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On Friday, a judge sentenced Samuel Woodward to life in prison without parole for the January 2018 murder of a gay former schoolmate, saying the killer had no remorse.
In July, an Orange County jury found Woodward guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old Jewish gay student at the University of Pennsylvania, to prison in 28 places. It found Woodward was motivated by hatred when he inflicted the stabbing.
On Friday, Judge Kimberly Menninger said the evidence showed Woodward’s crimes required premeditation and went beyond “rage.” The judge said only an hour and a half elapsed between the time he picked up Bernstein in Lake Forest and the time he fled from a nearby park where he buried Bernstein’s body.
“He had some ability to quickly dig a grave, even though I don’t know how to dig a grave,” Menninger said.
Woodward claimed that Bernstein provoked the stabbing by taking pictures of Woodward’s genitals, but the judge said “the facts do not support this” and that such photographic evidence pointed out that it does not exist.
Samuel Woodward, right, speaks with Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison after a jury found Woodward guilty of first-degree murder on July 3, 2024.
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
Woodward, then 21, was “driven by pure hatred and anger.” [Bernstein’s] sexual orientation and religious beliefs,” the judge said. She said the two former schoolmates found themselves “on opposite ends of the culture war.”
Woodward kept a “hate diary” in which he boasted of scaring homosexuals, and his computer was filled with anti-gay and anti-Semitic propaganda from the neo-Nazi organization Atomwaffen Division. A jury convicted him of a hate crime enhancement that applied to the victim’s sexual orientation.
Friday’s sentencing was scheduled for the morning, but was delayed for much of the day because Woodward did not appear in court and the judge said Woodward was “sick.” The parties agreed to proceed without him.
“He was supposed to come to this courtroom, but he was too cowardly to do so,” Bernstein’s mother, Jean Pepper, said in a victim impact statement in court.
In January 2018, as she desperately searched for her missing son, she said Woodward, who had a “calm and serious tone,” lied to her and said he was fine the last time he saw Bernstein. spoke in court.
Blaise Bernstein’s parents, Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, speak at a news conference following the sentencing of Samuel Woodward in Orange County Superior Court. Woodward was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
(Jeff Gritchen/Pool/Orange County Register)
“He misled us into thinking Blaze had wandered off,” Pepper said. “A man with remorse would have admitted the truth from the beginning, but this monster doesn’t seem to have it. …He wanted to be the great Atomwaffen.”
Woodward and Bernstein met by chance many years ago at the Orange County School of the Arts. By early 2018, Woodward had dropped out of college and was living with his parents in Newport Beach, while Bernstein was staying with his parents in Lake Forest during winter break.
Bernstein and Woodward exchanged flirtatious messages, with Woodward hinting that he was bisexual. Woodward picked up Bernstein and took him to a nearby park.
Woodward, who took the stand during the murder trial, testified that he found Bernstein groping his genitals as he smoked marijuana in the park, passed out and was unconscious. He said he feared Bernstein had photos of his genitals taken, but prosecutor Jennifer Walker ridiculed his explanation as “ridiculous.”
Prosecutors said Woodward, a former Eagle Scout, wanted to raise his profile in the Atomwaffen division and prove he was not gay.
Police found in Woodward’s belongings a death’s head mask, the symbol of Atomwaffen, splattered with Bernstein’s blood. At Friday’s sentencing, Bernstein’s mother said she was obsessed with the idea that her son was made “to look at the Atomwaffen mask and die.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker addresses the court prior to the sentencing of Samuel Woodward, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mr. Woodward did not attend court for sentencing.
(Mark Reitmeyer/Pool)
Woodward buried Bernstein in a shallow grave in the park. The suspect told investigators that he was with Bernstein, but that Bernstein left without explanation. Bernstein’s body was discovered after a week-long search.
Woodward’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison, spent much of the three-month trial attacking what he called the “Nazis killing gay Jews” narrative, arguing that his client was a conservative The story depicts how she struggles with her sexuality while growing up in a family with a sexual orientation.
He said Woodward was a socially awkward young man who suffered from undiagnosed autism for many years and had a “hunger for relationships” exploited by extremist groups.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the killing was a “horrible crime” but had nothing to do with Mr Woodward’s interest in the Atom Armed Forces. He asked the judge to give his client 28 years to live, and although the judge forbade him from discussing specifics in court, he complained that the court excluded evidence that could be useful to the defense. said.
The Woodward family did not make a statement at the sentencing hearing. After Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the incident had “destroyed the Woodward family”, Bernstein’s parents suddenly stood up and stormed out of the crowded courtroom.
Many of Bernstein’s friends and family wore T-shirts and caps that read #BlazeItForward, a movement to honor Bernstein’s memory and promote tolerance.
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