Published: January 01, 2009 05:00 pm      

Hearing set Friday in Rains County triple homicide

Two of the defendants charged with capital murder in connection with a triple homicide in Rains County are due back in court Friday.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled at 1 p.m. Friday for Erin Caffey and Bobbi Gale Johnson before 8th Judicial State District Judge Robert Newsom. Both of the defendants are accused of being involved in the murders of Caffey’s mother and two brothers, as well as the shooting of her father who survived the attack, was being delayed for one month.

Caffey’s trial had been scheduled to begin next Monday Jan. 5, although the jury selection process was recently reset for Feb. 2 and the start of testimony for Feb. 9. The trial location was also moved from Rains County to Hopkins County.

No trial date has been announced for Johnson.

Newsom’s court has jurisdiction in Rains, Hopkins, Franklin, and Delta Counties.

Two other defendants in the case, Charles Allen Waid and Charlie James Wilkinson entered guilty pleas Nov. 7 and are facing an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. No formal sentencing date has been set for the two. Waid and Wilkinson have also agreed to testify against Caffey and Johnson.

Neither Caffey nor Johnson are facing the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. Caffey was 16 at the time of the killings and later certified to stand trial as an adult and Johnson was charged as an accomplice in the case who did not use a weapon.

The murders occurred early on the morning of March 1, 2008 after the parents attempted to come between Erin Caffey and Wilkinson, her boyfriend. According to the complaints filed in the case, Wilkinson said he and the daughter had been dating and the girl’s parents decided the pair could no longer see each other. He said the daughter told him she wanted her parents dead because of the decision and because they had taken away her cell phone.

Penny and Terry Caffey were both shot, along with 13-year-old Matthew Caffey, while 8-year-old Tyler Caffey was stabbed with a sword before the residence was set on fire and burned to the ground.