Emory murders: The healing journey
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 26, 2016
- Karen Caffey, left, holds Ryan Paul, 15 months, while Terry Caffey speaks in the background Aug. 6, 2015, at the family's home in Gilmer. Ryan Paul is named for the memory of Terry Caffey's first family, Matthew Ryan and Tyler Paul, who were 13- and 9-years-old respectively when they were killed March 1, 2008. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph
NOTE: This is the third of a three-day series of articles reflecting back on this 2008 incident.
EMORY – Outside Emory, there is a lonely path off County Road 2370 that doesn’t see much traffic, except for deer, lost motorists and people curious to glimpse the place where so many died.
Nature is slowly reclaiming the narrow roadway leading to a triple murder scene.
Tall, brittle grasses sway in the winter wind near the old home place; a scattering of wildflowers brightens the way in warmer weather.
Beneath it all, sits the charred remains of a house that was once a home.
The structure and family it sheltered disappeared almost eight years ago in a night marked by fire, tears and terror.
“You think about it all the time,” Rains County Sheriff David Traylor said. “I still get out of the office, make some rounds, and I still go through that area. I can see that night just like it was last night. … So many units, red lights, blue lights. We were trying to figure out what was going on. Fire was still raging.”
Only a few years earlier, the bumpy path beckoned visitors to a two-story farmhouse bustling with activities of life … youngsters roughhousing in the yard, a woman’s voice singing in the kitchen.
On certain days, when the wind was blowing just right, the aroma of fresh, homemade cookies seemed to drift for miles.
This idyllic scene was heaven on earth for pastor Terry Caffey, whose heart swelled with happiness every time he turned off the county road on his journey home.
His peace was shattered in the early morning hours of March 1, 2008, when two gunmen tried to murder his family for reasons that defy understanding.
Within minutes, people who lived and loved and laughed together, died together in the house they loved: Caffey’s beloved wife, Penny, and two sons, Matthew, 13, and Tyler, 8.
The intruders might have succeeded in killing him, too, but he escaped and helped pinpoint the killers.
His oldest child, Erin, 16, was accused of orchestrating the plot. She and boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson, 18; his hunting buddy, Charles Allen Waid, 20; and Waid’s girlfriend, Bobbi Johnson, 18, were convicted of the slayings. Wilkinson and Waid are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Ms. Johnson was sentenced to 40 years and is eligible for parole in 2028. Ms. Caffey was given two life sentences plus 25 years and must serve at least 40 years before she is eligible for parole.
Today, the haunting silence at the old Caffey place seems deafening.
“When you drive that part of the county, when you drive down that county road, it’s always there,” former Rains County Sheriff’s Investigator Richard Almon said. “It’s fresh. It will always be there. … You process it the best way you can.”
REFLECTION, REMORSE
The Tyler Morning Telegraph reached out to the four people convicted of the slayings to see if they would talk about their lives after the trials, but only Waid responded.
He turned down a face-to-face visit, preferring to address his role and future plans in writing.
He said he doesn’t like to speak publicly about the crimes, because it causes so much pain for innocent loved ones left behind.
“Our families had nothing to do with our decisions,” he said.
Waid said he hopes people back in Emory continue moving on with life and making the most of their opportunities.
He expressed regret over causing grief to so many. “I’m not proud of what I did or what I was part of, but no matter what we do, we can’t change the past and bring them back to life,” he wrote in an Aug. 27 letter from the Darrington Unit near Houston. “If we could, it would’ve already been done.”
He seems determined today to look forward instead of backward.
“I believe, now we have to learn from our mistakes and make the best of what we have left. In doing this, and making the best of what I have, the question I wonder the most is this … if everyone is focused on all the wrongs and failures of the past, how are we, as Americans or Christians, ever going to make something positive come out of the future?” Waid wrote. “Allow the dead to rest in peace.”
Caffey’s daughter, Erin – the accused plot mastermind – appeared on Dr. Phil in recent years, as did her father.
In her remarks to the celebrity psychologist, she did not immediately respond to questions about her role in the murders.
When pressed, she admitted telling her accomplices to carry out the slayings.
Erin said on the show she felt more scared than glad to learn her father survived.
Almon, who headed up the sheriff’s investigation, is among those who watched the show.
He is in the unique position of comparing her public and private remarks.
Years later, he believes the town needed to see Erin and the others stand trial.
