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Our episodes deal with serious and often
distressing incidents. If you feel at any
00:01:34
time you need support, please contact your local
crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for
00:01:39
confidential support, please see the show notes
for this episode on your app, or on our website.
00:01:45
This episode involves a crime against children.
It may not be suitable for all listeners.
00:01:57
If you travel down Rains
County Road 2370 in Texas, just outside the city of Emory you will
eventually come across a narrow gravel road.
00:02:08
Following the private road is a bumpy and somewhat
lonely journey - it’s surrounded by dense woodland
00:02:14
and tall pine trees hang overhead forming a
canopy above you. The gravelled ring road has
00:02:21
two properties situated 400 yards apart
from one another. Aside from that, there is nothing but thick forest and the sound of
birdsong to welcome a weary driver. It’s peaceful.
00:02:36
At the entry to one property, Max,
a black labrador waits patiently. He’s a loyal dog who takes it upon himself
to protect his family at all costs.
00:02:48
Max sits next to the remains of what was
once a beloved family home. There is rubble
00:02:54
everywhere and some embers are still hot on
his paw pads as he walks through the ashes.
00:03:01
A sign, one of the few things that wasn’t
destroyed in the blaze, is visible amongst the
00:03:06
debris. Engraved on split cedar wood, the sign
announces the family that resided in the home,
00:03:14
reading “The Caffeys'' in large letters.
Beside it is engraved “Joshua chapter 24,
00:03:22
verse 15” a scripture from the bible which in
part reads, “If it seem evil unto you to serve the
00:03:31
Lord, choose ye this day whom you will serve…But
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
00:03:42
Well wishers concerned about Max’s welfare sneak
under the police tape to bring him food and water
00:03:48
but Max isn’t interested. It’s Monday
March 3 2008 - two days since the fire that destroyed the Caffey house and Max is
still waiting. He’s waiting for his family.
00:04:31
Two years earlier, Terry and Penny Caffey proudly
displayed the split cedar wood sign at the
00:04:36
entrance to their new home. Made for them by their
good friend and only neighbour, Tommy Gaston,
00:04:44
the sign, complete with a meaningful Bible quote,
was a fitting gift for the religious family.
00:04:51
Their twenty acre property was situated
approximately sixty miles north of Dallas,
00:04:57
in the tiny town of Alba. It offered the
Caffey family ample room to play and explore.
00:05:04
When Terry Caffey heard from his friend
Tommy that the house had become available,
00:05:09
he jumped at the chance to purchase it. Now,
as he watched his youngest son Tyler play on
00:05:15
a rope swing in their front yard, he
knew he had made the right decision. The Caffey family quickly settled in. The move
placed them even closer to their family church,
00:05:28
the Miracle Faith Baptist Church and Penny
homeschooled their three children - Erin, Matthew
00:05:34
and Tyler. The layout of the two storey cabin
style home meant that Terry and Penny could sleep
00:05:42
downstairs while the children had the upstairs
largely to themselves, offering everyone space
00:05:48
and privacy. Terry worked long hours delivering
medical equipment to people who required it at
00:05:55
their homes. Although he enjoyed his job, he felt
he could relax when he took the turnoff to the
00:06:02
private road he shared with Tommy Gaston and his
wife Helen. His fourteen year old daughter Erin
00:06:10
often ran out the front door to welcome him home,
give him a hug and enquire about his day. His wife
00:06:18
Penny met him at the door each night with a smile
and a kiss. Terry Caffey was living his dream.
00:06:28
Terry met Penny in 1989 at a church service.
They went on their first date a week later and
00:06:36
in eight months, the two were married. Terry and
Penny wanted nothing more than to start a family.
00:06:43
Their wish was fulfilled in July 1991, when
they welcomed daughter Erin into the world.
00:06:50
In June 1994, the family of three expanded with
the birth of son Matthew. Five years later in
00:06:59
April 1999, another son Tyler came along.
Deeply religious, the Caffey family were
00:07:07
described by Alba locals as Good Christians
who embodied the “All American Family.”
00:07:15
Prior to the birth of his children, Terry had
spent time working with youth in his church
00:07:21
when he felt a higher calling from
God. He began studying to become a minister with his goal to become a pastor
or evangelist and spread the word of God.
00:07:33
Penny, on the other hand, devoted her
time to playing in the church gospel band.
00:07:39
A gifted pianist who played every day, Penny also
performed at other area churches and recorded
00:07:46
albums with family friend Tommy Gaston. When she
wasn’t practicing piano, doing household chores
00:07:54
or homeschooling the children, Penny volunteered
her time delivering meals to the sick and elderly.
00:08:02
The three Caffey children were
vastly different from one another. The youngest child Tyler was a shy boy with an
adventurous streak. He loved nothing more than
00:08:13
jumping into the pond on the Caffey property, much
to the concern of his careful mother. Middle child
00:08:20
Matthew was affectionately known as Bubba due to
his size and stature. Although large, Matthew was
00:08:28
a kind and gentle boy who loved playing the
harmonica and guitar as well as journaling.
00:08:35
Oldest sibling Erin inherited her mother’s
long blonde hair and sparkling eyes. At four
00:08:42
foot eleven, Erin made her presence known
with her loud but angelic voice that echoed
00:08:48
around the church walls. According
to the Texas Monthly, Erin's pastor joked that if he had five Erin Caffey’s he would
fill his church on Sundays. Boys followed the
00:09:01
teen wherever she went and attended Miracle Faith
Baptist Church just to see her. Her father Terry
00:09:09
would lovingly tell her that her voice was so
beautiful he wanted her to sing at his funeral.
