Suspect in California catfishing case killed self with police-issued gun, detectives say

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The suspect in a California triple slaying and teen catfishing case late last month used a police-issued gun to kill himself, according to new information from police.

Austin Lee Edwards, the Virginia sheriff’s deputy who police say killed three members of a Riverside family Nov. 25, used his department-issued firearm to take his own life later that day, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported Saturday.

“Detectives determined the gun used was Edwards’ department-issued semi-automatic service pistol,” sheriff’s spokesperson Gloria Huerta told USA TODAY Monday.

Riverside Police Department officials said Edwards, 28, pretended to be a 17-year-old boy to establish an online, “catfishing” relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

Authorities said he drove across the country from Virginia to the girl's Riverside home after she stopped communicating when he asked her to send him nude photos.

On the day of the killings, a neighbor called police saying the girl looked distressed while getting into a car with Edwards. Soon after, a fire erupted at the family's home.

Three bodies found in the family's home were identified by police as the girl’s grandparents, Mark Winek, 69, and, Sharie Winek, 65, as well as the girl's mother, Brooke Winek, 38.

Firefighters found the bodies of Mark Winek, 69, his wife, Sharie Winek, 65, left, and their daughter, Brooke Winek, 38, while responding to a fire at their home in Riverside, California, officials said.
Firefighters found the bodies of Mark Winek, 69, his wife, Sharie Winek, 65, left, and their daughter, Brooke Winek, 38, while responding to a fire at their home in Riverside, California, officials said.

That same day, Edwards died by suicide during a shootout with sheriff's deputies in the town of Kelso in the Mojave Desert.

Police said they found the pair after they obtained the license plate number of his car from neighbors’ security camera videos and tracked Edwards through his cell phone.  He fired on officers during a pursuit, sheriff’s officials said, before he crashed.

Deputies fired on him as the girl escaped safely.

Initially authorities said Edwards was fatally shot by at least one deputy.

But during his Nov. 29 autopsy, the San Bernardino County Coroner determined his manner of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Austin Lee Edwards
Austin Lee Edwards

Officials said Edwards had been employed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for less than two weeks at the time of the Riverside attacks. He had graduated from the Virginia State Police Academy on Jan. 21, 2022, and resigned from that department on Oct. 28.

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Riverside police, the agency investigating the deaths of the girl's family members, has not said how they were killed.

The cause of the fire at the home also remained under investigation, police said, but appeared to have been “intentionally ignited.”

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"Nobody could imagine this crime happening to my family to our family," said Michelle Blandin who spoke about her sister and parents during a Nov. 30 news conference.

"Catfishing led to the deaths of the three most important people in my life – my dad, my mom and my sister," Blandin said. "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."

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California catfishing case suspect killed self with police-issued gun