Austin Lee Edwards: 'Catfishing' cop used service pistol to kill himself during shootout with SWAT team
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA: The Virginia trooper, who catfished a 15-year-old southern California girl and kidnapped her before murdering her three family members, ended his life by using his own service weapon, officials revealed. Austin Lee Edwards took his life during the shootout with the SWAT team after a cross-country drive to the girl's Riverside home where he shot and killed her family before allegedly setting the house on fire.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department also made a shocking revelation that Edwards' coworkers in Virginia removed items from his home before an official search took place. They removed a sheriff's truck and a black trash bag from the man's Abingdon, Virginia, home on November 25, reported Los Angeles Times. Authorities of the Riverside Police Department were not privy to the removal of the items and have revealed their doubts about the search.
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Edwards traveled 2,500 miles to the girl's house after he deceived her with a false identity, claiming he was a 17-year-old boy. Authorities are probing whether how he was able to pinpoint the girl's location. Upon arrival at the girl's residence, he killed Mark Winek, 69; his wife, Sharie Winek, 65; and their daughter Brooke Winek, 38, before setting fire to the home and leaving with Brooke Winek's 15-year-old daughter. Initially, it was reported Edwards died during the shootout with the police, seemingly by the cops while returning gunfire.
However, the bullet that killed Edwards was from a pistol in his department. "Detectives determined the gun used was Edwards' department-issued semi-automatic service pistol," the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department told the Los Angeles Times. Fortunately, the 15-year-old girl was unharmed during the shootout and is being treated for trauma therapy. While cops announced Edwards took his life, a video showed at least two coworkers from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, where Edwards worked taking items from his Virginia home. Deputies were spotted at the man's newly purchased home, which he had blacked out the windows on, removing a sheriff's truck and trash bag.
The Southern California agencies investigating the situation said they had no knowledge about the action's taken by the Washington County deputies. "We are not aware of any action taken at his house prior to the November 26 search warrant," a spokesperson from the Smyth County Sheriff's Department said. "We are not aware of any additional searches," the person said. A lawyer who spoke with the Times described the situation as "strange" and said it doesn't make sense why deputies who worked for Washington County, where Edwards worked, would travel into a different county for a search.
"This is strange right off the bat because Washington County doesn't have jurisdiction to do anything in Smyth County," said Yancey Ellis, a partner in Carmichael, Ellis & Brock, a criminal defense firm in Virginia. "If you want to do something in another county you should go to local law enforcement," she told the LA Times. "This smells pretty bad," said one criminal lawyer based in Washington, DC.
"There are only a few reasons why that may happen, and none of them are good or legal." It's unclear whether the deputies who went to slain Edward's home had a search warrant.
Another shocking incident revealed Edwards was detained in 2016 for psychiatric evaluation after threatening to kill his father and himself over troubles he was having with his then-girlfriend. Despite the incident, Edwards was still accepted into the Virginia State Police earlier this year and also served in the sheriff's office in Washington County, Virginia, this fall.