00:09:21
The Caffey family finished 2007 excited for the
future. In April 2008, Terry was due to finish his
00:09:30
studies and fulfill his dream of being ordained
in the ministry. The children were doing well
00:09:36
in their studies. Now sixteen year old Erin had
attended a youth camp where she was voted “Most
00:09:44
likely to succeed” and “Most fun loving person.”
Then Charlie Wilkinson entered the picture.
00:09:54
18 year old Charlie entered the
Sonic fast food restaurant in Emory. He noticed Erin Caffey working as a waitress and
was immediately attracted to her. She had just
00:10:06
started working there part time to gain some
independence and earn a small amount of money.
00:10:13
Charlie caught her eye also and the pair
began to talk. Charlie began dropping by
00:10:20
on Erin’s work breaks to see her. A few weeks
later, he worked up the courage to ask her out.
00:10:28
Erin, whom friends described as naive and
sheltered, happily gave Charlie her number.
00:10:35
They soon began dating. Erin had casually
dated before but this was her first serious
00:10:43
relationship. Erin and Charlie’s relationship
started with long phone calls to one another.
00:10:51
Then Charlie would come to the Caffey home
after school. He draped himself across their
00:10:58
furniture and made a nuisance of himself when
the Caffey’s were doing household chores.
00:11:04
From the book, “Terror by Night,” his constant
presence in the house irritated Terry. He found
00:11:11
Charlie to be disrespectful and a know it all.
He swore around Terry’s children and didn’t have
00:11:18
a job, although he did intend on joining
the Army when he finished his schooling.
00:11:24
Penny tried to reassure her husband that
Charlie seemed nice and was probably harmless,
00:11:30
however agreed that they should keep
a close eye on the young couple. In mid-January 2008, Erin came to her parents
with a request. She asked if she could transfer
00:11:45
from homeschooling to a high school so she could
be with other peers her own age and make friends.
00:11:52
Terry and Penny agreed, hoping that the
move would distance her from Charlie who seemed to spend all his spare time with
Erin. She enrolled in Rains High School.
00:12:05
Terry and Penny were dismayed to learn that
Charlie also attended the school as a senior.
00:12:13
Erin and Charlie stopped socialising with other
students and became inseparable at school,
00:12:19
sometimes going to Erin’s old Chevy pickup
truck to fool around over the lunch break.
00:12:27
Charlie also began attending the
Miracle Faith Baptist Church with Erin. The pair were always seen holding
hands throughout the services.
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Parishioners commented to Terry and Penny that
their daughter had a bad case of “puppy love.”
00:12:44
Terry was concerned. Charlie’s friends also
noticed how much his relationship with Erin
00:12:51
had changed him. He talked about her non
stop, gushing about his love for her. Erin couldn’t understand why her parents didn’t
approve of their relationship. Charlie was known
00:13:06
to be a bit of a hot head but was generally well
behaved. He didn’t cause any trouble at school,
00:13:13
aside from the odd occasion where he was
asked to remove his cowboy hat for class.
00:13:22
One day in January 2008, Charlie and Erin went
out for an early dinner. As mentioned in the
00:13:29
Texas Monthly, on the way home, Charlie pulled
over his run down Ford Explorer and asked Erin
00:13:36
to hop out of the car. On a deserted road
he bent down on one knee and presented Erin
00:13:43
with an expensive and intricate ring. Once
his grandmother’s engagement ring, Charlie
00:13:50
offered the ring to Erin as a sign of their
friendship and his promise to always be hers.
00:13:57
It wasn’t a formal proposal but by giving her
the ring, Charlie made it clear that he wanted to
00:14:04
propose when the time was right. Erin accepted and
later spent the night at church proudly showing
00:14:12
the ring to her friends in the congregation. Terry
found out about the ring from a fellow parishioner
00:14:19
and was furious with Charlie, confronting
him about it after church. Charlie agreed
00:14:26
to go to the Caffey home the following night.
Terry wanted to lay down some ground rules.
00:14:34
Terry, Penny, Charlie and Erin
sat around the dining table. Both teens listened intently as Terry told
Charlie that he was no longer permitted to come
00:14:46
around to see Erin every night. Instead, he could
visit one night a week and had to leave by 9pm.
00:14:55
Given that the pair saw each
other every weekday at school, Erin’s parents saw this as a fair and reasonable
request. Although not thrilled with the decision,
00:15:07
the young couple agreed. For a while things
at the Caffey home went back to normal.
00:15:16
Charlie continued to see Erin at church,
the pair even singing solo parts one night.
00:15:23
However, Terry and Penny noticed a difference
in their daughter. She seemed withdrawn and
00:15:30
the happy-go-lucky, friendly Erin began
snapping back at them in conversations.
00:15:36
She lost interest in her appearance,
leaving the house without doing her hair and
00:15:41
makeup - completely out of character. When Charlie
visited, he regarded the Caffey family coolly.
00:15:50
There was tension in the Caffey
household when he was around. On February 27 2008, Penny Caffey
sat nervously at the public library.
00:16:06
The Caffey family did not have a computer at home so relied on public or family members’ computers
every time they needed to access the internet.
00:16:15
Penny searched for Charlie Wilkinson’s
MySpace page and what she saw horrified her.
00:16:23
She called Terry in tears, explaining that
her sister had told her that Erin had been
00:16:29
on Charlie’s MySpace at her house and
forgotten to log out of her account. According to “Terror By Night,” Terry dropped
what he was doing to join his wife at the library.
