After catfishing, a Virginian deputy allegedly shot to death the mother and grandparents of a teen from California. He ended the chase by other police for about 200 miles after racing from the crime scene; and turned the gun on himself, committing suicide.
According to investigators, the suspect, 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards, “catfished’ a 15-year-old girl. He faked his age as 17, reported Crime Online.
Next, he took his vehicle to see the girl at her Riverside home, where her mom and grandparents lived.
The mom, Brooke Winek, 38; Mark, 69; and Sharie, 65, would be his victims.
Based on details when he parked in the neighbor’s driveway and then walked to the ill-fated residence. It was unclear why he did it, but he shot dead all the Wineks. No one survived, so they burned the house and kidnapped the girl.
One of the neighbors saw the deputy with the young girl who panicked when forced into the car with a stranger. Police were on the way to check the incident; when reports of a fire came in, firemen saw the Wineks’ corpses in the burnt house, noted Tapatalk.
The killer
Austin Lee Edwards was a deputy at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for about two weeks when he abducted and killed the family. Records say he worked as part of the Virginia State Police, leaving last October 28.
Investigators are still looking into the details of the case. All the particulars, from the catfishing to the murder and how Edwards contacted the teen. He asked for nudes, and that’s when she stopped, then he drove cross country.
The girl was safe in the car; after the catfishing, the Virginia deputy had committed suicide.
