Virginia’s governor wants review of catfish killer’s hiring by State Police

A spokesperson for Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin confirmed the lead official had ordered the Inspector General to investigate the State Police hiring of an Abingdon native that posed as a teenage boy to seduce a California girl online and later killed three of her family members.

Austin Lee Edwards resigned as a State Trooper in October and was hired by the Washington County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office. A statement by the VSP issued after the catfish case and murders became public said there were no red flags in Edwards’s past to trigger an investigation before his hire.

The Los Angeles Times has reported a 2016 incident in Abingdon where Edwards harmed himself and had a psychiatric evaluation after police had to restrain him.

(IMAGE: Bristol Broadcasting Co News Archive)