Erin Caffey was a fifteen year old girl from Texas when she would plot the murders of her entire family
According to court documents Erin Caffey was dating Charlie Wilkinson and her family was not happy about the relationship and asked her to end it
Unfortunately instead of ending the relationship Erin Caffey along with Charlie Wilkinson, Charles Waid and Bobbi Johnson would plan to murder her entire family
On the night of the murder Erin Caffey would leave a door unlocked and Charlie Wilkson and Charles Waid would enter the home and would shoot Erin father five times, her mother was nearly decapitated and shot, her one brother would be fatally shot and her other brother would be fatally stabbed. Erin father would be the only one to survive the horrible attack
Erin Caffey, Charlie Wilkinson and Charles Waid would be arrested and charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder
Charlie Wilkinson and Charles Waid were facing the death penalty however Erin father asked for the ultimate punishment to be taken off the table. Charlie and Charles would be sentenced to prison with no chance of parole
Fifteen year old Erin Caffey would be sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole
Erin Caffey Current Information
SID Number: 04889597
TDCJ Number: 01548417
Name: CAFFEY,ERIN MICHELLE
Race: W
Gender: F
Age: 34
Maximum Sentence Date: LIFE SENTENCE CUMULATIVE OFFENSES
Current Facility: HOBBY
Projected Release Date: NOT AVAILABLE
Parole Eligibility Date: 2038-03-01
Inmate Visitation Eligible: YES
Erin Caffey Case
16 year old Erin Caffey made her first appearance before a Rains County Judge Monday.
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. Erin Caffey’s father Terry was shot several times in the attack, but survived. Ironically, he was one of those in court asking for Erin to be allowed to come back home.
Before the judge issued a gag order, defense attorneys confirmed that Terry Caffey testified on his daughter’s behalf, asking that she be allowed to go home with him rather than staying in juvenile custody in Hunt County. Erin’s grandmother also testified for her, but neither testimony would sway the judge, who ordered Erin to continue to be held another 15 business days.
Another issue is still pending in the case – whether she will be tried as an adult. KLTV caught up with both the prosecution and the defense after the hearing.
“She’s facing a certification hearing. It’s not ready to go yet. The psychologist must evaluate her and her probation officer must work on her family report on her,” said William Howard McDowell, Erin’s defense attorney.
“We have received the initial case from the Rains County Sheriff’s Department, however the case is still under investigation there are additional things to be done,” said Rains County Attorney Robert Vititow.
As for the other defendants, they were all indicted Monday morning by a Rains County Grand Jury. Bobbi Gale Johnson, Charles Waid, and Charlie Wilkinson were each indicted for capital murder for the deaths of Penny, Matthew, and Tyler Caffey.
One of them also faces a new charge. Wilkinson, Erin’s boyfriend, was also indicted for attempted escape. According to the indictment he dug a hole in the wall of his cell at the Rains County Jail on March 25th.
Rains County has requested the assistance of the Attorney General’s office. They are already there, and Lisa Tanner, who specializes in capital murder cases, is there to help. They will be there for the entirety of all four trials.
Dad Wants Daughter In Triple Murder To Go Home
Erin Caffey News
On March 1, 2008, most of the deeply religious Caffey family, of Emory, Texas, was slaughtered in the dead of night with .22 caliber bullets and swords before their humble, cabin-style home was burned to the ground.
The patriarch, Terry Caffey, lived to tell what he heard that night, and the perpetrators shocked even seasoned investigators, according to “Killer Couples” on Oxygen.
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. 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.
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. 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.
Wilkinson was a somewhat rough-and-tumble, outdoors type, and when he first ran into Erin at her part-time job serving at Sonic, roller skates and all, sparks flew. In December that year, Erin asked her parents to return to public school and, after they agreed, she and Wilkinson became inseparable, according to Texas Monthly.
Wilkinson gave her a promise ring that belonged to his grandmother and told his friends they would marry, according to “Killer Couples.” Terry and Penny were fine with the relationship until Erin’s grades started to slip and they took a closer look at Wilkinson, not liking what they found on his Myspace page. Then, Erin broke her “phone curfew” and in February 2008, they put their foot down and told Erin that she needed to break up with Wilkinson.
Erin’s parents believed she appeared to have accepted their decision. 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. It was the only way they could be together, she seemed to believe.
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.
Sometime late in the night of Feb. 28, 2008, or early on March 1, Wilkinson and his friend, 22-year-old Charles Waid, stormed into the Caffey home while Erin and Waid’s girlfriend, Bobbi Johnson, waited outside in the car.
Wilkinson would later tell investigators that he warned Erin that he would have to kill her younger brothers in order to leave no witnesses.
“I don’t care… just do what you gotta do,” she allegedly said, according to “Killer Couples.”
Inside, Wilkinson fired away with a .22 pistol in Terry and Penny’s room. Terry took five bullets and watched his wife die. When the gun jammed, Waid broke out a samurai-style sword and finished Penny off with it, nearly severing her head, according to Texas Monthly.
The two then went upstairs and murdered young Tyler and Matthew. One was shot in the face and the second was killed with a sword, according to Texas Monthly.
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.
As his home burned around him, Terry awoke and made the unimaginable decision to crawl out a window for help. There was nothing he could do for his family at that point. He made an hour-long crawl to his nearest neighbor’s home to call for help and soon authorities were on their way.
After emergency surgery, Terry was stable enough to talk, and he told sheriff’s deputies that he was certain one of the attackers was Wilkinson. He recognized his voice, according to “Killer Couples.”
When authorities tracked down Wilkinson and brought him in for questioning, they also found Erin in the trailer where he was staying. She appeared to be in shock and claimed she had been kidnapped. Investigators were putting the case together quickly, however. Everyone knew everyone in Emory, so Waid and Johnson were also rounded up almost immediately.
Erin’s story fell apart while she was on her way to see her dad in a hospital in nearby Tyler, along with her grandparents and sheriff’s deputies. They received a call en route that Erin was now a suspect and cuffed her. Erin broke down in tears and assured her grandparents that she had nothing to do with the slaughter of her family, according to Texas Monthly.
Less than 24 hours after authorities responded, the Caffey home was a smoldering pile and all four suspects were in custody and talking.
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. Terry stepped in, however, still believing in the forgiveness his faith taught him, and asked prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table, according to “Killer Couples.”
All four eventually pleaded guilty. Wilkinson and Waid were given life without the possibility of parole; Johnson got 40 years. Erin was not sentenced to life without parole; she will be eligible after 25 years of her life sentence, according to “Killer Couples.”
Terry maintained a relationship with his daughter for years after the massacre. It wasn’t easy at first — in fact, he contemplated suicide briefly, according to Texas Monthly. However, he still visits Erin in prison in Greenville, according to ABC News.
Erin Caffey, Charlie Wilkinson Plot Family’s Murder, But Dad Forgives