00:16:43
The two read posts on Charlie’s page including
one comment telling Charlie to bring his “b***h
00:16:50
of a girlfriend over for the weekend
so they could get drunk and have sex.” Terry and Penny confronted Erin about the
MySpace page later that night. She bowed
00:17:03
her head and stared at the floor as Terry told
Erin she was not allowed to see Charlie again.
00:17:10
Deeply concerned, he told Erin that when she
was 18 she was free to make her own decisions
00:17:16
but in the meantime, he was looking out for
her and doing what he thought was right.
00:17:23
Erin burst into tears but her response
surprised him. She told her father, “I’ve wanted to break up with Charlie for a
while, but I just don’t know how to do it.”
00:17:38
Erin broke it off with Charlie later that night
after a church service. At the behest of her
00:17:44
father, Erin chose a public place where she
would be safe in case Charlie lost his temper.
00:17:52
Parishioners watched on as
Charlie slammed his car door and sped out of the church
car park, tyres squealing.
00:18:05
On Friday February 29, two days after
Erin had called things off with Charlie, Terry drove down the gravelled road
to home. From “Terror By Night,”
00:18:17
it was pitch black and Terry was exhausted
from working a fourteen and a half hour day.
00:18:24
He reheated some dinner and his sons, Matthew and
Tyler, giggled as Terry accidentally spilled some
00:18:30
on the floor and fell in it. Terry cleaned up
the mess and tickled the boys as they wrestled.
00:18:38
Erin, who had been happy and content since the
break up, joined in and a pillow fight ensued.
00:18:46
Afterwards, Terry kissed all his
children goodnight and went to bed. --- At around 5am the next morning, Terry’s neighbour,
Tommy Gaston, awoke to a strange banging coming
00:19:01
from the front door. It started as a soft thud
but became louder and more insistent as Tommy
00:19:09
rose to investigate. Aside from what Tommy and
his wife Helen assumed was an early morning storm,
00:19:17
with thunder rolling in the distance, the
two had slept peacefully through the night.
00:19:24
Tommy opened his front door. Lying on
the ground of the porch was Terry Caffey,
00:19:30
who had used his forearm to bang on the door.
Although it was a freezing cold night, Terry
00:19:38
was only wearing a t-shirt, pajama pants, and
one wet sock. He was covered in blood and dirt,
00:19:46
so much so that it was impossible to
tell where the bleeding was coming from. Spluttering, he told Tommy that he and his
family had been shot at and the house set alight.
00:19:59
He was the only one to make it out alive.
Tommy and Helen assisted Terry and called 911.
00:20:09
Once inside, the warmth of the home brought
Terry to his senses and the pain from his
00:20:15
injuries kicked in. Paramedics arrived and
as Terry was loaded into the ambulance,
00:20:22
he was met with Detective Richard Almon
from the Rains County Sheriff’s Department.
00:20:28
He gasped to the detective, “I
don’t think I’m going to make it.” Meanwhile, firefighters arrived at the Caffey
house and were confronted by a blaze that had
00:20:41
engulfed the entire building. Once they
had contained the fire, investigators combed through the ashes and rubble. They
soon located who they believed to be Penny,
00:20:55
Erin, Matthew and Tyler and sent their
bones away for examination. The family dog,
00:21:03
Max could not be coaxed from the area,
instead standing sentry to the property.
00:21:11
-- Members of the Miracle Faith Baptist Church
wept for the Caffey family during the sermon
00:21:17
that Sunday morning of March 2. The family’s
longtime Pastor, Todd McGahee, struggled to
00:21:24
maintain his composure. He affectionately
remembered the Caffeys who were like family
00:21:31
to those in the congregation. Quote, “I don’t
even think I would have crawled out of the house.
00:21:39
But god had a purpose for Terry’s life. God has
a reason. God gave him the strength to get out.”
00:21:49
The parishioners mourned the
loss of the Caffey family, but there was also a lingering question in
their minds. What had gone on that night?
00:22:03
Terry Caffey was admitted to the East
Texas Medical Centre intensive care unit.
00:22:09
He had been shot five times, but none of the
bullets had penetrated major organs. Several
00:22:16
of the wounds had clear entry and exit points
and two bullets were lodged in his right arm.
00:22:23
The most severe injury was from a bullet that
entered Terry’s right cheek, passing through
00:22:29
his sinus cavities before exiting out his left
ear canal. Drifting in and out of consciousness
00:22:37
due to shock and painkillers, surgeons waited
until Terry was stable enough to undergo surgery.
00:22:45
When safe to do so, Terry successfully underwent
surgery to remove the bullets lodged in his upper
00:22:52
body. He regained consciousness and
became more lucid the following day. Terry’s miraculous survival enabled police to
understand what exactly had taken place at the
00:23:08
Caffey home on Friday February 29. That night,
each family member retired to bed one by one.
00:23:18
The house was in total darkness when Terry was
roused from his deep sleep by Max, who was barking
00:23:25
at the front of the house. He glanced at his alarm
clock. It was just past midnight. Assuming Max was
00:23:35
hunting a wild animal that had strayed into the
yard, Terry rolled over and went back to sleep.
00:23:42
A few hours later, a loud noise jolted
Terry wide awake. It was the sound of the bedroom door knob hitting the dryer
that was located just behind the door.
00:23:56
Terry initially thought son Tyler had suffered a
nightmare and was coming in to sleep in their bed.
00:24:03
He sat up to reassure him when
the sound of gunfire rang out. Penny screamed. A black silhouette of a
man appeared in their bedroom doorway,
00:24:16
highlighted by the kitchen night light beyond. Terry could not recognise his features but
did see the gun he held pointed at Penny.
