Murder In America - EP. 115 CALIFORNIA - The Catfish Pedophile Cop: Austin Lee Edwards

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

In 2022, three bodies were discovered inside of a flaming home in Riverside, California. And the shocking true story behind how these innocent people ended up dead would send shockwaves across the country. This story shows that even the authorities who are sworn to protect us can sometimes fail us, and demonstrates just how dangerous and brutal the dark web can be... you're listening to MURDER IN AMERICA. SPONSORS: Up YOUR underwear game with MEUNDIES! To get 25% off your first order, plus free standard shipping, visit https://www.MeUndies.com/MIA Start your therapy journey today with BETTERHELP! Just visit https://www.betterhelp.com/MIA to get 10% off your first month! Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community For more MIA bonus content, including ad-free episodes, join us on Patreon. Instagram Facebook Twitter Colin's TikTok & Courtney's TikTok Follow Colin's travels investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files YouTube channel. SOURCES: Bhole, Aneeta. “Former Virginia state trooper who catfished girl, 15, and then killed three members of her family gained access to their California home by pretending he was a DETECTIVE and pretended he needed them for 'questioning'.” Daily Mail, May 25, 2023. “'CATFISH' MURDERS KILLER BLACKED OUT WINDOWS OF NEW HOME Purchased Days Before Killings & Abduction.” TMZ, December 1, 2022 Hibbitts, Emily and John Price. “Washington County, Virginia Board to discuss ‘Catfish Killer’ related claim.” WJHL 11, May 19, 2023. Logan, Erin and Summer Lin. “‘Catfish’ cop Austin Lee Edwards groomed other teen years before Riverside slayings.” The Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2023. Logan, Erin and Summer Lin. “He faked an investigation. Then the ‘detective’ killed her family and abducted her niece.” The Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2023. Logan, Erin and Summer Lin. “Co-workers of cop who killed 3 in California took items from his home before official search.” The Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2022. Logan, Erin and Summer Lin. “‘Catfish’ cop who killed three in Riverside failed Virginia State Police mental health exam, lawyers allege.” The Los Angeles Times, May 19, 2023. O’Neill, Jesse. “Cop Austin Lee Edwards allegedly bound and gagged Calif. family before murders: neighbor.” The New York Post, November 29, 2022. “Police never searched 'catfish' cop Austin Lee Edwards' second home.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 12, 2023. Sorrell, Robert. “Former Southwest Virginia deputy accused of murdering California family had clean employment record, documents show.” Times News, December 21, 2022. “Washington County deputies searched home of Austin Edwards following California shooting.” WCYB 5, December 12, 2022. (C) 2023 BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Life is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers.

And no journey should be taken alone. However, having someone with you to listen, to understand, and to support. you can make all the difference. I know that I'm a huge therapy advocate I've advocated for therapy for years and if you want to give therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great place to start. BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S. BetterHelp also does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and their 12 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time.

And something that I love is if you aren't happy with your therapist match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations. I've personally used BetterHelp in the past, and I think that if you're on the edge, if you're thinking maybe it's time to start therapy, I say just go ahead and do it. There's literally no downside because you don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash MIA. That's BetterHELP.com slash MIA. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover

and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. On November 25th, 2022,

one day after the Thanksgiving holiday, the authorities in Riverside, California, received a 911 call from a concerned citizen regarding an unknown red Kia Soul with Virginia license plates that was parked in her driveway. 30 minutes later, she dialed 911 again. But this time, the call was far more disturbing. The woman told police that she had witnessed a man force a distressed young female into the car and also stated that the teenager hadn't been wearing shoes or pants. The caller also said that she heard the girl attempt to say something to the man, but she was unable to hear the words exchanged.

Now obviously this was concerning, and the police soon arrived at the house a little after 11 a.m. Once there, they spoke with the caller. She had stepped outside to give her official report, including the plate number of the car that had been parked in her driveway. But only moments later, another 911 call. would come from a different neighbor on the same block. This caller was reporting that only a few houses down from where the police stood,

there was a fire. Hearing this, emergency services were quickly dispatched to the house that was located on Price Court. The responding firefighters quickly knocked the door down and entered the residence, but nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to find. Inside the foyer of the home were three dead bodies. Each victim's hand had been found tied behind their backs. Duck tape had been placed over their mouths. And a plastic bag had been put over their heads.

It was obvious to emergency personnel that the victims had been murdered. And the scene quickly went from that of a fire to a homicide. But as the authorities dug deeper into the killings, and hunted down their killer, the horrific, disturbing truth began to come to light. This is the shocking story of Austin Lee Edwards, the catfish cop. I'm Courtney Browen.

And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America. Stephen Lee Edwards was a 28-year-old man originally born in Richmond, Virginia. There isn't a lot online about Austin's childhood, but from what we could tell, it was pretty normal. In his youth, Austin graduated high school, obtained his GED, and worked various retail jobs while in his early 20s. He even enrolled at a local community college in Southwest Virginia, but was never able to complete a degree or certification.

