Belen, New Mexico – The story of any son getting so angry at their father that he would shoot them in the back of the head is tragic enough but this story is compounded by the fact that Benjamin Hilburn was only 10 when he pulled the trigger. Benjamin would state in the 911 call that he was angry at his father, 42-year-old Bryon Hilburn. He would expand on that later, telling investigators he felt his father was too harsh with him and punished him too much. In August police say Benjamin shot his dad in the back of the head with a shotgun while his 6-year-old sister was in the room. Benjamin, now 11 years old, is in the custody of his mother and has been charged with first-degree murder. It is quite possible he is the youngest person to be charged with murder in New Mexico, a state that does not charge anyone under 14 as adults. Continue reading to hear the full 911 call as Benjamin desperately tries to get someone to the house to save his dad.

The reason why he is with his mother, and not in jail or a juvenile facility is because in New Mexico, you cannot detain anyone under the age of 12. Valencia County DA Lemuel Martinez has concerns that the boy may act out again on someone else, but CYFD spokesperson Romaine Serna says the boy is being closely monitored. “There are several people in the home on a weekly basis. A CYFD clinical social worker is providing services to the family as well as contract providers. So there are several visits during a week,” he said.

The boy’s attorney, Jeff Buckels, says it is preposterous that the boy would be capable of committing deliberate murder. “Murder in this state and everywhere else requires premeditation and requires some appreciation for what is going on,” said Buckels. “I think it is basically obvious to almost anyone that is asking too much of a 10-year-old.”

Back in September, his mother, Monica Albear, defended her son saying that he was being abused. “They’re basically trying to say he’s crazy and he’s not, he’s a very intelligent, he is very loving, he’s very caring. He worries about his mom a lot. I would like for people to quit voicing, putting mean things on the Internet, because it’s just not fair,” Albear said. “They don’t know who he is, they don’t know what he’s been through, they don’t know what my family has been through. And I think it’s wrong and I think my son deserves justice.”

Why would she leave Benjamin and his siblings in the custody of Bryon if she knew that there was abuse in the home. Some reports state that she has been absent from the children most of their life – but her claims of abuse are not unfounded. Children, Youth and Families Department reported its investigators checked out the the home at least seven times in the last several years but said they never found evidence of abuse. Of course the calls could be vindictive in nature, but still – this fact along with Benjamin’s statements give a bit of validity to the claim.

While we do not have the full details of the events leading up to the shooting, you heard the 911 call. What do you think? Based on his demeanor and comments in the 911 call, did Benjamin commit first-degree murder? Was it a form of self-defense? Here is a news video report after the shooting incident. Oh, and Maria Medina? Call me.

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Wittman, AZ - On Monday night, Virgil M. Togstad III, 26, called 911 to report that he’d shot his parents and brother in their Arizona home. When police arrived and took him into custody, Togstad looked around, let officers cuff him, and said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have wasted my family.” Well, isn’t that the kind of decision that could have been made prior to the shooting, there, Virgil?

Monday night at about 7:30, Virgil Togstad III called 911 to report the shooting.  He told dispatch that his name was Virgil and that he had shot his parents and his brother.  When asked why he’d shot the victims, Virgil said that he did it “because they are not his family.”  Except that they were.

When officers arrived, they found the bodies of Virgil Togstad Jr. and Luisa Togstad, Virgil’s parents.  They also found Virgil’s brother, whose name has not been released.  One body was in the house, one was outside on the lawn, and one was “near a doorway.” Togstad swore he hadn’t been drinking or using drugs, but as it turned out, he was pretty wasted himself.  Officers kinda knew he was lying at the scene, what with the alcohol smell everywhere.

According to the brother’s girlfriend, who was at the home, the Togstads were in the yard shooting a BB gun at a target Monday evening.  Togstad Jr., the dad, asked Virgil if he wanted to shoot it.  Virgil said no.  Then Virgil took a handgun from his waistband and shot a round at the target with that instead.

When Virgil’s dad got mad and began to lecture Virgil about using the hanfgun, Virgil turned the handgun on his dad and shot him five times.  When his mom, Luisa Togstad, started screaming, Virgil shot her too.  Then the witness saw Togstad’s brother, her boyfriend, lying on the ground.

Virgil responded by telling passersby to back off, which they did given that he was waving a gun and obviously knew how to use it.  He then called 911.

Thing is, Virgil’s parents knew he was a right nutball years ago and even sent him out of state for treatment. Last year, he held a knife to his mother’s neck after a money dispute, but was judged competent to stand trial.  His parents went so far as to write letters to the judge asking for leniency in sentencing, and Virgil got three years probation instead of prison.  He moved back into their home, where he had always lived.  That’s some blind parental devotion, don’t you think?

