In a tell-all biography Raised by a Serial Killer: Discovering the Truth About My Father, April Balascio opens up about discovering her father was a serial killer. Balascio opened up about how a cold-hearted and psychopathic man took them all by surprise when he was found guilty of multiple murders.
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Her father was serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards.
The hard-to-read story she has produced gives some insight into what it is like to live with a serial killer as a father. She speaks of the abuse her family suffered at his hands, as well as the constant moving and hiding.
Ever since they were young children, Edwards won people over with his charm. However, behind closed doors, he was less than pleasant. It was with this two-faced, double-sided personality that he was able to stay one step ahead of the police.
They Could Have Guessed Their Father Was A Serial Killer
From very early on, their serial killer father was a bit of an oddball. He liked to perform tricks for people, using his children as props in dangerous acts of daring. However, the real early warning signs should have been when April Balascio's father smashed a kitten into a wall.
From there, it all went downhill. Balascio says her father had a weird obsession with true crime and crime news. "As A family, we watched the news every night in the living room. Dad watched it the way some people watch sports, yelling at crime reporters as if he knew better. No, no, it didn't happen that way,' he would say. Or he'd scoff: 'Don't be an idiot. He wouldn't have done it like that.' He was particularly obsessed with murders and stabbings."
Then, one day, he took them out to one of their family BBQ spots, where he dragged his family through the undergrowth. Eventually, he found what he was searching for, and they turned around and went home. Only a few days later, the police found a pair of bodies. The family would frequently move from town to town.
From here, April Balascio tells of how, in between beatings, their serial killer father would make them move houses. Every few years another murder would crop up on TV, or some family friends would disappear. These sorts of things frequented her youth. They never put two and two together until April finally confronted the idea later in life.
As an adult, April connected the dots and contacted detectives, who tested her father's DNA in the Sweetheart Murders and arrested him. Edwards died in prison in 2011.
