A Newport Beach man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the anti-LGBTQ and anti-Semitic hate crime that killed former classmate Blaze Bernstein.
Samuel Woodward, 27, was found guilty in July of first-degree murder on special charges that the killing was motivated by hatred and was committed with a weapon.
On Friday, Woodward refused to come out of his cell to appear in court during his sentencing in Orange County.
The trial began in April, six years after Bernstein’s body was discovered in Lake Forest. A 19-year-old boy had been stabbed 28 times.
Blaise Bernstein is seen in an image provided during a press conference on January 10, 2018 (KTLA)
Bernstein’s mother told the court her son was killed “because he was Jewish and gay.” She also called Woodward a “coward” for refusing to come out of his cell to be sentenced.
Bernstein was killed in 2018 while returning home from the University of Pennsylvania on vacation. Woodward was apparently using dating apps to find gay men who were Jewish.
Investigators also found images on his personal devices and social media that were described as “graphic and gruesome,” including racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-government images. I also discovered a treasure trove of diary entries.
FILE – Samuel Woodward leaves a court hearing at the Harbor Justice Center on August 22, 2018 in Newport Beach, California. (Associated Press, Poole)
He also wrote about pretending to be gay to “troll” men.
Bernstein’s mother said, “I never thought I would be able to laugh again or be happy again.” “But I stand here today, relieved and happy that this sociopath will never live in Orange County again or murder other people’s children. .”
