Virginia Cop Tied To CA Slayings Threatened To Kill Before: Report

VIRGINIA — A Virginia law enforcement officer who "catfished" a 15-year-old girl before slaying three of her family members in Riverside, Calif., on Nov. 25 was under psychiatric evaluation in 2016 after threatening to kill himself and his father, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The news follows statements from Virginia's Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police confirming no red flags were raised during their hiring and subsequent employment of Austin Lee Edwards — the only suspect in the Thanksgiving weekend killing spree.

Edwards, 28, who worked as a Virginia State Police officer before he was hired as a deputy for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, adopted the online persona of a 17-year-old boy in order to lure the California girl, according to the Riverside Police Department. He drove from North Chesterfield, Virginia, to her Riverside home, killed her mother and grandparents, and set fire to the residence before fleeing with the teen, police reported.

Following a law enforcement chase and gun battle in the Mojave Desert, Edwards died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the same day as the Riverside killings; the girl was rescued, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The department initially reported Edwards was shot and killed by deputy gunfire.

Read more here: Catfishing VA Cop Was Predator Who Groomed Girl Before Murders: Family

Edwards' past raises questions about the vetting processes of the Virginia law enforcement agencies that hired him.

According to a police report obtained by the Los Angeles Times, in the early morning hours after the 2016 Super Bowl, police were called to Edwards' home in Abingdon.

Edwards' father, Christopher Roy Edwards, told police he awoke because his then-21-year-old son was making noise in a bathroom. The elder Edwards used a screwdriver to get the locked bathroom door open and found his son with a cut hand — and knives and a small hatchet nearby, the Times reported.

Police were called because of Austin Edwards’ “resistance to medical aid and attempts to escape his father’s control,” according to the Times.

There was also a scuffle between the two men around the time of the Super Bowl. At one point, Edwards tried to leave the home, but his father subdued him in the kitchen, according to the Times.

Christopher Edwards had bite marks on both his arms from his son, the Times reported.
Following the bathroom incident, the younger Edwards resisted authorities, so he was handcuffed, placed on a stretcher and sent to a local hospital. He told police he was going to kill himself and his father once the cuffs were off, the Times reported.

Because of his suicidal and homicidal statements, an emergency custody order was issued for Edwards and a temporary detention order followed, according to the newspaper.

About five years later, on July 6, 2021, Edwards entered the Virginia State Police Academy. He graduated Jan. 21 as a trooper and was assigned to Henrico County, within the Richmond Division, according to a statement from Virginia State Police.

Edwards resigned Oct. 28, and started as a patrol deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 16. He started orientation and was assigned to the patrol division at the time of the Riverside killings, according to the sheriff's office.

"Past employers and the Virginia State Police were contacted during the hiring processing; however, no employers disclosed any troubles, reprimands, or internal investigations pertaining to Edwards," according to a Nov. 28 sheriff's office statement.

Virginia State Police issued the following statement, "... the Virginia State Police utilizes standardized performance evaluations for all sworn employees, which includes a personnel early intervention system. As a probationary employee, Edwards was also given monthly performance evaluations, in accordance with department policy. During Edwards' short tenure with the department, he never exhibited any behaviors to trigger any internal administrative or criminal investigations.

"The Virginia State Police also conducts a thorough background check as part of its mandatory hiring process for entry into the academy. That background check requires passage of written, psychological, and physical testing, as well as a pre-employment polygraph. At no time during that extensive process were there any indicators of concern," the agency said.

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