The Virginia State Trooper who fished and kidnapped a 15-year-old California girl and then murdered her mother and grandparents was arrested for a psychiatric evaluation in 2016 after threatening to kill his father and himself.
A recent police report obtained by the Los Angles Times showed Austin Lee Edwards, 28, got into a heated altercation while apparently having a breakdown over problems with his then-girlfriend.
The disturbing report described how officers were called to the family home by Edwards’ father, Christopher Edwards, where they found him attempting to hold his son on the kitchen floor.
Edwards was arrested and told officers he intended to harm himself and his father once his handcuffs were removed, prompting authorities to commit him to a psychiatric hospital.
Despite the incident, Edwards was still enlisted in the Virginia State Police earlier this year and also served in the Washington County, Virginia sheriff’s office this fall.
Edwards killed himself last month as police pursued him after he drove across the country and carried out his massacre. He had posed online as a 17-year-old boy while communicating with the teenage victim, who survived the ordeal physically unharmed.
Austin Lee Edwards, 28, got into a heated argument while apparently having a breakdown over problems with his then-girlfriend
Edwards traveled Friday from his Virginia home to Riverside, California, where he murdered the family of a 15-year-old girl he spoke to online. The victims have been identified as the girl’s grandparents, Mark Winek, 69, and Sharie Winek, 65, and the girl’s mother, Brooke Winek, 38
The police report showed that on the night of Super Bowl Sunday 2016, Christopher Edwards and his son watched the game and each had a few beers before bed.
Later that night, Christopher Edwards overheard his son – then 21 – in the bathroom and made a noise. When he called for him and received no answer, the father pushed his way into the bathroom and found Edwards there with a cut on his hand.
According to the report, Christopher Edwards called an ambulance and his son went to his bedroom, where he sat on his bed and repeatedly opened and closed a pocket knife. After learning that an ambulance was on the way, Edwards tried to leave the apartment and his father was forced to overpower him in the kitchen.
Paramedics came and found the father and son on the kitchen floor.
Authorities say Edwards traveled over 2,000 miles from his home in Virginia to meet the unnamed teenage girl at her home in Riverside, California
According to the report, paramedics were alarmed by Edward’s “resistance to medical attention and attempts to evade his father’s control” and called the police.
Police arrived around 3:30am where they found the fight between father and son continued amid a “large presence of blood” at the home.
When officers asked Edwards to show his hands, “he started yelling and threatening everyone.” An officer then pulled out his taser, but the father asked him not to drug his son. Eventually, the police were able to handcuff Edwards.
Edwards was transported to Johnston Memorial Hospital and said he intended to kill himself and his father as soon as he was freed from the handcuffs.
His father had bite marks on his arms. When asked why his son had the episode, he said he didn’t know but suggested it might have something to do with issues he was having with his girlfriend.
The house where the Wineks lived was set on fire. Rescue workers found the three bodies lying in the entrance area
Edwards was then taken to another hospital, where he underwent a psychological evaluation for his threats.
The doctors there found a “considerable probability that as a result of a mental illness [Edwards] in the near future” will harm himself or others because he is “unable to protect himself from harm,” according to the hospital’s report, obtained by the LA Times.
As a result, he was transported to the Ridgeview Pavilion, where he was held for observation and treatment. How long he stayed is unclear.
According to the Virginia State Police, Edwards did not disclose the incident when he joined the force. The rep told the LA Times they were reviewing the process that led to Edward’s hiring.
The Winek’s Riverside home was damaged with smoke following the attack
Friends and family left flowers, candles and photos outside the home
On November 25, police said they were called to the 11200 block of Price Court just before 11am to check on the well-being of a young girl who appeared distraught as she met an unidentified man – later Edwards – climbed into a red Kia Soul.
As officers responded to the scene, police received calls about a fire just a few houses away.
Riverside Fire Department discovered three adults lying in the front entrance and took them outside, where emergency responders “determined they were victims of apparent homicide,” police said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation but appeared to have been “started on purpose,” police said, and authorities soon discovered that the girl described in the initial social check lived in the home with her mother and grandparents would have.
At that point, law enforcement officers in the city — about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles — distributed a description of Edward’s vehicle to other nearby agencies.
Brooke has been described as a loving single mother to two teenage daughters
Mark Winek (pictured) was a longtime girls’ softball coach at Arlington High School
Within hours, police were able to locate Edwards Kia as he was driving the teenager in Kelso, an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County.
When the police finally caught up to him, Edwards fired shots at them before being fatally shot himself by at least one MP.
A subsequent investigation revealed that Edwards had driven from his home in North Chesterfield, Virginia to Riverside, where he parked his vehicle in a neighbor’s driveway and walked to the girl’s home.
There, authorities say, he murdered the girl’s mother, grandmother and grandfather and set their house on fire before walking the girl back to his vehicle and exiting the scene.