Erin Caffey, 16, and Charlie Wilkinson, 18, were knee-deep in their romance. The teens were simply consumed with each other. Unfortunately, being young and “in love”didn’t work in their favor. Rather, it was the beginning of the end for them both—and Erin’s family.
Erin was under the watchful eye of her conservative Christian parents, who monitored when and where Erin and Charlie saw each other, and for how long. If Erin broke one of their rules, like her weeknight phone curfew, she’d have consequences, which often involved reducing time spent with Charlie. Intended to ensure her relationship didn’t overtake her life or become too serious for a girl her age, the restrictions only made Erin and Charlie pine for each other more. They spoke of running away together when Erin turned 17. Charlie suggested getting Erin pregnant, so the Caffey’s would have to fully accept him and their relationship.
When Erin’s parents demanded she end the relationship out of concern for Charlie’s intentions and character, the couple made the inequivocally evil decision to hurt those who loved Erin the most, by taking their lives. This case is widely known as being featured on shows including “Killer Women with Piers Morgan”, now available on Netflix, and Dr. Phil.
A Wholesome Life Destroyed
Erin Michelle Caffey, 16, was the eldest child and only daughter of Penny, 38, and Terry Caffey, 41. The couple also shared two younger children: Matthew, 13, known as “Bubba,” and Tyler, 8. The family lived in Alba, Texas, a rural town of less than 500 residents, seated halfway between Sulphur Springs and Tyler. Their home was a secluded two-story cabin nestled in the woods on 20 acres of land, and seated at the end of a long and narrow gravel road.
Penny was a stay-at-home mom and Terry worked as a home health aid and lay preacher; a member of the church who is not ordained and does not hold a formal degree in theology, but is permitted by their church to lead services. The Caffeys were members of Miracle Faith Baptist Church in Emory, Texas, where Terry and Penny were youth ministers. The family attended Bible study on Wednesdays and church on Sundays and devoted time to rehearsing gospels together. Penny played piano and Bubba played the harmonica, while Erin sang in the choir and often performed solo. On occasion, Erin became so moved from the Bible verses she sang, that she’d break into tears and pause mid-song.
Faith was paramount to the Caffeys, partly because it brought Penny and Terry together. The couple met at a revival meeting in Garland, Texas, when Penny was 21 and Terry was 24. Above their driveway hung a plank which read: “The Caffeys—Joshua 24:15.” The verse is as follows: “If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve . . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Penny began homeschooling the children in 2005, after moving from Celeste to Alba—an hour’s distance—and intentionally taught them a Bible-based curriculum. There were a few reasons that informed her decision to homeschool, one of them being Erin’s attention deficit disorder (ADD) diagnosis. Now known as inattentive attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the condition is characterized by impulsive behaviors, hyperactivity, poor memory and focus, and organizational difficulties.
The other reason was because, when enrolled at Rains Junior High for a month, Erin was approached by a female student who expressed romantic interest and kissed her in the hallway. The incident proved so concerning to her conservative parents that they removed Erin and their other children from the public school system. As someone who enjoyed socializing, homeschooling isolated Erin, confining her to home and church, where she was almost always under supervision. In 2008, the children were re-enrolled into public school, with Erin attending Rains High School six weeks prior to the murders.
Erin Meets Charlie
In 2007, Erin, who stood at just 4’11”, made a few steps toward gaining independence. She earned her driver’s license and got a job working at Sonic, a fast-food chain restaurant. Her father bought her an old Chevy pickup truck to drive to and from work.
Erin worked as a carhop, delivering to-go orders to customers’ vehicles. She was the only carhop who wore roller skates for each shift and thus quickly became well-recognized amongst locals. One of Erin’s coworkers described her as being so sheltered, the experience was akin to her “seeing the world for the first time.”
Male attention wasn’t new to Erin. She had many admirers at church, some of whom even credited Erin with deepening their faith. The least reserved of the Caffey children, Erin sought and thrived on attention. However, the perception about her was split: some young men secretly admired her while others thought her painfully naive. When men flirted with Erin at work, she simply blushed and smiled.
During one shift, Erin skated over to the 1991 Ford Explorer of 18-year-old country boy, Charlie Wilkinson. Immediate chemistry sparked between them. Charlie began visiting Erin at Sonic and around Halloween of 2007, he asked her to be his girlfriend.