According to his friends, Austin worked so hard because he had wanted to pull his family out of the cycle of poverty that had plagued them for generations. But working in retail just wasn't enough for Austin. He wanted a steady job that would provide him and his family with a steady income. So, in July of 2021, Austin completed his Police Academy training and was hired on as a state trooper for the state of Virginia, where he would work until his resignation a little over a year later on October 28, 2022. At the time, Austin had just accepted a new position with the Washington County Sheriff's Department as a deputy and was undergoing orientation for his new job. But before he could be fully hired, the Washington County Sheriff's Department had to complete

a full background check on Austin. They spoke with his previous employers, including his supervisor while he was employed as a state trooper, dug into his background, and combed through all of his social media. And at the end of the day, it was determined that Austin would be a good fit for the department. In their searches, they found that there had never been an internal investigation conducted on Austin, and that all his previous employers had to say was that Austin was a good guy and a decent employee. But one thing that Austin failed to disclose on his application was his previous mental health issues, issues that would flare up in the coming months. According to records, on February 7, 2016, six years before Austin was transferred to the

Washington County Sheriff's Department, he and his father were at their apartment watching the Super Bowl. According to his dad's recollection of events, Austin drank a meager two beers during the game and eventually headed up to his bedroom for the night after the game was over. A few hours later, in the early morning hours of February 8, 2016, Austin's father heard noises coming from the bathroom and got up to check on his son. But he found concerned him. Austin had locked himself in the bathroom, and although his father was pleading for him to open the door, he was refusing to come out. Eventually, his dad grabbed a screwdriver and proceeded to unlock the door, and when he entered the bathroom, he saw something he would never be able to forget. Austin was sprawled across the floor, with a deep gash on his hand, and a bloody knife and hatchet on the counter.

It was clear that Austin's injury was self-inflicted, so his father quickly called an ambulance. As they waited for the EMTs to arrive, Austin's father spoke with him, but he noticed that his demeanor was strange, and that he didn't seem like the Austin that he knew. Eventually, after sitting there for a few moments, Austin picked himself up off the ground, retreated into his bedroom, and sat on the bed, where he proceeded to continuously flip a pocket knife open and shut. Apparently, this entire time, Austin had no idea that his father called 911, and when he found out, he grew agitated and tried to escape the apartment.

After a struggle, his father was able to subdue him in the kitchen area until medical professionals arrived. When they got there, they walked into the kitchen and found Austin being forcibly held down and pinned to the floor by his dad. When they asked to look at his injury, Austin screamed and threatened everyone in the room. He even bit his father and a responding EMT. It was clear that they needed more help, and at 3.30 a.m., police officers finally arrived at the apartment. When they interred the residence, there was blood on the kitchen floor, and Austin was still very

aggressive and uncooperative. The officers even noted that he had threatened to kill. kill his father and himself once he was free. The report read, quote, Austin made several statements in the presence of officers that he wanted to die and that he would try to kill himself the instant he was free from restraints and that he would kill his father. End quote. Without any other option, an officer pulled out a taser,

but Austin's father begged them not to use it. Eventually, the officers were able to get a hold of a while. Boston and handcuff him to a stretcher without having to use the taser. Then from here, he was transported to the Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Virginia. After all was said and done, when the police questioned Austin's father about what happened, he told them that he had never seen his son act out in such a violent way. And the only explanation that he had for his behavior was that his son was experiencing relationship problems with his girlfriend.

The violent incident had left Austin's father with deep bite marks all over his arms, but he refused treatment. Austin's injury, however, proved to be severe enough to warrant further action. And so, because of the self-inflicted injury and the threatening statements made in the presence of police, a judge ordered a temporary detention order against him. The order stated, quote, There was a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, Austin would seriously harm himself or suffer harm in the near future.

End quote. Austin was then transferred to Ridgeview Pavilion, a psychiatric inpatient health clinic for further evaluation. But shockingly, he was only at this facility for two days before the staff there determined that he was no longer a threat to himself or others. Once he was out of detention, though, Austin still wasn't free because the temporary detention order also prevented him from purchasing or possessing a firearm. Now, typically, after a temporary detention order that involves a psychiatric stay, the person who is detained has to file paper. and petitioned to have their firearm privileges reinstated. But according to court records, there was never any paperwork filed that allowed Austin to once again own or possess a gun, so he should have never been allowed anywhere near a firearm. According to a Richmond, Virginia news outlet, to regain access to firearms,

Austin would have had a petition for restoration of rights in the jurisdiction of his home, or in the county where he was committed during his detention. But his paperwork was never submitted and never completed. This is concerning when you realize that only a few years later in 2021, Austin decided to pursue a career in law enforcement and applied to become a state trooper with the state of Virginia. An extensive background check was performed, as well as a psychological test, and he was accepted. And if you didn't put two and two together by this point, state troopers carry pistols on their persons, something which Austin at the time was still legally barred from possessing.

According to a news article, the Virginia State Police stated they were not. not informed of his 2016 hospital state prior to his hiring. There seemingly had been an error in the background check process. Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police, told the media, as we have stated, we have identified there was a human error, an isolated incident involving human error on the part of the hiring process of Austin Edwards. Had we known what we know now this individual would never have been hired with our department. Yes, there was a mistake, but it's not a systemic issue within our hiring process. It was an isolated human error that allowed this individual to be hired by us.

So let's fast forward a few years. On January 21st, 2022, Austin graduated from the Police Academy and spent several months working as a state trooper until his eventual resignation on October 28, 2022. When he applied to become a deputy for the Washington County Sheriff's Department, Austin used his father, a Virginia State Police training officer, and a close friend as personal references. According to an official report, the Los Angeles Times reported that the training officer said Austin really enjoyed police work and stated, quote, Austin talks to me constantly about the people he has helped throughout his day, and he generally loves what he does. end quote. However, there was still no mention of his previous stint in the psychiatric facility in 2016.

