A California man who stabbed his former classmate 28 times and buried him in a park has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release for hate crimes.
Samuel Woodward, 27, was found guilty earlier this year of murder as a hate crime in the death of Blaze Bernstein, a gay, Jewish college sophomore.
He was sentenced on Friday in Orange County Superior Court, but did not appear due to sickness.
Bernstein, 19, was a University of Pennsylvania student who went missing while visiting his family in Newport Beach in January 2018.
The couple, who attended the same high school, traveled to a park in Lake Forest the night Bernstein went missing. After Bernstein skipped a dentist appointment the next day and his parents were unable to contact him, authorities initiated an extensive search.
His family searched his social media accounts and discovered that he last talked with Woodward on Snapchat, they informed authorities.
Days after going missing, the teenager’s body was discovered in a small grave in the park. He’d been stabbed repeatedly in the face and neck.
Prosecutors said Woodward was a member of the violent anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division, but Woodward’s lawyer, Ken Morrison, said his client didn’t intend to kill anyone or hate Bernstein and had difficult personal relationships due to a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.
After a three-month trial marked by numerous delays, the jury convicted him guilty in July.
During the trial, the court heard that the duo, who both attended Orange County School of the Arts, met through a dating app in the months leading up to the murder. Woodward said that he picked up Bernstein and drove him to a nearby park, where he repeatedly stabbed him while attempting to get a cellphone he suspected had been used to photograph him.
Woodward’s defense attorney contended that he was confused about his sexuality as a result of growing up in a politically conservative and devout Catholic environment where his father openly condemned homosexuality.
However, the prosecution claimed that Woodward repeatedly targeted gay men online, reaching out to them and abruptly cutting off contact while keeping a vile, profanity-laced log of his conduct.
During a search of his family’s house, police discovered a black Atomwaffen mask with blood stains, a folding knife with a bloodied blade, and a slew of anti-gay, antisemitic, and hate organization propaganda.
Judge Kimberly Menninger described the case as “a true tragedy” because there was no proof that Woodward was apologetic for his actions.
“Unfortunately for the court and for the defendant, I’ve never seen any evidence of this up to this point in time,” Menninger said to the jury.
“Let’s be clear: This was a hate crime,” Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, said in court. “Samuel Woodward ended my son’s life because my son was Jewish and gay.”
She stated she takes pleasure in Woodward’s indefinite detention and that while he “rots in prison, we will be here on the outside, celebrating the life of Blaze.”
“Unfortunately for Mr. Woodward, the hate that fueled his thoughts was super disconcerting to this court and unfortunately reflects a larger societal ill that’s currently raging throughout this country,” according to the judge.
Dozens of Bernstein’s family and friends were in the courtroom. Many people wore T-shirts that stated “Blaze it Forward,” a tagline for a campaign to perform acts of charity in his memory after his passing.