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Police find family slaughtered at home then are horrified to discover who killer is

The discovery of three members of the family brutally murdered in cold blood inside their home led police down a truly terrifying road

[Austin Lee Edwards]

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Austin Lee Edwards, a former trooper with the Virginia State Police who was working for the Washington County Sheriff's Office(Image: NBC News)

A truly horrific crime proved so heartbreaking for a YouTuber he warned it was "almost too dark to talk about".

Adrian Stewart is the face of Coffeehouse Crime, which has 2.9million subscribers, and each week he releases a video delving into some of the most chilling cases in the world.

For warned his viewers that they would be beyond horrified to learn about what happened on the morning of November 25, 2022 in Riverside, California.

The murder case involved the former Virginia deputy Austin Lee Edwards who had spent months posing as a 17-year-old boy to groom a 15-year-old girl.

The unsuspecting girl spoke to the police officer on Instagram before he showed up at her family home to murder her mum and grandparents in cold blood. He then kidnapped the petrified teenager before a police chase led to a dramatic conclusion.

[Austin Lee Edwards]

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Austin Lee Edwards

Below, we look back on the haunting case, and the fallout from it that still remains.

Austin Lee Edwards

Edwards, 28 at the time, appeared to live a stable life considering he was thriving in the police while having also bought his own home in Saltville, Virginia.

However, a closer look at his life revealed some concerns, including his property having blacked out windows, and his history of mental health problems.

Back in 2016, Edwards had harmed himself with a knife, and he was eventually placed into a mental health facility, before his right to firearms was revoked.

Despite this, he eventually became a Virginia State Police trooper, and got a new job as a sheriffs deputy just days before he became a triple killer.

Although he appeared to be a regular worker, nobody knew about what he got up to after his shifts, where he would pretend to be a teenage boy to talk to girls.

[Brooke Winek]

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Brooke Winek, the mum of the girl Edwards was grooming, was just 38 when she was killed (Image: Gofundme)

He became fixated on a 15-year-old girl who he eventually lavished with gifts including money and Uber Eats.

However, the teenager was being groomed, and after the conversations became sexual, she eventually blocked him and ended the relationship. Edwards, who knew all about where she lived, did not take this well.

Triple Murder

Edwards drove for 40 hours almost across the entire country to end up at the home of the teenage girl he was obsessed with. She lived there with her younger sister, her mum and her grandparents.

He used his badge to gain entry into the house before convincing the grandparents to call their daughter Brooke, who was with her two daughters, to come home immediately.

The killer cop went on to murder the girls mum, Brooke Winek, 38, and her grandparents, Mark, 69 and Sharie Winek, 69.

Brooke ended up having her spinal cord severed after being fatally stabbed to the neck.

He placed bags over the bodies and taped their necks while their arms and legs were bound with duct tape, according to a disturbing report in the Los Angeles Times.

The younger sister managed to escape, but Edwards pointed a gun at the girl and told her: Stop screaming.

[Crime scene ]

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The crime scene in Riverside (Image: NBC News)

She recognised the voice from the so-called boy she had been chatting to online before he started to douse the home in gasoline.

He then forced her into the backseat of his red Kia Soul before driving away as neighbours started to call the authorities after spotting the fire.

One witness saw him struggle to get the teenager into the car before giving a description to police. Firefighters arrived to find three bodies in the front entrance.

Cops eventually uncovered the licence plate of Edwards car before, much to their horror, realising they were dealing with a police officer.

During the terrifying journey back to Virginia with her abductor, the teenage girl was forced to hold his hand, before it eventually came to a dramatic conclusion.

Edwards fired his gun through the back window as police officers circled before they eventually closed in on him.

[Mark Winek and his wife Sharie Winek]

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Murder victims Mark Winek and his wife Sharie Winek

This was when he told the girl to leave the car before he turned the gun on himself.

Conclusion

In recent times, surviving family members, including the abducted teenager who escaped with her life, have filed multiple lawsuits against law enforcement agencies, arguing that Edwards should never have been put in a position to be a serving officer, given his troubled psychological history.

And wrapping up his video, Adrian said: I think what really haunts me about this case is that something so simple and normal could have twisted and turned into something catastrophic. All of this came from just merely talking to someone online, which is something that millions of us do every single day.

After the triple murder, Ryan Railsback of the Riverside Police Department said: This guys a monster. Hes a predator.

He added: She's a victim because as any teenager or child, you're vulnerable. This grown man who's in law enforcement took advantage of that.

Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez meanwhile said it was yet another horrific reminder of the predators existing online who prey on our children.

He continued: If youve already had a conversation with your kids on how to be safe online and on social media, have it again. If not, start it now to better protect them.

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