Washington County Sheriff Blake Andes would eventually go on to state, quote, and his current employer at the time, the Virginia State Police, no disclosures were made concerning any troubles, reprimands, or internal investigations pertaining to Austin Edwards. While with our agency, Edward had no reprimands, no disciplinary actions, no complaints, no internal investigations, and no disciplinary investigations. End quote. Dana Shrad, who works with the Virginia Association of Chief of Police,

added that there weren't any applications for law enforcement officers in recent months, but that shouldn't be a reason to hire just anyone off the street, saying, quote, they have to turn them away if there are red flags. And that can be very difficult during times when we're really struggling to have law enforcement officers on our forces. But it's still the right thing to do. End quote. So basically, someone had left a box unchecked and a stone unturned. And because of this, Austin Edwards was hired as a police officer and he was given a weapon that he should have never been given in the first place.

While going through patrol officer orientation, Austin purchased a Cape Cod style two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in Saltville, Virginia, for around $80,000. But immediately there were red flags. Neighbors found it odd that after the home was purchased, he went to work blacking out his windows with car tent. For whatever reason, he didn't want any watchful eyes peering. near his home. He was also seen around town wearing a long beige trench coat that many people thought was strange. Never imagined anything, you know, like this and was actually very, very happy to have an officer living behind me, you know, I felt safe. Austin Lee Edwards, the man accused

of killing three members of a California family and recently hired by the Washington County Virginia Sheriff's Office, allegedly catfished a teenage girl in California. According to Smith County Virginia Records, Edwards also recently purchased a home in Saltville from Jacob Gordon. I had the house in the market for just a few hours, and I got a full price offer and, you know, I was told it was a Virginia State Trooper, and we went from there. A deed for the property on Allison Gap Road was recorded on November 14th. He was only behind me for about eight days. You know, he was actually very nice accommodating. He offered to help me on my home. After purchasing the home, it appears he blacked out windows and put up.

dark curtains. I thought it was really weird and then of course the owner told me also that he required that they sent the video of the basement. I mean he didn't see the property before he purchased it but he required a video of the basement which seemed really weird to us. I asked Gordon if he had many interactions with Edwards. He kept to his self. He really didn't have a lot to say. I actually invited him to have dinner with me and my family one night and you know he politely declined. Others in the area saying Edwards reportedly visited places in town wearing a trench coat. I guess he had a strange presence about him, my wife said.

And of course, the guy who lived in front of him that I know, he said that he had a very strange presence, that the guy was very weird, creepy, kept in his house, he didn't get out a lot. Short time here, he'd already set off alarms. According to Austin's friends, while working as a cop, Austin had mentioned to them that he had a girlfriend in California, and then he was planning on visiting her. But soon, the dark truth behind Austin Lee's,

the Edwards would come to light. You see, for a while now, while working as an officer of the law during the day, Austin had been posing as a 17-year-old on the internet at night. And while pretending to be the 17-year-old boy, Austin had met and gained the trust of a 15-year-old girl in Riverside, California. According to the Crime Prevention and Safety Center, there are an estimated 500,000 predators on the internet every day, and over 50% of their eventual victims end up being between the ages of 12 and 15 years old. Predators online become skilled when grooming potential victims. They often pretend to be around the same age as the person they're talking to, they frequent social media sites that are popular amongst young kids, and they pretend to share similar

interests with potential victims to gain their trust. Once this trust is established, the predator will then engage in conversations of a decidedly more sexual nature, and will often pressure the child to send them explicit photos or videos of themselves. In some instances, the predator will then blackmail the victim and threaten to release these nude photos to friends or family members if they don't pay them a large sum of money. This blackmailing has led to a number of teenagers taking their lives in the past decade, and it's a major problem here in America. But sometimes, the predator doesn't want money and plays along with their charade for as long as they can, acting like their victim's boyfriend or girlfriend to get them to trust them even more. It isn't

clear where Austin met this 15-year-old girl from California or for how long they corresponded with each other, but in this short time, Austin was able to gain her trust and the two eventually exchanged personal information, including cell phone numbers and home addresses. It was reported that Austin at one point asked the young teen for explicit photos of herself, but that she told them she didn't feel comfortable sending him something like that. After their conversation turned sexual, the 15-year-old did something smart and decided to cut off all contact with her new internet friend. But this wasn't the first time that Austin Lee Edwards had targeted a child on the internet. According to the New York Post, Austin was an active online predator for almost seven

years before he met the young girl in California. You see, back in 2014, Austin met another victim online, who was only 13 years old. The two met on the chat app Omigal. I remember using that app so much with my friends when I was younger and there were always the creepiest old men on their and looking back at it, it was a very dangerous site because you're literally put on a chat with anyone and they can basically say or do whatever they want on this chat. And I just remember myself seeing really, really gross old men that should not have been on that app. Now, the victim that Austin met on O'Magle remains anonymous to this day, but she told the Los Angeles Times, quote,

I felt so sick seeing his face because I hadn't seen it in years. This guy stalked me and groomed me when I was a child. On October 25th, 2014, Austin and the young girls started speaking to each other on Skype, and they initially bonded over funny memes. The Los Angeles Times was able to review the 4,000 messages sent between the two, and it was obvious that Austin knew the girl's age when they were corresponding. Here is an example of a few of their messages. Did I tell you I went trick-or-treating?