00:24:27
He reached out his arm to shield his wife from
the gunfire and was struck five times. The final
00:24:35
shot hit Terry in the face and he was thrown
into the space between the bed and the wall.
00:24:42
He lay motionless, face down on the floor as
the gunman approached. He felt someone kick
00:24:49
his feet to see if he was dead. Terry squeezed
his eyes shut and kept as still as he could.
00:25:00
The gunman made his way out of the bedroom and
into the lounge. He was not alone. The intruders
00:25:08
began rummaging through the Caffey’s belongings,
taking all the jewellery and cash they could find.
00:25:15
They overturned furniture and pulled items
from the top of the piano. One slammed his
00:25:21
fists on the piano keys. Then they stopped.
They could hear screaming coming from upstairs.
00:25:30
--- Terry woke to the taste of blood and gunpowder
and realised he had momentarily passed out.
00:25:38
He couldn’t feel the right side of his
body but knew he had to get up. Using all
00:25:45
the strength he could muster, Terry lifted
his body with his left arm up onto the bed.
00:25:52
Penny lay slumped over at the head of the
bed in a large pool of blood. His thoughts
00:25:59
immediately turned to Matthew, Tyler, and Erin.
Terry could hear screaming and then a further
00:26:06
round of gunshots coming from upstairs. The
house became silent and Terry passed out again.
00:26:17
The smell of smoke roused Terry once more. Blood
ran into his eyes, making it difficult to see.
00:26:26
He tried to make it to the stairs leading to the
top floor where his children were located. But by
00:26:33
this stage a fire had well and truly taken hold,
and the flames made it impossible to progress.
00:26:41
Realising he would never make it upstairs from
the inside of the house, Terry escaped through
00:26:47
the bathroom window that joined his bedroom. The
injured Terry fell five feet to the ground below
00:26:55
and took cover behind the property’s propane tank.
He knew he had to reach his three children. Moving
00:27:04
to the front of the house, he tried to find an
entry point but the house was engulfed in flames.
00:27:15
Terry felt weak and lightheaded. He crawled into
the dense forest at the rear of his house and
00:27:21
waited for emergency services to respond, certain
that someone would have noticed the blaze from the
00:27:28
road or the deafening explosions that rocked
the early morning air. As minutes ticked by,
00:27:36
Terry realised that nobody was coming. Their
house was so remote, that even their closest
00:27:44
neighbours mistook the sounds for distant
thunder. Terry didn’t care if he died as well,
00:27:51
he wanted to be reunited with his family in
heaven. But he had one more mission to complete.
00:28:00
He knew who was responsible for
the attack and had to tell someone. Terry began the long trek to his neighbour Tommy’s
house four hundred yards away. Unable to walk for
00:28:14
any longer than a few yards at a time, he
began crawling through the dense forest,
00:28:20
leaving a trail of blood behind him. Every so
often he had to rest, laying his head on logs
00:28:28
while he mustered the strength to continue on.
Terry fell into an ice cold creek and struggled
00:28:35
to crawl up the bank to get out. Still, he
continued, eventually making it to Tommy’s porch.
00:28:46
Detective Almon rode in the ambulance
that escorted Terry to the hospital. He quickly asked Terry questions in case
he were to suddenly lose consciousness
00:28:56
or pass away. With much difficulty, Terry
recounted a critical moment in the attack - he
00:29:04
heard screaming coming from the upper level of
his home as he lay motionless beside the bed.
00:29:11
The voices weren’t from the attackers
but were from his son Matthew screaming, “Charlie, why are you doing this? No,
Charlie, No.” It then went silent.
00:29:34
Detectives theorised that Charlie Wilkinson
had killed the Caffey family in retaliation
00:29:40
for Erin breaking up with him. Chief
Deputy Sheriff Kurt Fischer already knew where Charlie was staying. Being a small
town where everyone knew one another,
00:29:53
he had seen Charlie’s car parked outside
his friend Charles Waid’s trailer that morning. He returned to the blue trailer with
Deputy Sheriff Ed Ewig and knocked on the door.
00:30:08
Charles Waid’s brother answered. He
was unsure if Charlie Wilkinson had spent the night in his trailer but let
the sheriff’s in to have a look around.
00:30:20
The trailer was in disarray, with
clothes and beer cans strewn about. Deputy Sheriff Fischer came across Charles Waid
and his girlfriend Bobbi Johnson sleeping in one
00:30:33
room. According to the Texas Monthly, he
continued down the hallway of the trailer
00:30:39
when he came across a room with a blanket
hanging on the door. Pulling it aside,
00:30:45
he shone his flashlight into the room and
found Charlie Wilkinson lying awake on his bed.
00:30:52
He was wearing blue jeans with no shirt. A
semiautomatic handgun lay on the floor beside him.
00:31:02
Deputy Sheriff Fischer handcuffed
Charlie to take him in for questioning. He denied being anywhere near the Caffey property
the night before, explaining he had gotten drunk
00:31:15
and passed out in the trailer. Deputy Sheriff
Emig went back into the trailer to retrieve some
00:31:22
clothes for him to put on. When he picked up his
cowboy boots, they were covered in blood spatter.
00:31:32
While holding Charlie at the county jail
for questioning, Deputy Sheriff Fischer
00:31:37
obtained a search warrant and went back to the
trailer. In the living room, he found a purse.
00:31:44
The drivers licence inside belonged to Erin
Caffey. He returned to the bedroom Charlie
00:31:51
Wilkinson had been sleeping in and began searching
for more evidence to tie him to the attack.
00:31:58
He picked up a long sleeved button up shirt
from the floor and a used condom fell out.