“I can’t speak for everyone, but yes, I would have liked to have seen the system work the way it’s designed,” he said. “It would have given the community the opportunity to hear all the evidence and all the facts of the case.”
The lawman said he believes a trial might have given people a clearer picture of exactly what went on that night and a sense of closure.
As it stands, many have neither.
“I think people have moved on with their lives,” he said.
About the only mention comes from news media and Caffey, who has appeared on Dr. Phil, Katie and other television shows, Almon and others said.
The sheriff said cases such as the one surrounding the Caffey family come along only once in a career.
“It’s probably the biggest case I’ve been involved with in 29 years,” Traylor said.
But it may be the least discussed topic in town.
“I haven’t heard any resident of this community talk about it in about three or four years,” Traylor said. “I think a lot of it is that they didn’t know the Caffey family.”
They were relative newcomers to the area, having lived there only a few years.
Consequently, only a few people outside their own church knew of them, the sheriff said.
Also, the young people convicted of the murders still have family in the area.
But the prevailing reason for the silence may center on Caffey’s attempts to build his life so quickly after the deaths.
It seems people simply didn’t understand the motivation behind the book he wrote in the year after the murders, the speaking engagements and television appearances, he said.
“I think that upset people in the community more than anything,” Traylor said.
NEW OUTLOOK, NEW LIFE
Caffey said he chooses to forgive the four young people because the world is filled with sinners, and God shall be the judge of all deeds.
He’s slowly rebuilding his life, focusing on brighter days and a future filled with contentment.
Laughter is replacing sadness.
The hallway echoes with the sounds of tiny toddler footsteps.
Caffey is remarried and has a new baby son and three adopted children. It’s his second marriage since the murders; the first ended in divorce.
“I tried to move on too soon,” he said of why his marriage ended. “We were too different.”
The new, blended family lives in a tidy little ranch house on a quiet street in an established Gilmer neighborhood.
His wife, Karen, is happy to welcome guests into the home, pointing out do-it-yourself projects the family completed together.
“(We) are very gratified God put Terry in our lives,” she said, giving the squirming toddler a hug.
Elements of Caffey’s new normal are evident throughout the home: Supper bubbling on the stove, Sponge Bob cartoons playing on the den television, random Crayons and coloring books scattered about the floor.
But signs of his former life are always close at hand in this new place of refuge: photos of his deceased sons, a page from a charred book, framed and on display in the foyer.
There are also photos of Erin, grinning and lovely, in a standard issue prison jumpsuit.
Caffey said the earlier footage from the Dr. Phil show was edited to cast his daughter in a negative light and sensationalize the interview.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said of whether her appearance uncovered new information. “I forgive her.”
Caffey said he misses his family, but rarely visits the graves of his wife and sons.
It’s emotionally difficult and painful to spend time there.
He avoids the familiar county road leading to his old home and things that could trigger difficult memories.
Max, the family’s dog who tried to warn them of danger, was given to a new home shortly after the murders.
Caffey still pastors, but he does not profess to be anything but ordinary. He describes himself as an imperfect man living with the consequences of flawed choices … the suspects’ actions as well as his own.
“Forgiveness was a process,” he said. “It wasn’t fast … even though that is a part of my life, at home we’re normal. We don’t talk about the tragedy. It’s a part of my life, but I won’t let it consume my life.”
He ministers full-time, sharing the story of love, loss and hope to churches, schools and social institutions across the United States through his ministry, A Cross America.
“In the last six years, I’ve visited about 600 public schools and 800 churches,” he said. “I want people to see how choices can impact their lives.”
He tells audiences there is hope through God, and He is always with them, in good times and bad.
Caffey said it was difficult at first to speak publicly about the tragedy, but he soon realized talking about it helped him process it.
“If I suppress it, I know it would harbor anger and resentment and depression,” he said. “People who hear me say, ‘Wow, this is not what I expected. I’m encouraged.'”
He has been criticized for being so open about his experience and accepting donations as part of his ministry.
Every few months, he travels several hours to the Hilltop Unit in Gatesville to see his daughter, now 24.
Together, they are working to rebuild their relationship and restore some of the happiness that evil took away.
“I have a happy life,” he said. “People can say what they want. But until they walk in my shoes, they don’t know what they would do.”
TWITTER: @ TMT _ Jacque
-
eEdition
-
-
