Shock and horror has gripped a small Texas town this weekend Alba Texas sits just 60 miles northeast of Dallas. A town of 430 it had been 18 years since the last murder. A couple of incidents of deer poaching each year had summed up the local crime. Emory is a farming community of 1,500. The Caffey's home sat on 20 acres of woodland located in between the two towns. “Last night I was sleeping like a baby, didn't know what was happening across town, my door was unlocked,” Alba resident Gary Bohannan said.
Harold Read, who lives about a mile from the home, said he was awakened by what he thought was thunder around 4 a.m. Saturday. At that time an emergency call was placed by Tommy and Helen Gaston. Terry Caffey was shot 4 times and left a bloody wake as he dragged himself over 300 yards to the Gaston's for help. His wife Penny (37) and oldest son Matthew (13) had been shot and stabbed and his youngest son Tyler (8) had been stabbed. His daughter, Erin (16) was found hiding in another suspect's mobile home after allegedly participating in the grisly attack on her family. “They were wonderful people,” Kay Smith, the Gaston's' daughter, said “My parents sort of took them in like their children. The Caffey's called them, "Mom and Pop." Her parents are still shaken by the tragedy that exploded on their family friends next door.
By the time police reached the home it had been mostly burned down along with the family van. Emory volunteer firefighters arrived at about 4:20 a.m. to find “a crazy scene,” Terry Caffey's medical supply van carrying oxygen tanks caught fire and exploded in the driveway just after they arrived. Penny, Matthew and Tyler were found dead in the ashes. Helen Gaston rode in the ambulance with Terry to the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. He said to her “Don't leave me Mom.” Terry was reported Sunday evening in stable but critical condition and was going into surgery to have the five bullets removed including two in his head and two in his back. The bodies of Penny Caffey and her two sons were sent to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for autopsies. Rains County Sheriff David Traylor said investigators haven't been able to determine whether the fire or gunshots caused their deaths because "the bodies have been so badly burned." “It's terrible, that someone could wipe out that family like that.” said firefighter Johnny Spikes.
Carl Johnson (75), a family friend, drove to the site early Saturday. It seemed all that remained on the 20 acre property was the family's black Labrador retriever and a plaque nailed to a tree that read. The Caffey's Jer 24:15 (“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”) "I just thought the whole world of the family," said Johnson, "They were good Christian people. [The father] was like a son of my own." "It was just like losing one of my kids when I found out about it, Erin, Bubba, Tyler, I knew everyone of them since they were just kids."
Penny was a Meals On Wheels driver, delivering meals to the Emory community. She was known for her cooking. Terry was about to be ordained as a Baptist minister. Family friends Jeanie and Diane Dunlap say Penny was also a piano player at Miracle Faith Baptist Church. The Dunlap's last saw the Caffey's at the Wednesday night service. Jeanie says on Saturday Penny would have been busy cooking something to bring to church on Sunday. The kids were also involved. Matthew and Tyler played guitar and harmonica and Carl Johnson often told Erin that he wanted her soft voice to sing at his funeral. Pastor Todd McGahee told his congregation "God has a purpose for Terry's life. God has a reason. God gave him the strength to get out."
Johnson said Terry and Penny told Erin that she was to break up with her boyfriend, Charlie as they did not like him and believed that the relationship was not good for her. Investigators believe that the girl was angry and wanted to kill her family for not accepting the relationship. Along with the teenager, and her boyfriend, two friends from Emory were involved. Erin took part in stabbing, shooting and burning her family to death. All four suspects face 3 charges of capitol murder and are each being held on a $1.5 million dollar bond. The two men, Charlie James Wilkinson, 19, and Charles Allen Waid, 20 and one woman Bobbi Gale Johnson, 18, are being held at the Rains County jail. The Caffy's daughter Erin is being held at Hunt County's juvenile detention center in Greenville.