00:32:06
Fischer moved a blanket that was lying
on the floor near the closet. As he did,
00:32:12
he saw a wave of long blonde hair. Thinking
it was a wig, he pulled it aside. He got a
00:32:20
shock when he realised it wasn’t a wig at all. The
hair was attached to a person. It was Erin Caffey.
00:32:36
Fischer studied Erin as she opened
her eyes and scanned the trailer. He brought her into the loungeroom, still dressed
in the pajamas she was wearing the night before.
00:32:48
Erin was dazed and confused. Fischer asked Erin how she got to the trailer.
She looked around her and asked, “Where am I?”
00:33:01
She groggily explained how she had been kidnapped
and drugged. The last thing she recalled was two
00:33:08
men entering her room in the middle of the night.
She smelled smoke and knew the house was on fire.
00:33:16
The two men were brandishing swords and ordered
Erin to get out of her bed and lay face down on
00:33:22
the floor. That was the last thing she remembered
before being roused by Deputy Sheriff Fischer.
00:33:33
Erin’s pupils were dilated and she appeared to
be suffering from shock so Fischer organised for
00:33:39
her to be transferred to hospital for assessment.
She recalled further details of the night before.
00:33:48
She had tried to call Charlie after the fire but
had been unable to reach him. She also recalled
00:33:55
drinking something at the trailer but then passing
out. In a frightened voice, Erin whispered,
00:34:04
“They’re coming to get me.” Meanwhile, Terry’s
sister Mary visited Terry in the ICU to tell him
00:34:13
the fantastic news that Erin had been found alive
with only minimal injuries. Terry was overjoyed.
00:34:24
Charlie Wilkinson was questioned and he soon broke
down. He openly acknowledged his role in the fire
00:34:31
and the murders of Penny, Matthew and Tyler and
the attempted murder of Terry, telling detectives,
00:34:39
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Charlie Wilkinson’s version of events on the night
of the attack varied significantly to the details
00:41:51
provided by Erin. According to Charlie, the pair
had been plotting the night’s events for over a
00:41:58
month. They even had a code name for the plan
- “FUBAR” standing for “F***ed Up Beyond All
00:42:05
Recognition.” Together they planned to FUBAR
the Caffey family so they could be together.
00:42:14
Charlie offered his friends, 20 year old Charles
Waid and his girlfriend 18 year old Bobbi Johnson,
00:42:20
who attended the same high school as Charlie
and Erin, two thousand dollars for their help.
00:42:27
Erin explained that the cash was in a lock box that they would find inside the house. She
would help them open it after the attack.
00:42:37
On the night of the murders, Erin joined in
a pillow fight with her father and brothers.
00:42:43
As detailed in the documentary by journalist
and television personality Piers Morgan,
00:42:49
just before midnight, Charles Waid, Bobbi Johnson
and Charlie Wilkinson travelled to the Caffey
00:42:55
residence. The men tried to gain entrance to
the property while Bobbi stayed in the car,
00:43:02
but Max the black labrador spotted them and
became agitated, barking and scaring them off.
00:43:09
Erin moved Max to the back of the house and when
the coast was clear, they returned to pick her up.
00:43:17
Sitting in the car at a nearby cemetery,
Charlie, Erin, Charles and Bobbi discussed
00:43:23
the plan for just over an hour. At approximately
4am, they drove back to the Caffey residence
00:43:30
and parked on the main road. The girls
stayed in the back seat of Charles Waid’s car
00:43:37
as Charlie and Charles wandered down the gravelled
road and entered through the front door that Erin
00:43:43
had left unlocked for them. They made a beeline
for Terry and Penny’s bedroom. Charlie shot Terry
00:43:51
five times and turned the gun on Penny. He
fired a few shots but the pistol then jammed.
00:43:59
Charlie had bought another weapon with him in
case of emergency - a long samurai type sword
00:44:06
that he used to cut Penny’s throat as she sat in
bed. Confident that Erin’s parents were dead, the
00:44:14
pair ransacked the lounge area and made their way
upstairs to the boys’ rooms. Charles Waid led the
00:44:22
way. He found thirteen year old Matthew first who
pleaded with Charlie to stop what he was doing.
00:44:31
Charlie told detectives, “They were scared,
and I could not stand to look at their faces.”
00:44:39
Matthew tried to kick Charlie in self-defence. In
response, Charles Waid shot him multiple times.
00:44:48
They found eight year old Tyler
hiding in the back of Erin’s closet. Charles and Charlie then stabbed Tyler to
death. The pair then used lighters to set
00:45:01
furniture in the house on fire and made a hasty
getaway out the front door. On the way, Charlie
00:45:08
grabbed a travel bag that Erin had packed with
her belongings. They joined the girls in the car.
00:45:16
Charlie told detectives that Erin smiled at him
and said, “I’m glad that’s over.” Charles Waid
00:45:24
drove them back to his brother’s trailer. Inside,
Charlie and Erin had sex and then went to sleep.
00:45:35
Charles Waid and Bobbi Johnson were quickly
apprehended. They confessed to their involvement
00:45:41
in the murders and their stories closely matched
the version of events given by Charlie Wilkinson.
00:45:48
Charles Waid added that as they drove away from
the Caffey house, Erin exclaimed, “Holy s**t! That
00:45:56
was awesome!” Bobbi told detectives that on the
night of the attack, Charlie Wilkinson repeatedly
00:46:04
asked Erin to run away with him instead,
asking “Are you sure you want to do this?”
00:46:11
Erin replied, “Why are you asking me
this? If you love me, you’ll do it.” As her alleged accomplices were being
questioned, Erin Caffey was assessed in hospital.