Virgil M. Togstad III is being charged with three counts of first-degree murder.  He is being held at the Fourth Avenue Jail in Phoenix.

Here is a video with some more detail:

UPDATE 12/11/08 – Erin Caffey’s murder trial has been moved to Hopkins County, Texas, in a change of venue from Rains County.  Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty due to Erin’s age. Jury selection will begin February 2, 2009, with the trial set to start February 9.   Both Charles Allen Waid and Charlie James Wilkinson pled guilty last month to capital murder for their involvement in the killings of Erin’s mother and younger brothers.

Top: The Caffeys, L to R: Mathew, Terry, Tyler, Penny, Erin
Bottom: Charlie Wilkinson, Charles Waid, Bobbi Johnson

Erin Caffey with Charlie Wilkinson

Alba, TX (March 3, 2008) - Erin Caffey, 16, was raised Baptist, and not a little bit Baptist either. Homeschooled until this semester, her parents were maybe stricter than many. Erin’s mother, Penny Caffey, was a member of The Gaston Singers, a small gospel group. Her parents were members of Miracle Faith Baptist Church in Alba. Her little brothers Mathew “Bubba”, 13, and Tyler, 8, played guitar in church. Erin’s father, Terry, had a sign nailed to a tree in front of the home referencing Joshua 24:15 – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Apparently, Erin Caffey disagreed.

Now Erin, Charlie Wilkinson, Charles Allen Waid, and Bobbi Gale Johnson are charged with murdering Penny, Matthew and Tyler Caffey and attempting to murder Terry Caffey early Saturday morning. Terry was shot, Penny and Mathew were shot and stabbed, and Tyler was stabbed before the house was set on fire. Only Terry survived. And, of course, Erin.

Erin Caffey and Charlie Wilkinson, 19, began dating this semester, after Erin began attending public school. The Caffey parents had “no use for him”, and disapproved of the relationship. Wilkinson drank alcohol, sometimes to excess, and slept in class at Rains High School in Emory, where he is a senior. At one point, Wilkinson became upset at school, telling a friend that his “girlfriend’s dad hacked into (my) Myspace.” Erin’s parents told her that she was no longer allowed to date Wilkinson, providing motive for the killings.

Erin worked at Sonic with Bobbi Gale Johnson, 18. Bobbi and Erin became friends, and as Bobbi started dating Charles Allen Waid, 20, her behavior began to change, said friends. Bobbi’s Myspace indicates a foul mouth, a hot temper, and a significant infatuation with Waid. Waid was a 2005 graduate of Rains High living in Emory, and his Myspace, set to private, lends few clues to the person he is but provides a picture of him with the title “True Rebel”.

How the planning happened is uncertain, and many details are still unclear. But sometime before dawn on Saturday morning, the four conspirators entered the Caffey home and shot and stabbed Erin’s family in their beds. They then set the house on fire and left. Terry Caffey managed to crawl through the flames with five gunshot wounds to his head, chest and shoulder. He made it the 300 yards next door, where police were called. Caffey’s wife and two sons were dead before the fire was started.

Erin Caffey is being held in juvenile detention. Wilkinson, Waid and Johnson are in the Rains County jail. Bond for all four suspects is set at a half-million dollars each, and all four are charged with three counts of murder.

Thanks, Unamused Cat!

Broome County, NY – Shawn Munck, 22, was supposed to be caring for his twelve- year-old brother Peter last week while their grandmother was hospitalized for open-heart surgery. But on Tuesday evening the brothers had an altercation, and Shawn Munck stomped on the sixth-grader’s midsection. Sometime later that night, Peter Munck died.

Shawn Munck didn’t call 911 or try to get help for his little brother. In fact, he left Peter’s body in a bedroom for three days. Peter’s school had been concerned about Peter’s absence from school because they knew that the boy’s custodial grandmother was in the hospital. After being unable to get an answer at the home, the school reached another family member who went to the home and found Peter dead.

Investigators say that Shawn and Peter Muncks had been raised by their grandmother at least since 2000, as both their parents are in prison. The grandmother is recovering from heart surgery and had not been told of her grandson’s death by Sunday morning.

Police sources say that Shawn Muncks panicked after stomping his brother and did not seek help because he was concerned about the consequences.

A friend of Shawn Munck’s, Joe Menard, 23, was in the house in a different room at the time of the incident. He said he heard the boys just “horsing around”, and said he left the home that night with no idea anything was wrong. But Shawn Munck went to stay with Menard “for a few days” after the incident, returning to the home on Saturday. Menard told press that Shawn Munck didn’t say that Peter was dead, but Menard didn’t say whether he’d asked where the child was or whether Shawn had volunteered other information.

Munck has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and is being held without bail at the Broome County jail.