Nope. Totally did. I'm 20. Me too. I'm 13. The girls said that Austin often waited patiently for her to return home from school or finish her homework so that they could chat. However, she also stated that once again,

it didn't take long for the conversation between the two to turn sexual. On October 26, 2014, Austin wrote a message to the young girl that stated, Yo, what the fuck? I said I wanted tits waiting on me when I got back. Being young and impressionable, the girl felt pressured to provide Austin with nude photographs, and so she did. But even this didn't keep Austin, the internet predator, happy for long. The girl stated that eventually, when she stopped sending explicit photos of herself to Austin, he would become violent.

But as is typical with groomers, whenever Austin would be angry and mean, he would shortly afterwards shower the girl with love and praise. As their online relationship continued, Austin started calling her his girlfriend and would get on Skype and masturbate for her. He would repeatedly ask her to undress on camera for him, but she always refused. The two communicated for nearly two years straight, and she said that his mood changed dramatically every single day. He was almost like a completely different person every time they chatted.

would complain to the girl about his father and how he liked to starve himself when he was depressed, and he even at one point told her that if she stopped talking to him, then he would commit suicide. Other times, he would playfully joke around with the girl and use humor as a mask for his depression. In one exchange on April 10, 2015, he asked her to Skype, but she said she couldn't because her mom was home. He then replied to her, saying, Kill her. I'm going to give myself a black guy, okay? Austin was also known to frequently use racial and homophobic slurs.

During one conversation on October 29, 2014, he wrote the young girl, quote, You're black, right? I have jungle fever. Let's do this. End quote. And because of Austin's erratic behavior, the girl stated that she never knew what mood he might be in when they started chatting. but then came January of 2016. On January 27th, after chatting with Austin for over a year and a half,

the girl told him that she didn't want to be in a relationship with him anymore. He replied, What the fuck? I thought you loved me. The remaining messages see Austin pressuring the young teen to stay in the relationship. And he was begging for her to stay. He even threatened to hurt himself if she didn't. When she finally gave in and agreed that they could still be a couple, he texted her. Don't do that again, please. Like ever again. That really hurt.

It seemed like the girl couldn't escape her groomer's clutches. Eventually, Austin began to heavily pressure her into meeting him in person. And he was saying things like, Listen, there's no obstacle that's going to stop us from being together if that's what we both want. It doesn't even matter if you're 14 and not technically alone. allowed to do shit yet. On February 7, 2016, Austin called the girl and graphically informed her that earlier that day, he wanted to commit suicide, but he said he decided against it.

It was obvious to the girl that Austin had been drinking alcohol before and during the exchange, and that for some reason he was worried that she was going to leave him. It was during this call as Austin sat crumpled on the floor in his bathroom when things took a disturbing turn. As the two talked, Austin lowered the camera and showed the girl a deep gash that he had cut into his left hand. He also panned the camera around the room and showed her the bloody hatchet he had used to cut himself.

Then suddenly the call was over in an instant as Austin quickly disconnected the chat when father gained entry into the bathroom. Later on, after she came forward, the girl's story would directly correlate with the incident that had sent Austin to the psychiatric facility in the early morning hours of February 28, 2016. And now investigators finally knew why he wanted to hurt himself. But at that point, it was already too late. Eventually, when Austin was released from his two-day stay at the Ridgeview Pavilion Psychiatric Center. He called the girl on Skype and denied that he ever tried to take his own life. He told her that that evening he had slipped and cut himself outside, but his father had mistakenly thought that it was a suicide attempt. He admitted to

her that he was indeed taken to a psychiatric hospital for an evaluation, but claimed that the psychiatrist found that he had nothing wrong with him. He told her. Yeah, I actually knew a bit about how those places work, so I just told them everything they wanted to hear. So they threw me out in two days. After Austin's suicide attempt, the young teen decided to try and distance herself from him,

and by September of 2016, she had blocked Austin from contacting her on all social media platforms. But that didn't stop him from creating multiple Facebook profiles and sending her messages in a desperate attempt to get her back. In April of 2020, Austin tried to call her from a new Facebook account he had created, but she blocked the call and then blocked the account. Months later, in December of the same year,

he created yet another Facebook account and sent her a message that said, Hey, with a frowny face. This time she messaged him back and told him to never contact her again. And at that point, she felt relieved to have finally rid herself of the abusive pest that was Austin Lee Edwards.

But the story was far from over. Later on, when the girl found out that he had been hired by two separate police agencies in Virginia, she was horrifying. She told the Los Angeles' time. It's just crazy that he was able to become a cop with me knowing his mental health issues. I don't understand how he got past everything because it was so prominent to me that he had so many issues just from talking to him in that time period.

During their years-long correspondence, the girl said that she had kept her relationship with Austin a secret, but looking back could see how his manipulation really affected her mental health. Most of the time, victims of grooming feel afraid to tell their friends and family members about the older person chatting with them and showering them with life. love and praise for a number of reasons. Sometimes the victims feel ashamed of their relationship. Sometimes the adult makes it exciting to the victim to keep the relationship a secret. And other times, the groomer threatens the victim with violence so that they'll keep their mouth shut.

