SANTA ANA, Calif. — A man from California who was found guilty of fatally stabbing a gay University of Pennsylvania student in a hate-fueled act is anticipated to receive a life sentence this Friday in a Southern California court.
Samuel Woodward, now aged 27, is facing sentencing for the murder of Blaze Bernstein, which occurred nearly seven years ago. According to Kimberly Edds, a representative from the Orange County District Attorney’s office, the jury’s verdict guarantees a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Woodward.
Woodward’s attorney, Ken Morrison, has indicated that he intends to appeal the decision.
Earlier this year, Woodward was convicted of first-degree murder with a special enhancement for committing a hate crime against Bernstein, who was a 19-year-old, openly gay, Jewish sophomore attending college.
Bernstein went missing in January 2018 after spending an evening with Woodward in a park located in Lake Forest, approximately 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein failed to show up for a dentist appointment the following day, his parents became concerned and discovered his belongings, including glasses and credit cards, in his room. Their attempts to contact him went unanswered.
A vigorous search was initiated by authorities, with Bernstein’s family exploring his social media activity, which revealed that he had communicated with Woodward on Snapchat shortly before his disappearance. Woodward allegedly informed the Bernstein family that Blaze had gone to the park to meet a friend and hadn’t returned.
Several days later, Bernstein’s body was discovered buried in a shallow grave in the park, showing signs of multiple stab wounds to the face and neck.
The trial that followed spanned several months, with the key issue not being whether Woodward committed the murder, but rather the motives and circumstances surrounding the act. Prosecutors argued that Woodward had ties to the extremist group Atomwaffen Division, known for its anti-gay violence, while Morrison contended that his client did not intend to kill and struggled with personal relationships linked to an undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.
Delays in the case led to public outrage in Southern California, where the community rallied to assist in the search for Bernstein after he vanished.
During the trial, Woodward was noted for providing slow and delayed responses to questioning, often obscured by his long hair. Both Woodward and Bernstein had previously attended the same institution, the Orange County School of the Arts, and had established contact through a dating application a few months before the tragic incident.
Woodward described how he picked up Bernstein and took him to the nearby park, claiming that he stabbed Bernstein multiple times after attempting to seize what he feared was a cellphone that could have documented the encounter.
Morrison, representing Woodward, stated that his client grew up in a conservative, devout Catholic household where discussions about homosexuality were negatively framed, leading to confusion regarding his own sexual identity.
In contrast, prosecutors painted a very different narrative, asserting that Woodward had persistently sought out gay men online only to abruptly sever ties and maintained a journal filled with hateful language about his actions.
Furthermore, during a search of Woodward’s family residence in Newport Beach, law enforcement discovered a blood-stained folding knife, a black mask associated with Atomwaffen, and various materials reflecting anti-gay and antisemitic sentiments.