HOUSTON—The Whitaker murder case was one of the most shocking in recent memory: A family of four, shot in their Sugar Land home.

Patricia and Kevin Whitaker died that day.  Kent and Bart Whitaker survived.

But detectives would uncover a gruesome truth: Young Bart Whitaker had hired his roommate to kill his entire family so he could have his inheritance.  He was convicted in his mother and brother’s death and sentenced to die last year.

If his son’s plan had succeeded, Kent Whitaker wouldn’t be alive today.

But he is, and now he’s telling his story.

Whitaker penned a heartbreaking book about the ordeal, called “Murder by Family.”

“I wanted people to know,” he said. “The book came about as a result of a suggestion that my grief counselor gave me.”

Whitaker said he’s forgiven his son.

“I have a very strong faith that God is a good God,” Whitaker said.

His book contains photos of the night of the murders.  The pictures show Bart with his family at home and at a restaurant.

“That was the last picture we took as a family,” Whitaker said.

As the gunman he’d hired waited for them at home, Bart smiled for the picture.

“I don’t think he was strong enough, man enough to acknowledge. All of this could have stopped at any point if he had stepped up and said something,” Whitaker said.

He said he visits his son often on death row.

“I don’t really know what all happened inside of his mind. I’m not trained to recognize this, but he is so much more open now,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker’s book ends with a message of hope and forgiveness, but the story is not over.

He said he’s still praying for his son, hoping somehow his life will be spared.