But that brings us back to the year 2022. You see, after Austin was dumped by his first victim, it seemed like he was just that much more hungry to find another. And he would find one, this time in the Golden State of California. It's now 2022, and Austin has found another victim that he's decided to groom. This time, she lives in Riverside, California. You see, throughout his years spent catfishing young teenage girls. Austin had developed a set of skills that he used to gain their trust. He knew just how to talk to children and young adults to get them to trust him enough to share their personal information.

but he also knew that he had to keep an edge about himself so that they would keep their mouth shut about their chats. By now, it's clear that Austin is a professional when it comes to grooming young girls. After all, he had been practicing for years, so he knew exactly what to say and what not to say, which leads us to November 25th, 2022. Austin had been chatting with his school,

girl for a while. Again, her name is unknown because she was a minor at the time, but she was 15 years old and lived thousands of miles away from him. At first, like with his first known victim, the chats were almost pleasant between the two. Remember, Austin was pretending to be a 17-year-old boy online. But after a while, the chats once again turned sexual. Eventually, after Austin pressed the young girl to send him naked photographs, she cut off communication with him, but it was too late. The girl had shared too much information with Austin, and he now knew what she looked like, and he knew her home address. When the girl finally cut off contact with Austin, something snapped, and it only made him want to pursue her more, acting on a violent

and psychopathic impulse, Austin then got in his car and made the over 2,000 mile drive from Virginia to California, with his only goal being to stock the young teen. Austin had hours of driving to rethink this decision, but he never turned around, and on the morning of November 25th at around 6.58 a.m., Austin arrived at his destination. and he parked his red kiosol at the end of Price Court and Riverside, California. He was caught on video surveillance shortly after walking towards the Weineck residence, where the young 15-year-old lived with her mother, 38-year-old Brooke Weinek, her young sister, and her grandparents, 69-year-old Mark Weinek,

and his wife, 65-year-old Sherry. As Austin walked in search of the Wynock residence, he wore a long beige trench coat, a blue medical mask, and a black fedora, and in his hand he carried a black duffel bag. He scoped out the area for a few minutes, took note of his surroundings, then returned to his car and left the area. A few hours later, at around 9 a.m., Austin returned to the neighborhood and parked his car in a neighbor's driveway. This time, he walked straight up to the Wynock residence and brazzily knocked on the door. 65-year-old grandmother Sherry Wynick answered the door and was shocked by what she saw. Right there, on her porch was a detective. You see, Austin had methodically planned his next few moves out,

and instead of wearing plain clothes to carry out his plan, he had worn his Virginia State Patrol outfit that he wore to work. Quickly, Austin flashed his badge and told Sherry that he was there to speak with her 15-year-old granddaughter, about an incident that had happened at her school. Hearing this, Sherry panicked and dialed her daughter Michelle Blandin's cell phone to tell her what was going on. Michelle was out shopping for Christmas lights when the call came in and later told reporters and authorities that her mom sounded like she was in a panic. Over the phone, Sherry spoke too fast for her daughter Michelle to understand. So Michelle told her mother to take a deep

breath, breathe, and start again. Sherry repeated what the detective had told her about wanting to speak to her 15-year-old niece, but immediately there were red flags. Michelle found it odd that a detective would show up at 9 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving and also found the man state that her mother was in to be strange. Sherry also told Michelle the detective at their door already had pictures of the inside of the home, something else that rubbed her the wrong way. But fearing that he was about to lose control of the situation, Austin took the phone from Sherry and began to speak directly to Michelle. He told her that he was at the house with her family, but that her mother was extremely anxious and nervous and needed to calm down. Michelle responded

that her mother wanted to be cooperative, and Austin replied, Everything is going to be okay. After speaking to Michelle, Austin handed the phone back to Sherry, and Michelle heard him ask her mom if he could take a look at her niece's bedroom upstairs. He also asked specifically to look at the room that was decked out in Green Bay memorabilia. Michelle, over the phone, was taken aback. How did this man know about that room? At this point, even Michelle was starting to get a bit nervous.

But before she could respond or tell her mother anything, Sherry told Michelle that she would call her back and hung up the phone. When Austin arrived that morning, Brooke Weinek had been out running errands with her 15-year-old daughter, the young girl that Austin had been chatting with. When Brooke found out that a detective wanted to question her daughter, she immediately drove back home and headed inside. When she entered her home, Austin told her to leave her daughter in the car while he conducted his investigation. And so the young girl waited all alone in her car for a while,

but it eventually grew to be too hot, so she got out and walked into the house with no shoes on. After that strange phone call with her mother and the detective, Michelle continued to shop for Christmas lights, but texted her mom to make sure everything was all right. But there was no response. Michelle didn't think too much of the situation since she figured her mother was busy speaking with the detective, but it was at that very moment where things were taking a dark turn. Back inside of the home, located at 11261 Price Court, Austin was busy making sure his victims were bound and gagged so that they wouldn't interfere with his kidnapping plot. But he didn't intend on letting anyone live.

He had bound everyone's hands behind their back, placed duct tape over their mouths, and it even wrapped plastic bags around their heads. Now, since this crime happened so recently, there are still a lot of details about the murders that are unknown. But it's reported that when the 15-year-old girl walked inside of her house, Austin had already murdered her family. Reacting quickly, he snatched the young girl

and let her back outside to his car, which was still parked in the neighbor's driveway. At the time he was kidnapping the young girl, the neighbor was actually outside of her home standing in the garage just staring at them, wondering what on earth was happening. She had already dialed the non-emergency line to report the suspicious vehicle

and had given authorities a license plate number. And as Austin placed the girl into the back, of his car, the neighbor confronted him, saying, quote, you can't park here. But when the neighbor really stopped to think about what was going on, she grew deeply concerned. Why wasn't the young girl wearing shoes or pants? Why wasn't she saying anything? Why did she look so scared? The girl also mumbled something that sounded like, help me, to the neighbor, but she couldn't clearly make out what she said. From here, Austin pushed forward, placed the black duffel bag in the backseat of his car, and apologized to the neighbor for parking in her driveway. He then peeled out and took off at

high speeds down Price Court. The neighbor immediately dialed 911 to report the incident. Meanwhile, Michelle still hadn't heard from her parents about what was going on with the detective, and she began to grow gravely concerned, and it was when she picked up her cell phone and saw a new Facebook message from her parents' neighbor, Bonnie Davis, when her fears were substantiated. The message read, Please call me ASAP. Michelle called Bonnie immediately and heard some news that no one ever wants to hear. Bonnie told Michelle that she needed to come to Price Court because her parents' house was on fire.

