The murderous “catfish” Virginia cop that tricked a 15-year-old girl online before abducting her and killing her family had been messaging underage girls online for nearly a decade before the rampage, a report claims.
Messages between Austin Lee Edwards, 28, and his now-21-year-old victim reviewed by the Los Angeles Times show that his perversion toward underage girls began not less than seven years before he was caught posing as a 17-year-old boy on the web.
Edwards killed himself in November after kidnapping his 15-year-old victim, killing her mother and grandparents, and setting their home on fire.
The outlet didn’t discover the victim. She was 13 when the late cop began messaging her and soliciting nude photographs. Authorities uncovered not less than 4,000 messages between the pair.
Edwards was aware that the girl was a minor. Unlike on the time of his death, he didn’t try to catfish the girl and was forthcoming about his age.
“did i let you know i went trick or treating? :^ )” Edwards reportedly wrote on Nov. 6, 2014. “i totally did. am 20.”
“Me too,” the girl wrote back. “Am 13.”
After initially meeting on the chat app Omegle in 2014, the 2 conversed for not less than two years, messages show. The 20-year-old Edwards would also masturbate on Skype calls and ask her to undress, she said, which she selected to not do.
Edwards would confer with the teenager as his “girlfriend,” send naked photographs of herself, nonetheless, and would threaten violence if she refused.
“That’s when I spotted he was not mentally stable,” she said.
During several calls, Edwards would showcase his knife and hatchet collection, she said.
One in every of the hatchets would find yourself being the one he used on himself in a 2016 suicide attempt. His father told authorities his son had been drinking and coping with “girlfriend” problems.
The underage girl believes she was the “girlfriend” the long run murderer’s father had been referring to.
In line with the girl, Edwards also shared his suicidal thoughts with the young woman, often telling her she was the one person he had and would threaten to kill himself if she cut communications with him. At one point, he told her she was his only reason for living.
Edwards even encouraged her to have interaction in violence against her family, messages show.
In 2015, he asked her to Skype, however the girl said she couldn’t because her mother was home.
“kill her,” he wrote, before threatening. “imma give myself a black eye okay.”
After two years of messaging, and several other attempts at breaking up, the then-15-year-old girl decided to dam Edwards.
He continued to message her on different Facebook accounts, despite the fact that she never shared her real name with him.
Edwards joined the Virginia State Police in 2021, despite his history of mental health institutionalization that ought to have prevented him from joining the force. A 12 months after graduating, Edwards began working on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
In November 2022, Edwards abducted a 15-year-old California girl he was conversing with online under the guise of a 17-year-old boy. He killed her grandparents and mother before setting her house on fire and taking off with the girl.
After a shootout with the police, Edwards killed himself along with his service weapon. The girl was physically unhurt.
His former victim said she wasn’t “surprised in any respect” that Edwards had unleashed such violence on the girl and her family because she “knew how scary he was.”
“It’s just crazy that he was in a position to change into a cop with me knowing his mental health issues,” the lady said. “I don’t understand how he got past the whole lot since it was so distinguished to me that he had so many issues just from talking to him in that point period.”
The murderous “catfish” Virginia cop that tricked a 15-year-old girl online before abducting her and killing her family had been messaging underage girls online for nearly a decade before the rampage, a report claims.
Messages between Austin Lee Edwards, 28, and his now-21-year-old victim reviewed by the Los Angeles Times show that his perversion toward underage girls began not less than seven years before he was caught posing as a 17-year-old boy on the web.
Edwards killed himself in November after kidnapping his 15-year-old victim, killing her mother and grandparents, and setting their home on fire.
The outlet didn’t discover the victim. She was 13 when the late cop began messaging her and soliciting nude photographs. Authorities uncovered not less than 4,000 messages between the pair.
Edwards was aware that the girl was a minor. Unlike on the time of his death, he didn’t try to catfish the girl and was forthcoming about his age.
“did i let you know i went trick or treating? :^ )” Edwards reportedly wrote on Nov. 6, 2014. “i totally did. am 20.”
“Me too,” the girl wrote back. “Am 13.”
After initially meeting on the chat app Omegle in 2014, the 2 conversed for not less than two years, messages show. The 20-year-old Edwards would also masturbate on Skype calls and ask her to undress, she said, which she selected to not do.
Edwards would confer with the teenager as his “girlfriend,” send naked photographs of herself, nonetheless, and would threaten violence if she refused.
“That’s when I spotted he was not mentally stable,” she said.
During several calls, Edwards would showcase his knife and hatchet collection, she said.
One in every of the hatchets would find yourself being the one he used on himself in a 2016 suicide attempt. His father told authorities his son had been drinking and coping with “girlfriend” problems.
The underage girl believes she was the “girlfriend” the long run murderer’s father had been referring to.
In line with the girl, Edwards also shared his suicidal thoughts with the young woman, often telling her she was the one person he had and would threaten to kill himself if she cut communications with him. At one point, he told her she was his only reason for living.
Edwards even encouraged her to have interaction in violence against her family, messages show.
In 2015, he asked her to Skype, however the girl said she couldn’t because her mother was home.
“kill her,” he wrote, before threatening. “imma give myself a black eye okay.”
After two years of messaging, and several other attempts at breaking up, the then-15-year-old girl decided to dam Edwards.
He continued to message her on different Facebook accounts, despite the fact that she never shared her real name with him.
Edwards joined the Virginia State Police in 2021, despite his history of mental health institutionalization that ought to have prevented him from joining the force. A 12 months after graduating, Edwards began working on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
In November 2022, Edwards abducted a 15-year-old California girl he was conversing with online under the guise of a 17-year-old boy. He killed her grandparents and mother before setting her house on fire and taking off with the girl.
After a shootout with the police, Edwards killed himself along with his service weapon. The girl was physically unhurt.
His former victim said she wasn’t “surprised in any respect” that Edwards had unleashed such violence on the girl and her family because she “knew how scary he was.”
“It’s just crazy that he was in a position to change into a cop with me knowing his mental health issues,” the lady said. “I don’t understand how he got past the whole lot since it was so distinguished to me that he had so many issues just from talking to him in that point period.”
