Posted 3:43 pm Monday, March 03, 2008
UPDATE: Suspects Planned Family Murders for a Month
Editor's Note: The female dispatcher that is heard on the 911 tape is not a member of the Rains County Sheriff's Office, according to Jamie McAllister, Rains County Sheriff's Office communications supervisor. The dispatcher is an employee of Champion EMS the ambulance service for Mother Francis Hospital out of Tyler. Protocol for the dispatchers at this agency is to transfer medical calls received to the EMS service. The incident in question was originally reported to the Sheriff's Office as a medical incident.
By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer
EMORY – Interviews conducted by sheriff authorities with the four suspects charged with the gruesome triple slaying in Alba reveal a cold-blooded killing plan led by the 16-year-old Caffey daughter and her boyfriend, Charles James Wilkinson, 19, of Emory, who were convinced her parents must die for them to be together.
Staff Writer
EMORY – Interviews conducted by sheriff authorities with the four suspects charged with the gruesome triple slaying in Alba reveal a cold-blooded killing plan led by the 16-year-old Caffey daughter and her boyfriend, Charles James Wilkinson, 19, of Emory, who were convinced her parents must die for them to be together.
"Discussion to kill (the girl's) parents had been ongoing for about a month," a copy of the complaint read. "Wilkinson stated that he and Erin were in love and the only way they could be together is to kill the parents."
On Friday, Terry and Penny Caffey told their daughter she could not date Wilkinson anymore and took away her cell phone, the report said.
Friends Bobbi Gale Johnson, 18, and Charles Allen Waid, 20, were also dating, the report said. All four willingly discussed "several times" how and when to murder the girls' parents.
On Friday night, Wilkinson, Waid and Johnson picked up Caffey at the end of her driveway and parked down the road to discuss "how to do the job," the report said.
The females were left in the car, as the two young men entered the Caffey house. Wilkinson found Terry and Penny Caffey asleep in their bed and fired several shots with a .22 semi-automatic handgun at Penny, "but it did not kill her," the report said.
The gun was handed to Waid, who re-entered the master bedroom and shot at both Terry and Penny Caffey.
Wilkinson told 13-year-old Matthew Caffey and 8-year-old Tyler Caffey to go back upstairs to their beds, the report said. Waid followed them to their bedroom and shot Matthew Caffey in the head and neck and stabbed the 8-year-old boy with a "sword." Wilkinson also stabbed Tyler Caffey.
Wilkinson and Waid took cash and jewelry which they loaded into Johnson's car, the report said. They then used pocket lighters to set fire by igniting "bedspreads, laundry, food items and furniture," the report said.
The four left the house, drove around for awhile, and Wilkinson and Caffey were dropped off at the Waid house, where they had sex and slept, the report said. They were taken into custody at the home, where Wilkinson was found asleep on a mattress with two guns near him. The girl was found sleeping, in the fetal position, under a pile of clothes and stuffed animals, the report said.
All four were charged with three counts of capital murder by Rains County Sheriff's officials. The girl is detained at the juvenile detention center in Greenville and the other three are being held at Rains County jail.
911 Tape
Terry Caffey, the 41-year-old father whose wife and sons were killed in a pre-dawn slaying on Saturday, was conscious and “bloody all over,” according to a 911 tape released by the Rains County Sheriff’s Department on Monday morning.
When a 911 operator asked neighbor Tommy Gaston when Caffey had been shot, he answered, “Just a little bit ago, and we’ve also got a house on fire out here.”
Family members of Terry Caffey are no longer permitting updates about his medical condition to be released from East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, hospital spokeswoman Rebecca Berkeley said on Monday.
Justice of the Peace Don Smith said the 16-year-old gave him a written statement about the events that took place Saturday morning.
When Smith talked with the Caffey’s daughter on Saturday afternoon, he said she “didn’t seem frightened,” and seemed only “somewhat” distraught.
“She was able to communicate with me all right,” he said.
She is not being held on bond because she is a juvenile, he said. Her grandmother was with her on Saturday when she was given her rights by Smith.
The 16-year-old was allegedly forbidden to date Charlie James Wilkinson, 19, of Emory, by her parents. Wilkinson, the daughter, her friend Bobbi Gale Johnson, 18, of Point, and her alleged boyfriend Charles Allen Waid, 20, of Emory, were arrested in the stabbing and shooting deaths of Penny, Mathew and Tyler Caffey, and charged with three counts of capital murder each.
Authorities arrived at 4:30 a.m. to the dusty County Road 2370 in Alba to find Terry Caffey suffering five gunshot wounds to the head, chest and shoulders under the care of a neighbor and the Caffey house engulfed in flames with the bodies of Penny, Mathew and Tyler Caffey inside.
Medical examiners in Dallas found that Penny and Mathew Caffey were stabbed and shot, and Tyler was stabbed, before their bodies were burned in the fire.
Authorities have obtained a small-caliber gun and knife they believe were used in the maiming of Terry Caffey and killing of his wife and sons, Sheriff David Traylor said on Sunday.
Wilkinson, Johnson and the 16-year-old Caffey daughter were Rains High School students. Classmates said Wilkinson and the 16-year-old were infatuated with each other, and had been dating since the 16-year-old enrolled in Rains High School in January, where before she was home schooled with her brothers.
A devoted, churchgoer, Terry Caffey was about to be ordained as a Baptist minister and had preached a few sermons at Miracle Faith Baptist, said church member Diane Dunlap. Penny Caffey was the church’s pianist.
Updated Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 5:57 p.m. CST
Updated Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 5:57 p.m. CST