In a panic, Michelle abandoned her shopping cart, got into her car, and sped off down the road with her husband, Ben, desperately trying to get home as fast as she could. She continued to call and text her parents and sister, but no one was answered. On the way over, she called Bonnie back to make sure that everyone was okay. But Bonnie told her she wasn't sure. When Michelle finally arrived at the home, she saw a large number of fire trucks and police cars parked right outside of the house. There was also yellow crime scene tape roped around the property

that prevented her from accessing the entrance. Police wouldn't let her through, wouldn't answer any questions, and couldn't explain to her exactly what was going on. From there, she was taken back to the police station for questioning and would soon receive the worst news of her life. But at that very moment, both the young girl and Austin were still missing, and the story was about to get darker than anyone could have imagined. Now police were searching for the 15-year-old victim and her abductor.

They ran the license plate given to them by the neighbor, and it came back as being registered to a man named Austin Lee Edwards, from North Chesterfield, Virginia. This came as a shock to everyone, as the perpetrator had seemingly driven thousands of miles to commit this crime. The authorities also had Austin's cell phone number and were quickly able to track his location using cell phone towers. From here, they determined that he was still in Southern California. At around 1 p.m. that day, the SWAT team was sent to Austin's pinpointed location in the ghost town of Kelso, California. California. Kelso is an extremely rugged, abandoned community in San Bernardino County,

littered with old decrepit buildings and situated around a historic train depot. While searching for Austin, a police helicopter spotted his car on the highway, and from here, the authorities began their white-knuckle pursuit. But as you can imagine, Austin was not going to take the easy way out. He evaded the police for miles, leading them on a high-speed pursuit, and he even shot at them with his pistol while he was driving the car. Rounds which struck the SWAT vehicle following close behind. But eventually, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed the car on the side of the road. In a final act of atrocity, Austin tried to escape by foot with the young But before he could take her, she was able to escape and was safely taken into police custody.

Knowing that it was all over, Austin raised his gun to the sky and pointed it at the police helicopter idling overhead. And it was at that moment when the responding deputies opened fire. It was initially reported that Austin was shot and killed by police officers. But it was later determined that during his autopsy, On November 29, 2022, he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He used his own service weapon, provided to him by the Washington County Sheriff's Department, to take his own life, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. From there, the young girl was taken into custody and handed over to the Riverside County Department of Social Services,

where she received trauma counseling. Through investigation, they were able to determine that she was not involved in the murder of her family, members, and it was from her testimony that the grim story of Austin the Edwards and his pedophilic catfishing behaviors began to unravel. Back at the police station, Michelle was relieved to hear that her niece was found unharmed and taken into police custody, but a few hours later, she received the horrible news that her father, Mark, mother Sherry, and sister Brooke were all found dead inside of the flaming home. She later found out that her sister, Brooke, had attempted to overpower Austin, but he had slid her throat with a knife that he had concealed

in his trench coat. Her parents, Mark and Sherry, and most likely died from his fixiation from the plastic bags over their heads, and hopefully didn't suffer for too long. Michelle returned to her parents' home around 11 p.m. that same night, and saw most of their belongings, charred, spread out all over the front lawn. Most of the home's windows had been blown out from the heat of the fire, and her mother's white Toyota still sat in the driveway, covered in an ominous layer of dark soot. It turned out that Austin had disguised a gas can in his briefcase that he had brought to the front door that day and doused the house in gasoline and lit it on fire after the murders. The family pets, including three dogs and a bird, also died in the fire.

One dog who had been in the backyard during the fire survived and was later taken to a local animal shelter. Back in North Chesterfield, Virginia, a search warrant was quickly issued for Austin's home. Interestingly enough, on the same night of the murders in Riverside, two Washington County police officers around. arrived at Austin's house, left with a black trash bag full of items, and drove off in a Washington County police truck that he had left parked in his driveway. A witness recorded the two officers and captured them on camera walking away with items retrieved from the back of the house.

Criminal defense attorney Yancey Ellis spoke with the Los Angeles Times and said, quote, this is strange right off the bat because Washington County doesn't have jurisdiction to do anything in Smith County. If you want to do something in another county, you should go to local law enforcement. And this sort of rubs me the wrong way. What were they removing from the house that evening? From a home that wasn't even in their jurisdiction. Was the department trying to hide something? Were they doing advanced damage control? Well, on December, December 12, 2022, two weeks after the murders, the Washington County Sheriff's Department finally released a statement regarding their search and seizure of Austin's home. They said they

wanted to make sure there were no victims inside of his house, and they retrieved his bulletproof vest, police uniform, and duty belt. It was determined that his police issued gun was not located inside the holster. The police truck was seized. and contained a shotgun and a rifle. This information was released to the Riverside, California authorities, who at the time were actively investigating the crime. The day after the murders, on November 26, 2022, the Smith County Sheriff's Department executed their search warrant at Austin's house.