00:46:25
She stuck to her original story that
she had been kidnapped and drugged. According to the documentary, “Killer Women
with Piers Morgan,” Detective Richard Almon
00:46:36
spoke to one of the officers waiting with Erin.
He ordered a toxicology screen to check the
00:46:43
presence of any drugs in her system that might
have been used to sedate or incapacitate her.
00:46:49
He also asked the officer to smell the clothes
that Erin had been wearing when apprehended. Had
00:46:56
she been in the house at the time of the fire as
she maintained, he reasoned that her clothes would
00:47:02
smell heavily of smoke. The officer soon reported
back - the tox screen was clear of any drugs.
00:47:12
As for her clothes, they smelled of nothing.
She showed no signs of smoke inhalation either.
00:47:22
Erin was discharged from hospital as the
interrogations continued with Charlie, Charles
00:47:28
and Bobbi. Erin left with Penny’s mother Virginia,
who was still dealing with the shock of losing her
00:47:36
daughter and grandsons. Their destination was
to the East Texas Medical Centre to visit Terry.
00:47:44
As a likely suspect in a murder investigation,
their car was tailed by police. Nearing the
00:47:52
hospital, Virginia’s car was pulled over. Erin
Caffey was arrested and charged on three counts
00:48:00
of capital murder after Charlie, Charles and Bobbi
signed statements implicating her in the attack.
00:48:09
Erin was held at a juvenile detention centre
on a one and a half million dollar bond.
00:48:16
The other three teens were charged with the
same counts and held at the Rains County Jail.
00:48:27
As he recovered in hospital, Terry Caffey noticed
the staff around the ward acting strangely.
00:48:34
Nurses spoke to him without making eye contact
and others tried to avoid him altogether. As
00:48:42
soon as he thought about it, the pain medication
would kick back in and he’d drift off to sleep.
00:48:49
On Monday March 3, Terry pleaded with
his sister to tell him what was wrong. She eventually conceded, telling Terry
that Erin had been arrested and why.
00:49:04
Deputy Sheriff Kurt Fischer visited
Terry in hospital to tell him the news. Terry asked how his daughter was, explaining
that no one would tell him a whole lot and he
00:49:15
wasn’t allowed to watch the news. Deputy Sheriff
Fischer reassured Terry that she was doing fine.
00:49:24
Terry then said he doesn’t want to know a
whole lot of details but asked what her level
00:49:30
of involvement was. The Deputy Sheriff paused
before responding , “Her involvement is great.”
00:49:42
Terry sobbed as Fischer explained that Erin was believed to be the mastermind
behind the attack on his family.
00:49:51
Rains High School was also feeling
the emotional impact of the crime, with word quickly spreading that three of
their fellow students had been arrested.
00:50:02
Of particular shock was the alleged
involvement of Bobbi Johnson, the friendly teen who was well known for
her involvement in the school theatre.
00:50:12
As reported in the Associated Press, the Rains
school Superintendent said, “These were students
00:50:20
who had not been in trouble a great deal.
Maybe some tardies and absences but that’s it.”
00:50:30
State Prosecutor Lisa Tanner continued
to gather evidence to prove the extent of Erin’s involvement in the murders. Phone
records revealed that Erin had called Charlie’s
00:50:43
cell phone repeatedly in a short burst
in the early hours of Saturday morning. This corresponded with Charlie’s version of
events that after Erin restrained Max for
00:50:54
them she then called Charlie many times, asking
where they were and when they were coming back.
00:51:02
Erin was at a loss to explain the records,
given that she maintained she was in bed asleep.
00:51:10
Additionally, both Charles Waid and Bobbi Johnson
admitted that Erin was the one responsible for
00:51:16
the murders. From the book “Terror By Night,”
by Terry Caffey, Erin had spoken to them for a
00:51:24
month about the killings, saying she wanted her
parents dead because she was so angry at them
00:51:30
for not condoning her relationship with Charlie.
As for her siblings, she told the pair that she
00:51:37
wanted Matthew killed because he would talk and
Tyler killed because she just didn’t like him.
00:51:46
Charlie, Charles and Bobbi all maintained that
they had tried to talk Erin out of the murders
00:51:52
in the lead up, suggesting that she run away
with Charlie instead. But Erin insisted she
00:51:58
wanted them dead. She told them that her
parents repeatedly punched and slapped her.
00:52:05
However, all teens admitted they had never seen
any markings on Erin to prove her allegations.
00:52:14
The most startling revelation
came from Michael Washburn, an ex-boyfriend Erin had been seeing very
casually prior to meeting Charlie. Erin
00:52:24
had also called this relationship
off at the behest of her parents who didn’t approve. When questioned by detectives,
Michael said Erin had confided in him that she was
00:52:37
going to hire someone to go to her house and
kill her parents. Erin told him it was because
00:52:44
every time she got a boyfriend that she really
liked her mum and dad tried to break them up.
00:52:53
In a decision that stunned many people, Terry
chose to visit Erin. As soon as he was well
00:53:00
enough, he drove the forty minute journey from
where he was residing at his sister’s house
00:53:06
to the detention centre where she was being held. Separated by a thick piece of plexiglass,
the father and daughter saw each other
00:53:16
for the first time since the attack. Terry was
concerned by Erin’s appearance, she looked pale
00:53:23
and exhausted. He asked if she was being
looked after to which Erin responded yes.
00:53:32
Forbidden to talk about the
case before it went to trial, the two made small talk and tearily reminisced
about old times. When nobody could overhear,
00:53:43
Erin told Terry she had tried to stop the attack
but it had gotten out of hand. Terry believed her.
