Authorities in Virginia said “human error” was to blame for the hiring of the former state trooper, who is accused of “catfishing” a 15-year-old girl and then killing three members of her family.
Virginia State Police said in a statement Wednesday that an administrative review has uncovered that an unspecified “human error resulted in an incomplete database query” during Austin Lee Edwards’ hiring process.
“Although we believe this to be an isolated incident, steps are currently underway to ensure the error is not repeated going forward,” the agency stated. “The department is also proactively auditing existing personnel records and practices.”
State police spoke out about the case after the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that a police report indicated that Edwards had been detained in 2016 for a psychiatric evaluation over threats to kill his father and himself, years before he pursued a career in law enforcement.
The reporting raised questions about how Edwards was hired by the Virginia State Police and later by a Virginia sheriff’s office without triggering any red flags.
Both law enforcement agencies have said they found no warning signs about Edwards, and no previous employers disclosed issues during background checks.
He entered the Virginia State Police academy in Jan. 2021 and resigned from the force 15 months later on Oct. 28, 2022.
Edwards had been hired by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office just 11 days before his alleged murder rampage.
Authorities in California have said Edwards posed online as a 17-year-old boy while talking to the 15-year-old victim. He asked the teen to send nude photos of herself, at which time she stopped communicating with him.
He drove across the country and on Nov. 25 killed the girl’s mom, Brooke Winek, 38, and grandparents, Mark Winek, 69, and Sharie Winek, 65, before setting the family’s Riverside home on fire and driving off with the teen.
Edwards died by suicide during a shootout with San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies the same day. The girl was rescued and taken into protective custody, where she has been receiving counseling for trauma, her relatives said.
A report written by police in Abingdon, Virginia, described a mental health episode in Feb. 2016, when Edwards was 21.
Edwards watched the Super Bowl with his father on Feb. 7, the report said. Later that night, his father awoke to the sound of his son making noise in the bathroom. The father used a screwdriver to open the door and saw his son with a self-inflicted injury to his hand.
When emergency medical technicians arrived, they discovered Edwards being held down by his dad. When police arrived, they found a “large presence of blood” inside the home.
“Austin made several statements in the presence of Officers that he wanted to die, that he would try to kill himself the instant he was free from restraints, and that he would kill his father,” police wrote in the report.
Edwards was taken to a local hospital. His father told authorities he didn’t know why his son had harmed himself but said he might be troubled about a relationship with his girlfriend. Knives and a small hatchet were present in the home.
Because of Edwards’ suicidal and homicidal statements, an emergency custody order was issued, which allowed medical professionals to assess whether he met the requirements for a temporary detention order.
In response to a motion filed by the Los Angeles Times, a Washington County judge released Edwards’ temporary detention order, which said there was a “substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness,” Edwards would seriously harm himself or suffer harm in the near future.
He was taken that day to Ridgeview Pavilion, a psychiatric hospital in Bristol, Virginia, according to the order.
After details from the Abingdon police report became public, Virginia State Police stated that Edwards never disclosed any incidents during the hiring process or during his time on the force that would have disqualified him from serving as a trooper.
With Post wires