Several items were removed that were related to their investigation, and the items taken were handed over to the FBI for further processing. It was also determined that Austin had an apartment that was in the process of an eviction. Before his death in the murders, Austin had been very late on his rent, and his landlord had already started the legal proceedings against him to have him evicted. However, in a strange twist, this residence of Austin's was never searched by authorities. Why, you ask? Apparently, because the Riverside Police Department in California said that it was not related to their case. Spokesman Ryan Railback, when pressed about this, told reporters,

We did not need to in relation to our investigation. Officials already had items seized from his house that are relevant to our murder investigation. However, many people disagreed, including a former New York City sex crimes prosecutor, who said that Austin may have kept electronic devices in the apartment used to communicate with other children. She was quoted as saying, Edwards is not someone who acted on a sudden impulse that he quickly regretted. This is someone who sought out and groomed an underage kid. He engaged in this conduct on multiple occasions.

This suggests that he was deeply committed to abusing kids. It is virtually certain there are more victims. From the literal outside looking in, it appeared to reporters that there were items located inside of Austin's old apartment. One reporter even stated that when she was looking inside, she saw a cat toy and a clothing bag on the floor in the living room. Outside, attached to the front door handle, was an eviction notice and a letter from the landlord asking residents to keep their back porch clean. It was later reported that Austin owed $804 for November. rent, $90 in damages, $80.40 in late fees, $150 for an attorney fee, and $61 for court costs. The case was later dismissed by Judge Keith Hurley due to Austin's death, and the apartment

was never searched. This has led me to question why the apartment was never searched. Some people online have speculated that the authorities really were doing some damage control and didn't particularly want to find any additional crimes or victims of Austin's. Still, to this day, the real reason why they never searched the apartment is unknown. In the days and weeks following the murders, both the Virginia State Police Department and Washington County Sheriff's Department came under extreme scrutiny for hiring Austin. Both agencies attempted to distance themselves from their former colleague. In the Washington County Sheriff's Department even stated that he was a, quote,

evil and wicked person. But spokespeople for both departments place blame on human error. Neither agency apologized to Michelle for the loss of her family, even after she continued to get harassed by the media in the wake of the murders. The public, the media,

everyone wanted to know more information about what happened. So on November 30th, 2020, Michelle Blanden spoke publicly for the first time about the events of that night. She wanted to answer as many questions as she could, and she also wanted the media to stop contacting her. Good morning, and thank you for everyone for being here today.

My family and I truly appreciate the love and the compassion that we have received thus far in this trying time. To our neighbors, our friends, and our family members, we thank you from the bottom of our heart, for the outpouring of well wishes. We have heard all of you, and we appreciate you more than you'll ever know. Nobody could imagine this crime happening to my family, to our family,

especially it just being one day after Thanksgiving. It was just a few days ago that we all celebrated together that Thanksgiving of blessing and gratefulness. And we recounted many of those blessings that we had in our lives together on that day. We had a family debate and it got heated on if the brownies my mom made should be frosted with sprinkles or just left plain. It seemed silly at the time, but that's a conversation and a debate that will forever resonate in my heart. Little did I know on that day that would be the last time that my husband and I would see my parents and my sister again. The next day, while we were out buying Christmas lights for our home,

I received a phone call from my parents' neighbor of 22 years. They were best friends. They looked out for each other. She called to tell us that we needed to get there as soon as we could because my parents' house was on fire. This is the home that my sister and I grew up in since we were little. I couldn't get there fast enough. We left everything in the shopping cart at the store,

and took off. When I had arrived at my house, we had learned that something more tragic had happened. In a time where communities are afraid to report strange sightings, the loving neighbors on my parents' street saw an unfamiliar car, and they immediately reported it to authorities. Ultimately, this is our community, and we need to look out and care for one another.

Making that call from that neighbor saved my niece's life. And that neighbor is a hero in our eyes. If something like this horrific tragedy can happen here in our neighborhood, in our community, it can happen anywhere. Sadly, we were too late to save my dad, Mark, my mom, Sherry, and my youngest sister Brooke. vicious crime. They are forever in my heart and I miss them deeply. In this tragic moment of our family, our grief, we hope some good will come from this. During this conference, Michelle urged parents to be more cautious of their children's activities on the internet. Parents, please, please know your child's online activity. Ask questions about what they are doing and whom they are

talking to. Anybody can say there's someone else and you could be in this situation which I do not want for the world. This horrific event started with an inappropriate online romance between a predator and a child. We have some solace that this person will never harm anyone again, especially a minor. But we also want to make it very clear that we do not applaud his death. This was a an adult that traveled across the country to kidnap a 15-year-old girl, my niece, our niece, our family member, with the idea to kidnap her and kill and devastate our family. He took an oath to protect, and yet he failed to do so. Instead, he prayed on the most vulnerable. When you hear the term catfishing, you think of a long-running dating show.

or series about a national sports figure, both glamorizing and sensationalizing online relationships. However, in this instance, catfishing led to the deaths of the three most important people in my life. My dad, my mom, and my sister, please, parents, guardians, when you are talking to your children about the dangers of their online actions, please use us as a reference. Tell our story to help your parenting, not out of fear, but out of example of something that did happen. Michelle wanted her family members to be remembered for the wonderful people they were. Her younger sister Brooke, who was a single mother of two teenage girls.

Her father, Mark, who was an assistant softball coach at Arlington High School, and her mother, Sherry, who was the matriarch of the family and was known to have a big heart. My sister Brooke was a loving single mom who did her best to raise her two teenage daughters in a loving way. She supported them in their school endeavors and enjoyed watching color guard performances. and choir concerts for both of her children. My sister was an avid collector of the famous Starbuts Tumblers. Every release day, I would get a text at 4 a.m. from her, wondering why I wasn't waiting in line with her to pick up the newest release.