00:53:54
From “Trial By Fire,” Terry wrote
the following entry in his journal: “I never thought that I would lose my
entire family in one night and be all alone
00:54:06
at the age of 41. Erin is all that I have left
and I will stand by her side no matter what.
00:54:15
I know she needs me, and I need her. I believe God
saved my life that night for a reason, and one of
00:54:23
those reasons is to be here for her. I couldn’t
imagine her going through this without anyone,
00:54:31
so I stand by her side and pray every day.
There are a lot of questions that I have about
00:54:38
that night, and some of those questions
may never be answered in this lifetime.
00:54:44
One thing that I do believe is that Erin loved her
family and wouldn’t want us dead. I believe they
00:54:52
came that night and things went bad very fast,
and she had no control in it. So I keep trusting
00:55:00
God to see us through, and that in the end he
will get the victory and that his will be done.”
00:55:12
The callousness of the attack
stunned State Prosecutor Lisa Tanner. On “Killer Women with Piers Morgan,”
she discussed how horrified she was
00:55:22
that the four of them sat together
for over an hour prior to the murders and not one of them brought up that perhaps they
shouldn’t follow through. She was flummoxed that
00:55:33
they thought they would get away with it and
there would be no repercussions for their actions.
00:55:40
The prosecution sought the death penalty for both
Charlie Wilkinson and Charles Waid. Because Erin
00:55:46
was a minor, she escaped a possible death
penalty. Still, the prosecution wanted Erin
00:55:53
tried as an adult. This meant that she could
still face a maximum sentence of life without
00:55:59
the possibility of parole. Terry Caffey was for
the death penalty for both Charles and Charlie,
00:56:07
looking Lisa Tanner dead in the eyes and saying,
“Charlie ate at my table.” As for Erin, Terry
00:56:17
hoped she would be tried as a minor instead of an
adult as he did not want her in an adult prison.
00:56:26
In the juvenile detention centre, Erin met
with Israel Lewis, an experienced mental health
00:56:32
counselor hired to evaluate her for the defense.
She told Lewis that she had been framed by Charlie
00:56:40
who had a volatile temper. With tears
in her eyes, she told Lewis many times, “I’m innocent, God will save me.”
00:56:51
As Lewis became familiar with the intricacies of
the crime, he realised he had been played by Erin.
00:56:59
He told the Texas Monthly, “I have worked
with some good liars, but Erin [Caffey]
00:57:06
was one of the best. She seemed totally sincere
and genuine and I would have put my license
00:57:13
on the line to say that she was telling me the
truth. I cried every time I left her jail cell.”
00:57:24
Father’s Day in June 2008 marked
three months since the murders. It was an extremely difficult
time of year for Terry Caffey.
00:57:35
On that day, he received a letter
from his only living child. It read: Dear Daddy,
Let me start by saying Happy Father’s Day.
00:57:48
I hope you get this before then, but I don’t
need a date to tell you that you have been an
00:57:53
awesome Dad. You have done a great job, and not
for one second do I think different. None of this
00:58:00
was your fault. If anything it was mine…
I feel like I don’t deserve your love and
00:58:08
that I let you and Mama down. But in this family
we stick together and I have always loved you,
00:58:15
Mama and the boys very, very much. I never wanted
any of this to happen. I was just going with what
00:58:23
he was telling me. He was feeding me all these
lies. I got caught up in him and I feel so guilty.
00:58:31
I’m glad that you’re here with me now.
If it wasn’t for you I don’t know what would have happened to me. I love you. Even
though this has happened, I still feel sad,
00:58:44
but at the same time glad that I’m free
from the pressure that was being put on me.
00:58:50
I miss Mama and the boys! But I know where they
are. I know they would be proud of you. I am too….
00:58:59
No matter what anyone says, you have been a
great dad and did a great job of raising me.
00:59:05
No matter where I go or who I’m around, I will
never forget where I came from. And I dream
00:59:12
one day of walking together in our property,
hand in hand. I do believe that will happen.
00:59:20
Anyway, I love you, and happy Father’s Day! Keep
the faith. God’s about to show us his mercy!
00:59:28
Love Erin Terry’s eyes filled with
tears as he read the letter. It reaffirmed his decision to
always be around for his daughter.
00:59:47
On June 26 2008 there was a very brief
certification hearing to determine whether Erin would be tried as an adult. The
District Attorney argued that Erin should stand
00:59:59
trial as an adult and was a danger to both
herself and the community. The judge agreed
01:00:06
and both Terry and Erin cried as she was led away
and transferred to Hopkins County Jail where,
01:00:13
due to her age, she was placed in
protective custody to await trial. In October that year, Terry Caffey had a change of
heart. He wrote a letter to the Attorney General’s
01:00:27
Office to request that the death penalty be
taken off the table for Charlie Wilkinson
01:00:32
and Charles Waid. Terry reasoned that
there had been enough deaths already and rather a life sentence without parole would
give them a chance to show remorse and repentance.
01:00:46
In meeting with Lisa Tanner the following day, Terry said to her, “When it comes time for them to
die, I want that to be in God’s hands, not mine.”
01:01:01
Three months later on January 2 2009, Bobbi
Johnson and Erin Caffey were sentenced for
01:01:08
their roles in the murders after both pleaded
guilty to three counts of capital murder.
01:01:15
As an accomplice to murder
who did not use a weapon, Bobbi accepted a plea deal in exchange for a
trial and received a forty year sentence with
01:01:25
the possibility of parole in twenty. Prosecutor
Lisa Tanner requested that Erin serve three life
01:01:34
sentences with an additional 50 years, meaning
she would never see the world outside of a prison.