Erin’s parents weren’t crazy about Charlie, a legal adult, being involved with their daughter, but they were supportive within parameters. The Caffey’s allowed Charlie over their home, so long as the couple remained in view and he left by 9 pm. Charlie became a frequent dinner guest at the Caffey residence. When Charlie left, they’d talk on the phone until Erin’s phone curfew of 10 pm on weekdays or 11 pm on weekends.
Outside of the familial home, Charlie tried to prove his dedication by attending church at Miracle Faith Baptist Church. He fell fast and hard for Erin and often described her as “his soulmate to anyone who’d listen.
The Boy Who Fell Under Her Spell
Charlie Wilkinson was, by all accounts, a simple man from humble beginnings. He had blue eyes and sandy hair, and typically wore his signature Wrangler jeans, and black cowboy boots and hat. He didn’t have a lot of money, but he had some plans. When Charlie met Erin, he recently returned home from boot camp at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with the National Guard Texas unit. After graduating high school the following year, he planned to go on active duty.
Charlie lived with his father, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister and half-sister. He loved the outdoors, especially fishing and four-wheeling, and was skilled at hunting. Though some described him as “hot-headed,” he didn’t have a record of serious disciplinary issues at school.
Young Love or Infatuation?
Once Erin returned to public school in December 2007, she and Charlie became inseparable. They held hands in the hallways and snuck off to Erin’s truck to have “alone time” whenever possible. The Caffey’s also allowed them to go on occasional dates—though while Terry and Penny believed their daughter dined out with her boyfriend, the couple was at a friend’s house, fooling around. Sometime that month, Erin and Charlie had sex for the first time, less than two months after their relationship officially began.
After their sexual relationship progressed, Charles proposed to Erin with his grandmother’s engagement ring symbolizing a promise ring. Penny demanded her daughter return it, believing it too mature of a decision for their 16-year-old daughter. Also outraged, Terry approached Charlie as he was playing basketball outside the church fellowship hall, describing the proposal as inappropriate. From then on, the couple’s out-of-school interactions were limited to once a week and supervised.
Erin was livid about her parents reducing time with Charlie. She felt they were controlling and unfair, and began talking with Charlie about running away together when she turned 17. Arguments between Erin and her mother escalated, and on at least one occasion, Erin claimed that Penny slapped her.
Charlie’s visits temporarily came to a full stop in early February 2008, when Penny caught Erin talking on the phone with him after her 10 pm phone curfew. In addition to suspending the visits, she confiscated Erin’s cell phone and car keys, and drove her to and from school for a time. Erin’s freedom was reduced to nothing and her time with Charlie was now restricted to school. Her parents wanted Erin to push the brakes on her relationship and return focus to her studies and faith.
Terry was never enthusiastic about Charlie dating his daughter, noticing behaviors he felt were disrespectful. On one occasion, Terry returned home from work to find Charlie sitting in his armchair with his legs hanging over one side. Charlie did not stand up or shake Terry’s hand. He often told Penny, “If he can’t show me any respect, how does he treat our daughter?”
With hardly any time to themselves and the desire to be together, a pivotal shift took place in Charlie and Erin’s conversations. Talk about killing Terry and Penny began. By accounts, Erin started the dialogue and kept it up constantly. She also told Charlie her parents were physically abusing her. Desperately “in love,” Charlie wanted to protect Erin—at all costs.
Nonetheless, though Charlie was willing to do anything to be her, he didn’t want to kill her parents. Rather, he told a friend he only wished to run away with her. He told this friend he wished he could impregnate Erin so her family would have to accept him. Erin was against the idea, claiming she was too young to have a baby.
Charlie didn’t know that Erin had these conversations with others before him. He thought she was intensely motivated by their “love” for one another, but that wasn’t so. He wasn’t the first boyfriend Erin enlisted to harm her family. Her ex-boyfriend, Michael Washburn, later came forward to state that Erin tried convincing him to kill them, to which he refused and ended their relationship.
As the situation escalated, Penny and Terry reached their final straw with the couple’s relationship. On February 27, 2008, Penny went to the local library to search Charlie’s MySpace profile at the suggestion of her sister. On Charlie’s MySpace, where he referred to himself as “hillbilly,” Penny found references to sex with multiple people and drinking. Later that day, she and Terry forbid Erin from seeing Charlie and demanded that she end their relationship. Erin surprisingly complied, saying that she wanted to end it for awhile. However, behind the scenes, she and Charlie put their murderous plan into action.
The Night That Changed Everything
After midnight on Saturday, March 1, 2008, Erin left the door to her home unlocked as she entered a vehicle with Bobbi Johnson, 18. Charlie Wilkinson and Charles Waid, 20, entered the home. Charles was a hunting buddy of Charlie’s, and Bobbi was his girlfriend and the owner of the vehicle they drove.
