SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California man convicted of stabbing to dying a homosexual College of Pennsylvania scholar in an act of hate was sentenced Friday to life with out parole in jail.
Samuel Woodward, 27, was sentenced in a Southern California courtroom on the finish of an all-day listening to for the homicide of Blaze Bernstein practically seven years in the past. Woodward, who didn’t seem in courtroom Friday on account of sickness, was convicted this year of first-degree murder with an enhancement for a hate crime for killing Bernstein, a homosexual, Jewish school sophomore.
Dozens of Bernstein ‘s relations and associates sat within the courtroom. Many wore T-shirts studying “Blaze it Ahead,” a slogan for a marketing campaign to commit acts of kindness in his identify following his dying.
“Let’s be clear: This was a hate crime,” Bernstein’s mom, Jeanne Pepper, informed the courtroom. “Samuel Woodward ended my son’s life as a result of my son was Jewish and homosexual.”
She stated she takes solace in Woodward by no means getting out of custody and that whereas he “rots in jail, we might be right here on the surface, celebrating the lifetime of Blaze.”
“Blaze’s reminiscence and spirit will reside on in all types deed carried out in his honor,” she stated.
There was no query in regards to the sentence Woodward would obtain as a result of the jury’s verdict carried a life sentence with out parole, stated Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Legal professional’s workplace.
Woodward’s lawyer, Ken Morrison, requested the courtroom to condemn his shopper to twenty-eight years to life, saying the decide had some discretion on this regard and that the jurors weren’t permitted to see all of the proof within the case at trial. Morrison beforehand stated he would attraction the decision.
Bernstein, who was 19, disappeared in January 2018 after he went out at evening with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, about 45 mile southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the following day, his mother and father discovered his glasses, pockets and bank cards in his bed room and tried to achieve him, however he didn’t reply.
Authorities launched an exhaustive search and stated Bernstein’s household scoured his social media and noticed he had communicated with Woodward on Snapchat. Authorities stated Woodward informed the household that Bernstein had gone to satisfy a good friend within the park that evening and didn’t come again.
Days later Bernstein’s physique was present in a shallow grave within the park. He had been repeatedly stabbed within the face and neck.
The query throughout Woodward’s monthslong trial was not whether or not he killed Bernstein however why and the circumstances underneath which it occurred. Prosecutors stated Woodward was affiliated with the violent anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division, whereas Morrison stated his shopper didn’t plan to kill anybody or hate Bernstein and confronted difficult private relationships on account of a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum dysfunction.
The case took years to go to trial amid a collection of delays and stoked public outcry in Southern California, the place residents fanned out in 2018 to attempt to assist authorities discover Bernstein after he immediately went lacking.
Woodward testified throughout his trial and gave sluggish, delayed replies to attorneys’ questions together with his lengthy hair partly protecting his face.
Bernstein and Woodward attended the identical highschool, Orange County Faculty of the Arts, and linked by way of a courting app within the months earlier than the killing. Woodward stated he picked up Bernstein, went to a close-by park and repeatedly stabbed Bernstein after attempting to seize a cellphone he feared had been used to {photograph} him.
Morrison, the protection lawyer, stated Woodward was confused about his sexuality after rising up in a politically conservative and religious Catholic household the place his father overtly criticized homosexuality.
However prosecutors informed a distinct story. They stated Woodward had repeatedly focused homosexual males on-line by reaching out to them and abruptly breaking off contact, whereas maintaining a hateful, profanity-laced journal of his actions.
Authorities stated additionally they discovered a black Atomwaffen masks with traces of blood, a folding knife with a bloodied blade and a bunch of anti-gay, antisemitic and hate group supplies in a search of his household’s dwelling in Newport Seaside, California.