Erin Caffey planned the murder of her entire family with the use of multiple weapons, but now looks back on the ordeal with regret
A woman who planned the murder of everyone in her family spoke out about her actions, and what she said to her father after he survived.
Erin Caffey of Texas, US, spoke out about the planned crimes that she committed in 2008, which saw her manipulate her boyfriend to help her carry out heinous acts on her parents and siblings.
Formerly a church pianist, Caffey was just 16 when she planned to wipe her entire family out after she was told that she couldn’t see her 18-year-old boyfriend at the time, Charlie Wilkinson.
And with the help of his friend, Charles Waid, 20, they almost fully succeeded.
Speaking to Piers Morgan in 2016 as part of his ITV documentary series Killer Women, where the British journalist speaks to convicted female serial killers, Caffey admitted that she couldn’t believe that she once wanted to kill her entire family.
Her actions resulted in the deaths of her mother and two brothers, though the attempted murder of her father was unsuccessful.
Caffey waited in a car outside her family home with a friend, while Wilkinson and Waid entered the family home and repeatedly shot those inside, also using a samurai sword to stab Caffey’s mother, Penny, and her brothers – eight-year-old Tyler and 13-year-old Matthew.
Her father, Terry, was shot several times but managed to get himself out of the house before it was burned to the ground by the two perpetrators.
Erin Caffey orchestrated the murder of her mother and two brothers, as well as her father who was able to survive. (ITV)
All four teenagers were arrested soon after, with the other three all blaming Caffey for coming up with the idea, being accused of being angry at her parents after they forbade her from seeing Wilkinson.
These accusations were solidified when another ex-partner, Michael Washurn, also said that Caffey told him that she wanted her family dead.
But eight years on, in 2016, Caffey said this was all a result of ‘bad choices’, giving viewers an insight into her motivations behind the mass murder.
“I was shocked, angry and hurt, this was the guy (Wilkinson) I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with and he loved me – we were going to get married,” she told Morgan.
Labelling the idea as ‘stupid’ now, she admitted: “I mean, for what? They weren’t beating me, they weren’t starving me to death. I had it made.”
Morgan then asked Caffey how she reacted when he looked her in the eye and asked her if she was involved in the actions for the first time.
Caffey, 24 at the time of filming, said that he told her that he loved her, before asking about her involvement.
“When I saw him there, I was like, ‘no, no, no, no, no’, and I started screaming and he just said ‘don’t talk about it’.”
She also said that it ‘hit her hard’ when she saw his arm in a sling for the first time as it ‘made it real’, by Morgan’s words.
Caffey has since expressed remorse over her actions. (Public Domain)
Caffey is currently serving a sentence behind bars of at least 40 years, with Waid and Wilkinson serving life.
Though they all escaped the death penalty at the request of Caffey’s father.
Terry previously explained: “I wanted them to have the chance to find remorse.”
And despite the atrocities that his daughter committed, Terry said that he still regularly visits his daughter in prison.
“I honestly believe she was not the mastermind,” he said. “This was a vulnerable 16-year-old girl with a controlling, psychopathic guy.
“I do forgive her. I have to forgive her.”
Source: https://www.ladbible.com/news/true-crime/channel-4-fall-skydive-murder-plot-victoria-cilliers-682329-20240611