Family Of Slain Victims Seek Answers, $100M, From Va. Officials In Broken Hiring Process

RIVERSIDE, CA — The relatives of a Riverside family shot to death in their home by a catfishing cop from Virginia in November plan to sue officials in that state for hiring the officer despite his known history of mental illness.

Austin Lee Edwards, 28, "catfished" a 15-year-old Riverside girl and drove across the country to kidnap her and kill her mother Brooke Winek, 38, and her grandparents, Sharie Winek, 65 and Mark Winek, 69, before killing himself as police closed in on him in the Mojave Desert. Now Brooke Winek's sister Mychelle Blandin and youngest daughter are seeking more than $100 million in damages along with answers for why the officer was hired by two Virginia law agencies after disclosing a history of mental illness. They are also seeking policy changes for how officers are hired, attorneys told the Los Angeles Times.

The "catfished" teen escaped, but the scars of the incident remain, according to her remaining relatives.

David Ring, the family's attorney, notified officials in Washington County, VA of the pending lawsuit. It accuses the Virginia agencies that hired Edwards of negligence, gross negligence, negligent and gross negligent hiring, supervision and retention; breach of mandatory duties and Virginia state law violations, according to the Times.

Edwards spent time under psychiatric evaluation in 2016 after threatening to kill himself and his father, the Los Angeles Times reported. A letter obtained by the Times, written by Virginia State Police Col. Gary Settle, the police superintendent, showed that Edwards admitted he was sent to a mental health facility in 2016 and that he made his mental health issues known when he applied. The admission should have triggered additional investigation, Settle wrote.

"Unfortunately, the error allowed him to be employed, as there were no other disqualifiers," Settle wrote. A detailed account of how Edwards slipped through the hiring process was written by the Times in December.

The family wants more answers, however.

"The only way the family is ever going to get real answers is through litigation," Ring told the Times. "Without this lawsuit, the truth will get whitewashed."

Read the full report in the Los Angeles Times.

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