It was approximately 3 am when Penny and Terry awoke to the sounds of their bedroom door smacking into the dryer in their laundry room, which sat next to their bedroom. Penny was shot, stabbed with a samarai sword and nearly decapitated. Terry was shot five times: twice in his back and near his right shoulder, and once in his head.
Bubba and Tyler ran into Erin’s room to hide. Charlie busted into the room and Bubba kicked him repeatedly in attempts to defend himself. Charles heard the commotion upstairs and shot Bubba in the face. Prior to being shot, Terry recalled his son screaming, “Charlie! Charlie, why are you doing this? No! Charlie! No, please!” Tyler hid in his bedroom closet but was found and repeatedly stabbed with the samarai sword by both men.
To conceal their crimes, Charlie and Charles set the home ablaze before escaping to a nearby mobile home owned by Charles’s brother, Matthew Waid. Nothing would remain of the home but its foundation.
Terry managed to survive the shooting and crawled 500 yards—the length of four football fields—to the home of his neighbor, Tommy Gaston. The plight took him over an hour, during which he fell into a creek and nearly drowned. He wasn’t dressed for the weather, donning only his pajamas and a single sock, but he made it. Officer Charles Dickerson was the only officer on duty when the 9-1-1 call was made around 4:30 am. When Officer Dickerson arrived, Terry promptly informed him, “Charlie Wilkinson shot my family.”
Arrests Made
With direction from Sheriff’s Investigator Richard Almon, Chief Deputy Kurt Fischer and Sheriff’s Deputy Ed Emig, Charlie, Charles, Bobbi and Erin were located and arrested that same day. Everyone knew everyone in a small town like Alba. Chief Deputy Fischer knew Charlie, who was friends with his son. On the drive to the Gaston’s, he noticed Charlie’s vehicle parked outside Matthew Waid’s blue single-wide trailer.
Acting quickly on the information Terey provided, police went to the trailer. Stepping over piles of clothes and empty beer cans, police found Matthew Waid and his girlfriend sleeping inside, who directed them to a room down the hall. Charlie laid on a bed with his shirt off. The room was dark. Towels covered the windows, preventing light from seeping in, and the room lacked any lighting. A semiautomatic handgun rested on the floor, as did spent shell casings and a used condom. His cowboy boots were splattered with blood.
Chief Deputy Fischer arrested Charlie, read him his Miranda rights and questioned his involvement in the Caffey family massacre. Charlie claimed innocence: he passed out from drinking alcohol and was home that evening, he said. He was transported to the county jail for further questioning.
Erin is Found
With Charlie detained, Chief Deputy Fischer obtained a search warrant of Matthew Waid’s trailer. In the trailer, he located a camouflage purse containing Erin’s driver’s license, shell casings, a box of ammunition and a used condom. Then, he lifted a blanket from the floor, which revealed his most shocking find: a nest of blonde hair belonging to Erin. She laid in the fetal position. When asked how she got there, she said she didn’t know and questioned her whereabouts. She whispered to officers, “They’re coming after me.”
Chief Deputy Fischer suspected Erin was under the influence of drugs because of her disconnected disposition and responses. She was transported to Hopkins Country Memorial Hospital in Sulphur Springs where she underwent a medical assessment and was interviewed by Chief of Police Shanna Sanders. Initially, investigators believed Erin was kidnapped. She claimed to recall two men dressed in black with swords and a house full of smoke. She also claimed to be 14 years old, and said she remembered trying to call Charlie, a friend, but was unable to reach him. She said she was unaware of how she reached the Waid trailer and that once there, she drank an unknown substance and blacked out.
However, one clear fact remained: Erin didn’t smell like smoke.
Erin’s maternal grandmother, Virginia Daily, came to the hospital to inform Erin that Terry was alive and receiving treatment at the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. After five hours at the hospital, Erin was released. However, as her grandparents drove her to see her father, the escorting officers were instructed to detain Erin. She was implicated in her family’s murders.
Erin’s toxicology results turned up negative, indicating the absence of any drugs that could cause memory loss. Her phone records showed that she called Charlie six times from 11:46 pm on February 29, 2008 until 12:48 am on March 1, 2008, and again seven times from 1:22 am to 1:58 am. She called repeatedly to ask Charlie where they were, and if they were still coming to carry out the deed.
