At 12 I was shot in the head by family friend who murdered my mum, dad and pregnant sister then burnt my house down – but now I forgive him

LARRY Bobish was just 12 years old when he woke up to the sound of two gunshots and the heavy thud of his dad’s groaning body falling to the ground.

It was 5am when family friend Mark Edwards, 19, who was standing just two feet away, then pointed the gun at the child's head and pulled the trigger.

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A few minutes later Edwards shot dead Larry’s mum Joanna, 42, and sister Krystal, 17, who was 28 weeks pregnant. 

But remarkably, after playing dead, young Larry survived.

In a new documentary, Unbreakable: Live to Tell, Larry, now 29, reveals details of the horror that unfolded in the middle of the night on April 14, 2002 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

Selling drugs to make ends meet

Larry has fond memories of his childhood.

His dad, Larry Sr., was a car mechanic who spoilt his kids with Go Karts, trampolines and bikes to play with in their garden.

But life became more complicated when Larry Sr., was forced to give up work due to diabetes and bad knees. 

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His sister also lost her way when she started spending time with her friend's brother, Edwards, and taking the drug “wet” - a cigarette dipped in PCP and embalming fluid. 

What Larry didn't know at the time was that his dad had started selling drugs to make ends meet and pay off his medical bills.

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His dad was spending a lot of time in the garage and Larry would later learn that he was using it to sell drugs from.

Krystal then dropped a bombshell on the family, telling them she was pregnant with a baby boy.

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Worried about the financial strain of another child in the family, Larry Sr. dealt more drugs and started mixing with more dangerous people.

Edwards caught wind of the money he was making and robbed him at gunpoint for $600 (£472).

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Larry Jr.explained: “I remember my dad threatening someone on the phone saying ‘if you don’t bring back the money I’m going to call the cops’.”

‘I remember hearing my dad hit the ground’

Larry Jr. didn’t hear anything again until he was woken up at 5am a few days later. It was Edwards knocking at the door. 

Larry recalls: “I heard two gunshots and saw flashes and I remember hearing my dad hitting the ground.

“Mark was two feet away when he turned the gun at me. I raised my hand in front of my face and he pulled the trigger.

“The bullet went through my hand and there was a big impact as if something had broken into my head.

“I had a splitting headache in that moment and fell back onto the couch. I remember the smell of gunpowder and loud ringing from when the gun went off.”

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Edwards killed Larry’s mum and sister before returning to attack Larry with a knife.

“He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and then came for me," he said. “I was a 5”2 boy fighting a 19-year-old man with a knife.

“Eventually he turned me around and cut my neck three times. Once I felt the jagged edge of the knife go through like a zipper then I felt warm ooze coming down.

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“I fell to the ground and he kicked me a couple of times. I lay there and I just realised the best thing for me to do is pretend I was dead because every time I got up he attacked me more.

“I passed out for a little bit and when I woke up the house was on fire. My neck was cut and head was dangling, covered in blood.”

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Larry Jr. used all the strength he had left to crawl to the door which had been locked.

Soaked from head to toe in blood, he managed to unpick the lock and crawl down to the driveway in search for help.

Larry was found by an off-duty state police officer at 6.30am.

Larry was airlifted to hospital where he was guarded by Pennsylvanian police for three weeks.

He had brain surgery to remove the bullet but because it was so close to the spinal cord there was nothing they could do - so it's still in there. 

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'I forgive him for killing my family'

Edwards was arrested four days after the attack, convicted of three counts of murder in 2004 and sentenced to death. But his execution was stayed.

Larry Jr. was moved into witness protection where they changed his name to RJ, similar to his old nickname LJ, to help with the transition.

He said: “I was thrown into a whole new life. I didn’t really have time to grieve. People didn’t know my story when I moved away.

“I would tell people I was in a car accident and that’s how I lost my family."

While under protection, Larry went to church where the pastor introduced him to a family who had children the same age as him.

He said: “We started playing video games and hanging out with them more and more until I felt comfortable enough and they felt comfortable enough to adopt me."

Larry was adopted by Mark and Kristi Altrogge in 2005, who helped him to come to terms with what happened.

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He said: “I do not blame my family. I don’t blame my father. My dad was a very good-hearted person, a loving dad and he deserved a lot more.

“I forgive [Edwards], even though my family was taken away from me, I know he has a son, and I would not want his son to grow up without a family.”

Unbreakable: Live to Tell airs Fridays, 10pm on Investigation Discovery.

This week, we also reported the story of the crazed Tinder ex who stabbed student, 23, 75 times in frenzied car park attack.