Virginia police blame ‘human error’ in hiring of cop who later killed 3 in California Virginia police now say their background check should have flagged Austin Lee Edwards, who later killed three family members of a Riverside teen he “catfished.” The Times reviewed nearly 4,000 messages provided by the woman that offer deeper insight into Edwards’ psyche.The messages, portions of which were initially shared with The Times by Justin Smith, co-host of “It’s Cryptic Out There,” a crime and paranormal podcast, provide greater detail of a 2016 incident in which Edwards was detained for psychiatric evaluation after cutting his hand and threatening to kill himself and his father.The woman told The Times that she wanted to share her story to let the public know that Edwards had a history of grooming and soliciting sexual images from minors, even before he was hired as a law enforcement officer.She said he would complain of his hunger because of a lack of money and that he would intentionally starve himself when he was depressed.He added: “imma give myself a black eye okay.” Messages show that Edwards would often refer to her as his “girlfriend” and told her how important she was to him."