Charlie is Questioned—and the Truth is Exposed
While investigators assumed Erin was innocent, Charlie was being interrogated by Detective Almon and Texas Ranger John Vance at the sheriff’s office in Emory. He confessed to everything, as did Charles and Bobbi. Erin was the only perpetrator involved who concocted a story.
Charlie told investigators Erin was deeply angered by her parents’ demands to end their relationship. For the umpteenth time, she said she wanted them to die and asked Charlie to kill them. He insisted they run away instead, but she refused. She wanted the plan in action. So, at 1:30 am, Charlie and Charles drove to the Caffey residence with Bobbi, Charles driving Bobbi’s silver Dodge Neon. Spooked by the Caffey’s barking black Labrador, Charlie, Charles and Bobbi left only to return soon later. Erin took care of the dog, she said.
Charles needed fast cash and Charlie agreed to pay him $2,000 if he helped kill them. The $2,000 was in a lockbox in the home, according to Erin, and was the exact anount Charles needed for court proceedings. He was in the process of divorcing his spouse and was in a child custody battle over his 5-month-old child. Bobbi allegedly didn’t know what the men planned to do.
The group met Erin at the end of the driveway, where she hopped in the vehicle. The four of them drove around for an hour, stopping periodically at a nearby cemetery to discuss their plan; an ironic move considering what was to happen. Charlie continued insisting that Erin run away, but she was adamant about their plan. It was decided: Charlie would kill her parents and Charles would kill her brothers.
Erin and Bobbi remained in the vehicle as Charlie and Charles entered the unlocked front door, carrying two samari swords and a .22-caliber pistol. They entered Penny and Terry’s bedroom first and subsequently went to Erin’s room, where her brothers hid. After the men believed all four people were dead, Charlie retrieved a suitcase that Erin packed previously. When he put the suitcase in the vehicle, Erin smiled. Charlie and Charles then went to collect the lockbox, which contained just $375. Before leaving, the men set furniture, clothing and bedsheets ablaze using their lighters. Then, they drove off, with Erin shouting,“Holy shit, that was awesome!”
Charles, who was driving, dropped off Erin and Charlie at the trailer owned by his brother. Once inside, he and Erin had sex.
Legal Proceedings
Because of the heinous nature of the crimes, Erin was tried in court as an adult. On January 2, 2009, she accepted a plea deal in exchange for two life sentences. She will be eligible for parole in 2038 at the age of 59.
Charlie Wilkinson and Charles Waid also accepted plea deals to avoid the death penalty. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Charlie has since expressed remorse for the crimes.
Bobbi Johnson was identified as an accomplice and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment. She will be eligible for parole in 2028.
Where Is Terry Caffey Now?
Not long after the murders, Terry announced his public forgiveness of his daughter and the other perpetrators. Nonetheless, he struggled with thoughts of suicide. The first time he returned to the remains of his home, he looked upward and pleaded, “God, why didn’t you take me? Why did you take my family? I need an answer now! Not next week, not next month—now!” At that moment, he saw a piece of paper stuck to a tree that read, “You’re sovereign; You’re in control.” He believed it to be a sign from God, which motivated him to refute the death penalty for the perpetrators, stating their deaths wouldn’t bring back his family, and that Jesus would have “spared them.”
To help his healing, Terry purchased a used RV and parked it where his house once stood. He remained there for about four months, sleeping with a loaded gun on his chest. He also drove to Greenville, Texas, where Erin was detained as a minor, to visit her twice a week. After her sentencing, he’d drive three hours once a month to visit Erin at the Hilltop Unit in Gatesville, Texas.
Crediting his faith for helping him rebuild his life, Terry went on to become an ordained minister. He has since shared his story at more than 800 churches and 600 public schools. Seven months after the murders, Terry married Sonja Webb, a home health care aid he met at work. Unfortunately, his second marriage ended in divorce, with Terry citing that he moved on too quickly. He ultimately married again a few years later, and had a child with his current wife, Karen.
Sources
- Texas Monthly — Flesh and blood: Why did a small-town girl have her family brutally murdered?
- Wikipedia — Caffey family murders
- “Dr. Phil” — Erin Caffey describes how the plan to kill her parents started
- “Killer Women with Piers Morgan” — She killed her parents at 16 | The Erin Caffey interview | Piers Morgan
- Murderpedia — Erin Caffey
- 10 to Life — UNREAL: She thought she found her Prince Charming: What happened next is chilling | Erin Caffey case
- Moms & Mysteries — Erin Caffey: The Girl Who Murdered Her Family For “Love”
- Women & Crime — Erin Caffe
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