My dad, Mark, the silly old man that I referenced him, always referenced him to be, was a soft-spoken and humble man who would go out of his way to help a friend or stranger in need. He was known on their street as the one to depend on if anyone needed anything. In 1993, his love for coaching high school athletes began at La Sierra High School, where I had the privilege and the honor of not only calling him dad, but also coach as he coached all four years of my soccer team. He continued coaching high school sports at many schools in Riverside County and ultimately found his home at Arlington High School,

coaching the softball and the baseball teams. He was a man with a big and caring heart who unselfishly gave to his student athletes. My mom Sherry, the matriarch of our family, with the biggest giving heart imaginable, did anything and everything for everyone, and never needed or wanted anything in return. She loved my sister and I, along with her four granddaughters, with every ounce of her being. She enjoyed baking with us, and the highlight of the year was baking and decorating Christmas cookies. And that is a tradition that I will carry on as we go forward. For my two young nieces who are now left motherless, hope that this community can wrap your arms around them and lift them up.

They have the most difficult journey ahead, as they are minors. and they don't understand everything that has happened. And we ask that this community continue to shelter them, protect them, and wrap them in their arms, and continue to lift them up. Please positively support them. We have started a GoFundMe page in honor of my parents and my sister, in which it will be used to help my nieces,

my sisters' two children, live their best life, and start a college. savings. Thank you to those that have already donated and to those that will. We are eternally grateful. Today, the GoFundMe page set up for the Weinick family has reached its goal of $100,000 and continues to receive donations for Brooke Weinex's two surviving daughters. In December of 2022, an attorney representing Michelle Blanden uncovered more information about Austin Edwards' employment as a state trooper. It was revealed that they had indeed been informed of his 2016 hospitalization, and that during the application process, he had failed his psychological evaluation. Attorney David Ring said, quote, Virginia completely

dropped the ball. There is no law enforcement agency in the country that would have hired Austin the Edwards, given his mental health history. Edwards was forbidden by the courts to possess a gun. Virginia gave him a gun, a badge, and the ability to commit these heinous murders, end quote. Due to the new findings in the case, Michelle sued the state of Virginia and the one. Washington County Sheriff's Department for gross negligence for hiring Austin Edwards as a police officer in May of 2023. She claimed damages of more than $100 million. Another attorney representing the family, Alison Polensaros, stated, how is it possible that not one but two Virginia law enforcement agencies not only hired a person who was automatically disqualified from carrying a gun,

but then trained him in police tactics and investigations, which allowed him to gain access to the family and carry out the brutal murders. Michelle and her family hope that shedding light on this tragedy will change how police screen potential new hires so that no other family ever has to endure what they have over the past year again. We will never know what would have happened to that young girl if Austin had been successful and getting her to come back to his home in Saltville, Virginia. Luckily, that didn't happen, but it's utterly terrifying that it almost did. It's also terrifying that someone with as many violent issues as Austin Lee Edwards was allowed to represent the police force in Virginia and was so readily handed a service weapon

and a badge without any real hesitation from superiors. And although this story is a tragedy because three innocent people were brutally murdered, it has somewhat of a happy ending, the glimmer of hope because the intended target was found safe and unharmed. It's obvious from his actions like tenting his windows black and putting up blackout curtains that Austin wanted to hide whatever he planned on doing inside of his home. And it's scary that there are thousands of people out there right now prowling around on the internet that probably fantasize about doing the same thing. You really do have to be careful interacting with strangers online because you never really know exactly who you're talking to.

So parents, watch out for your children because there are evil people out there. People just like Austin Lee Edwards. Growing up, my mom was always the best at handling sticky, stressful situations. I mean, we have so many crazy family memories, so many things that still. stick out to me, so many trips that we took and just funny moments. I mean, I remember specifically one just crazy time when we had jet skis and we took them out. We had rented them for the day and we took them out on this lake and somehow something got on the engine of the jet ski. Mine stalled, my dad stalled and my mom and sister had to come rescue us because we floated to shore on the other

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MIA. That's neutrofoil.com spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com promo code MIA. Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I are so just happy to have so many people out there diving into these stories with us every week. And I cannot, like I say, almost every week, I cannot wait to share some of the upcoming stories that we have written and that we're waiting to share with you because, wow, we're going to expose some pretty crazy stuff in the next coming months. We've got some awesome projects that we're involved with that are going to be coming out too. But I want to give a shout out to our new patrons this week, Marie Morgan, Corshanna, Mandy Sanders, Hannah Gilmore, Zoe Frost, Lauren

Gonzalez, Alexis Carano, and Eric Hunsacker. Oh my gosh, every single week, guys, our Patreon list grows. We have so many more people joining us on Patreon. So if you don't know what Patreon is, if you don't like the ads in the middle of these episodes. You can sign up to become a Patreon member on our Patreon page. Just head to patreon.com and search Murder in America. And we release the ad-free versions of every single episode that we drop

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everything gets switched up. But if you want to follow us on Instagram, just follow Murder in America. That's our official account. We post photos from every case that we cover as soon as the episodes go live. So if you want to see the faces, the places associated with these cases, join us on Instagram. We also have an official Facebook group that you can join to chat with other people who love the show, chat with Courtney and I. And yeah, you know, we love you guys so, so much. And yeah, I guess we'll catch you next week on the next one.