28/11/2022
Former Virginia State Police trooper accused of killing California family after ‘catfishing’ victim’s teenage daughter
The suspect, identified as 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards, of Chesterfield County, developed an online relationship with a teenage girl from Riverside, California while using online deception methods known as “catfishing,” according to a release from the Riverside Police Department.
Edwards obtained the teen’s personal information and traveled from Virginia to her home in Riverside, California, where police say he killed the teen’s grandmother, grandfather and mother inside their home, on Friday, Nov. 25. He then left the home with the teenage girl and traveled to San Bernadino.
Virginia State Police confirmed Edwards was hired and entered the police academy on July 6, 2021. He graduated on Jan. 21, 2022, as a trooper and was assigned to Henrico County, which is within the Richmond Division. Edwards resigned from his post on Oct. 28, 2022 — less than one month before the family was killed.