Three members of the Caffey family were murdered in their house in

Alba, Texas Alba ( ) is a town located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and Farm To Market Road 17 on the western edge of Wood County, Texas, United States, south of Lake Fork and approximately ten miles west of Quitman. The population was 473 in t ...

, on March 1, 2008. Erin Caffey, then 16, organized the murder of her mother, Penny Caffey, and younger brothers Matthew, 13, and Tyler, 8. Her father Terry was the only survivor; he escaped to safety after being shot five times. The murders were committed by Erin's then-boyfriend Charlie Wilkinson and his friend Charles Waid, with Waid's girlfriend Bobbi Johnson acting as a

getaway driver A crime scene getaway is the act of departing from the location where one has committed a crime. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of a c ...

. Erin and Wilkinson planned the murder for a month, after Erin's parents' disapproval of their relationship. The crime gained notoriety for its violent nature, with one of Erin's brothers being stabbed repeatedly and her mother almost decapitated.

Background

The Caffey family were devout

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and part of the Miracle Faith Baptist Church, where Erin was in the church choir and Terry was a youth

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

. They lived in

, a rural community with a population of 492 at the time. The Caffey children had been homeschooled for three years, and were taught a Bible-based curriculum. Erin was diagnosed with

attention deficit disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple con ...

, a reason for the homeschooling. They had been re-enrolled at public schools six weeks prior to the murders, with Erin going to Rains High School. Erin met 18-year-old Charlie Wilkinson while working at fast-food chain

Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...

in 2007, with the pair quickly forming a romantic relationship. Wilkinson lived with his father and step-mother, seeing his biological mother once or twice a year. Wilkinson had given Erin his grandmother's engagement ring as a promise ring; Penny demanded she give it back after noticing it during a church function. Weeks prior to the murders, Erin was told that she was not allowed to see Wilkinson after Penny discovered his

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page, which had references to profanity and sex. Erin and Wilkinson began plotting the murders after this incident so they could stay together, reportedly planning the crime for a month. Erin's ex-boyfriend, Michael Washburn, revealed that she had previously tried to enlist him to kill her family for their disapproval of her relationship with him, but he refused and subsequently broke up with her.

Murders

In the morning hours of March 1, 2008, Wilkinson and Waid entered the Caffey family house, while Erin waited outside in a car with Johnson. At around 3:00 a.m., Penny and Terry Caffey woke up to sounds of the bedroom door hitting the dryer in the laundry room, which was next to the bedroom. Penny Caffey was the first to be shot, and was stabbed with a

samurai sword A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...

leading to near

decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

. Matthew was shot in the head; just before being shot, his father Terry heard him screaming "Charlie! Charlie why are you doing this? No, Charlie! No, please! Why are you doing this?" Tyler was repeatedly stabbed with the sword by Wilkinson and Waid. Terry was shot five times and left to die. Following the crime, the house was lit on fire. Terry, the only survivor, crawled out of the burning house and to a neighbor's house, which took over an hour. He was motivated to live in order to identify Wilkinson to the police. From there, 911 was called and authorities came to the scene. All four suspects were found in a mobile home owned by Waid, and apprehended on the same day as the killings.

Legal proceedings and aftermath

Waid, Wilkinson, Johnson and Caffey were charged with three counts of capital murder each, with prosecutors stating they did not plan to seek the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for Erin. The defendants had their bonds set at $1.5 million each. Though a

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

at the time of the killing, Erin was tried as an adult and held in Hopkins County Jail. On January 2, 2009, she received two life sentences for her role after accepting a plea deal, making her eligible for parole when she is 59 years old. Wilkinson and Waid were spared the death penalty after accepting a plea agreement, receiving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Johnson was named as an accomplice who did not use a weapon and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. She will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years. Waid has since expressed remorse for the crime. Terry Caffey recalled being

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or acad ...

following the incident. He cites God as the reason for being able to reconcile with the event and forgive those involved. After Terry returned to his former home alone for the first time since the crime, he looked to the sky and said, "God why didn't 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". He then saw a piece of paper stuck to a tree with the words "You're sovereign; You're in control", which motivated him to forgive his daughter for the crime. When told prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for Wilkinson and Waid, he proclaimed that Jesus would have "spared their life" and told prosecutors that their deaths would not bring his family back. Caffey now ministers full time and has visited 600 public schools and 800 churches to share his story. He has since remarried and has four children (1 biological and 3 adopted) with his wife Karen.

In popular culture

The crime was featured in American crime drama television series ''

Final Witness ''Final Witness'' is an American crime drama television series that premiered on June 27, 2012, on ABC. The seven-part series, which combines documentary and drama elements, focuses on a different real-life murder each week from the victim's poin ...

'' in 2012. In 2020, the crime was the premise of the sixth episode in Season 13 of '' Snapped: Killer Couples''. In 2016, Erin was interviewed by English journalist

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

for television documentary series '' Killer Women with Piers Morgan''. Terry has written a book on the events, titled ''Terror by Night: The True Story of the Brutal Texas Murder That Destroyed a Family, Restored One Man's Faith, and Shocked a Nation''. In 2014, the story was featured on the American talk show ''

Dr. Phil Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), also known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author who is best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased ...

'', with Terry appearing as a guest.

Notes

References