01:01:42
After some negotiation with Terry, Erin
signed a plea bargain for a sentence of
01:01:48
two life sentences and an additional 25
years with the possibility of parole. Four days later, Charlie Wilkinson and
Charles Waid faced sentencing. Both teens
01:02:03
also avoided a trial because they had already
pleaded guilty. A trial would have only been
01:02:10
conducted to ascertain whether they were to
receive the death penalty or life imprisonment.
01:02:16
Because the death penalty had been taken off
the table, it rendered a trial unnecessary.
01:02:23
Before the formal sentencing, Terry met
with both Charlie and Charles separately.
01:02:30
Charles Waid expressed remorse for what he
had done, saying he only agreed to the plan
01:02:36
because he needed the money promised to him
by Erin and Charlie to pay for court fees.
01:02:42
He was trying to gain custody of his children. As
mentioned in “Trial By Night,” Terry Caffey asked
01:02:50
him, “So you were willing to kill children to get
children? Where’s the logic in that?” Charles Waid
01:03:01
shook his head and said, “I really don’t know.
I can’t answer that. I have kids of my own.”
01:03:11
When Terry spoke with Charlie, he also
expressed remorse for his actions. His eyes welled with tears and he hung
his head, refusing to make eye contact.
01:03:24
He told Terry he did it out of love for Erin. In the courtroom, Terry read a victim impact
statement to Charlie and Charles. Excerpts read,
01:03:38
“At first I had so much anger, so much
bitterness towards you, but in time God has shown me what it means to forgive.
So I want to say to you today, I forgive you,
01:03:52
not so much for your sake, but for my own.
I refuse to grow into a bitter old man.
01:04:00
If I am going to heal and move on,
I must find forgiveness in my heart. That has been the hardest thing that I’ve ever
had to do, because you have taken so much away
01:04:11
from me. You took my wife of eighteen years,
whom I’ll never be able to see or talk to again.
01:04:19
You took my boys away from me. Matthew,
only thirteen years old. Tyler, only eight years old...Because of you,
I’ll never be able to see my boys grow up.
01:04:34
Then, after you took my family
away, you didn’t stop there. You burnt our house down, taking
from me all my family photos,
01:04:44
all the little special gifts and cards, all
the things that were so precious to me...But
01:04:51
in spite of your hatred and evil efforts, I’ll
carry on with all the wonderful memories that
01:04:56
will forever be ingrained in my heart. And that is
something you will never be able to take from me.”
01:05:06
Both Charlie Wilkinson and Charles Waid were sentenced to life imprisonment
without the possibility of parole.
01:05:22
In April 2009, Terry Caffey
became an ordained minister. He has spent countless hours telling his story
in churches, schools and prisons to encourage
01:05:34
people to make good choices and forgive others.
Following the murders, Terry found Max a new and
01:05:43
loving home, unable to care for his
family dog due to his state of health. Once a month, Terry makes the 6 hour round
trip from his new home to visit Erin at
01:05:55
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
women’s prison at Gatesville. Whilst Terry
01:06:02
believes that Erin must have had some degree of
participation in the murders, he doesn’t believe
01:06:07
that she was the ringleader nor that she wanted
her family dead. He told the Texas Monthly,
01:06:16
“I think she thought Charlie
was just blowing smoke. I don’t think she actually thought he would
go through with it. I know my daughter. She
01:06:25
cried one time when we were in my truck and
I ran over a squirrel; she’s tenderhearted.
01:06:32
No kid’s an angel, but I know what she is capable
of, and I know she’s not capable of murder.”
01:06:41
Erin also still denies being the mastermind
behind the attack, alleging that she wanted
01:06:47
to run away but the others forced her to stay
in the car while they carried out the murders.
01:06:54
She has even appeared on the Dr Phil
show via prison to defend herself. On “Killer Women with Piers Morgan,” Erin said she
is no longer in love with Charlie Wilkinson whom
01:07:07
she has not seen or spoken to since their arrest.
With good behaviour, Erin could be out on parole
01:07:15
at 59 years of age. Erin says the first thing
she will do when she gets out of prison is to go
01:07:23
to the gravesites of her mother Penny and
brothers Matthew and Tyler to pay her respects.
01:07:31
Charlie Wilkinson was incarcerated
in the Polunsky Unit in Livingstone. He questioned whether Erin ever loved him or
if he was just a pawn she could order about.
01:07:44
He told the Texas Monthly that “I would have done
anything for her. She was very smart, very caring.
01:07:52
I don’t know why she wanted it done, why it had
to be like that, but she was a very nice person.”
01:08:01
When asked if he still loved
Erin, Charlie responded, “Once you love somebody, you
can’t quit. You always will.”
01:08:13
In the aftermath of the murders, Terry
Caffey considered taking his life, unable to deal with the despair of losing his
family. He desperately searched for a sign from
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God for any kind of guidance to help him move
forward. Six weeks after the attack, he found it.
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Terry stood amongst the rubble where his house
used to be. Bulldozers had cleared most of the
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debris and levelled out the block. Out of the
corner of his eye, he spotted a piece of paper
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that had blown against the trunk of a nearby pine
tree. The paper, burnt black around the edges,
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had survived the fire and the subsequent clearing
of the land. It was from a book owned by his wife.
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The first few lines of the page were of one of
the book’s characters talking to God. It read,
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“I couldn’t understand why You would
take my family and leave me to struggle along without them. And I guess I still
totally don’t understand that part of it.
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But I do believe that You’re
sovereign, You’re in control.”