriend, a bubbly high school senior named Bobbi Johnson, whose silver Dodge Neon they were driving. The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. 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. And it wasn't until I was able to forgive that I began to experience peace and happiness again.". According to Charlie, Johnson did not know what the boys plans were but had insisted on coming with them. Well, Id read the story countless times before, but I read it again and it was almost like I was there with Job. That comported completely with what Charlie told us, which was that she kept calling and saying, Where are yall? She told the police she had been kidnapped. Password recovery. The Caffeys Terry and his wife, Penny, their two young sons, Tyler and Matthew, and 16-year-old Erin lived to serve in their church. When Sanders asked if she had anything else to say, Erin whispered, Theyre coming after me.. 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. "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.". I want them, in this lifetime, to have a chance for remorse and to come to a place of repentance for what they have done. "I knew that's not what I wanted to do. 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 ambulance was about to pull away from Tommy Gastons house when sheriffs investigator Richard Almon, who had hurried to the scene, climbed inside. Im still here. Again I heard Bubba cry out, no Charlie, no; then I heard more shots and fell back onto the floor. I dont know, she mumbled. But Terry and Penny, who separated the two teenagers that day at Miracle Faith, were deeply embarrassed by her behavior. He didnt bring me through all that for nothing. His mother had moved to Del Rio after his parents divorced, and he saw her only once or twice a year. ABC's new TV series, "Final Witness," recreates the 2008 tragedy Wednesday at 10 p.m. Erin had always been a very good kid; she always had a smile on her face. She nodded and looked as if she might throw up. Whats going on? Charlie said. 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. . 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. And you relive it over and over. Most folks around Alba and Emory, the nearby county seat, knew the family; Penny played piano at Miracle Faith Baptist Church, and her husband, Terry, was a home health aide and lay preacher. Before entering the property, Wilkinson warned Caffey that he had to kill her younger brothers so that there would be no witnesses left. He had no ill words for the people he had so viciously attacked. Youre breaking up with him today. From left are Matthew, Terry, Tyler, Penny and Erin. That is where I found Penny. At daybreak, the fire was still smoldering. I wanted to find these guys; I wanted to strangle them. They all gave similar accounts, with Erin serving as the driving force behind the killings. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Charlie had broken into the house and shot Caffey and his family as they slept. When I came round I heard commotion and two voices. 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. Terry and Penny had wanted to be closer to Miracle Faith, where they were then serving as the churchs youth ministers. Though it was not a formal proposal, he was declaring his intentions. But the other three all immediately said she was the ringleader. When I saw the phone records, I realized that it didnt matter if a single one of the other defendants testified against her. Terry Caffey suffered a broken nose, two fractured cheekbones, and minor nerve damage in his right arm. 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. Volunteer firefighters had struggled for several hours to put out the flames, but the house had burned down to its foundation. Charlie also began attending church at Miracle Faith. Why did he have to die? Yet Charlie said he thought he had also stabbed Tyler at least once. May 13, 2016 11:27am. 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. She and Terry hoped that the individual instruction might benefit Erin, who had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and lagged behind her classmates. 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