The Unsettling story of 16-year-old Erin Caffey

The fate of the Caffey family took a sad turn when Terry Caffey told his daughter, 16-year-old Erin Caffey, to stop seeing her boyfriend, Wilkinson, after she broke her "phone curfew" in February 2008. She sought her payback by conspiring with her boyfriend to have her family murdered.

In the Sonic fast food restaurant, where Erin was a part-time server, she first met Wilkinson. The relationship developed so quickly, and Wilkinson publicly declared his intention to marry her by presenting her with a ring that belonged to his grandmother.

"There were just things about Wilkinson that didn't sit well with me," said Terry Caffey. When he looked up Wilkinson online and discovered that his Myspace page contained stuff regarding sexual references and talk about drinking alcohol, he realized that his conscience had been correct all along. 

Terry Caffey took advantage of Erin's breaking the phone curfew in February 2008 to break up their unhealthy relationship by stopping her from seeing her boyfriend. From there, Erin began saying to her friends that she was going to kill her parents. That, in her opinion, was the only way she could be with Wilkinson.

The Caffey’s

The Caffey family was deeply active in their community's church.

Their engagement in one or more church activities was motivated by their love of music. Tyler, age 8, played the guitar; Matthew, age 13, played the harmonica; and Erin's mother played the piano. Erin was a vocalist until she met Wilkinson, who most effectively had a negative effect on her and caused her to start slipping in school.

The Crime

On March 1, 2008, early in the morning, Wilkinson arrived in front of Caffey’s residence. He was accompanied by two friends: 20-year-old Charles Allen Waid and Waid's 18-year-old girlfriend, Bobbi Gale Johnson.

In her pajamas, Erin Caffey left the house quickly to meet the group, and she immediately joined them in the car. The noise, according to Terry, woke him up at 2 AM.

Wilkinson and Waid broke into the house, went into Terry and Penny's room, and started firing, shooting many times at Terry. They attacked Penny with gunfire and a samurai sword stab wound to the neck that nearly severed her head.

In order to kill Tyler and Matthew, the two went upstairs. While Matthew was being repeatedly stabbed as the two took turns stabbing him, Tyler was shot in the face. Terry claimed that he had his son shout, "Charlie, why are you doing this?" and it was then he realized who was in his home and why they were there.

Due to Wilkinson's promise to pay Waid $2000 for his assistance, the two robbed the house of its valuables. The house was set on fire by Wilkinson and Waid, but Terry escaped through the window after regaining consciousness and crawling for almost two hours to his neighbor Tommy Gastons' home.

Tommy Gaston called 911, where the operator asked Terry where he was bleeding from, and he responded, "Where am I not bleeding from?" Caffey Terry was taken to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler and admitted to the critical care unit.

The Punishment

Three hours later, authorities took Wilkinson, Waid, and Johnson. Erin was found hiding in a trailer. Wilkinson allegedly admitted to the police that he had recommended they flee together, but Erin insisted on killing them. The same account was provided by Waid and his girlfriend, Johnson.

Wilkinson and Waid were both given a life sentence without the possibility of release in October 2008. Johnson and Erin Caffey both admitted to murder three months later. Erin received two consecutive life sentences plus 25 years, while Johnson received two concurrent terms of 40 years each.

Terry appealed for the death penalty against Wilkinson and Waid to be dropped after he had forgiven them. He pardoned his daughter because he believed she was not involved in the murder's preparation, as she claimed.