SANTA ANA, California — A California man was convicted Wednesday of murder with a hate crime component in the 2018 stabbing death of a gay University of Pennsylvania student.
Samuel Woodward, 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder plus aggravated murder in the killing of Blaze Bernstein, a gay, Jewish sophomore who was home visiting his family in Southern California for winter break when he disappeared. Authorities searched the area for him and found his body a week later in a shallow grave in a nearby park.
The question during the months-long trial was not whether Woodward killed Bernstein, but why and under what circumstances.
During her plea, prosecutor Jennifer Walker stressed that Woodward has ties to a violent, anti-gay, anti-Semitic group known as Atomwaffen Division.
“This is a person who is focused on hate,” Walker said. “Not following, not being led by, being influenced by, being a victim of Atomwaffen — seeking it out.”
The enhanced hate crime sentence means Woodward faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ken Morrison, Woodward’s attorney, wanted to show during the trial that his client had no intention of killing Bernstein and that he hated no one. He wanted to argue for a conviction on a lesser charge, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter.
Morrison, who plans to appeal after the conviction, said the judge made a number of key rulings that “denied jurors the opportunity to consider evidence crucial to a fair trial.”
Woodward and Bernstein previously attended the same high school in Orange County and had connected on a dating app in the months before the attack, according to testimony at trial. Woodward said he picked up Bernstein and went to a nearby park, and that he repeatedly stabbed Bernstein after he tried to retrieve a cellphone that he feared had been used to photograph him.
Prosecutors said Woodward joined Atomwaffen Division and repeatedly attacked gay men online, contacting them and then abruptly cutting off contact while keeping a hateful, profanity-laced diary of his actions. They said Woodward showed an interest in carrying out violent acts in the weeks before the killing and contacted Bernstein online.
“Hate will never be tolerated here in Orange County — and rather than a symbol to be revered by other haters, he is a symbol of how society will never tolerate those who terrorize the most vulnerable members of our society,” county District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement Wednesday.
Morrison told the jury that Woodward faced challenges in his personal relationships because of a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder, and was confused about his sexuality, having been raised in a politically conservative and devout Catholic family where his father openly criticized homosexuality.
The case took years to reach trial after questions were raised about Woodward’s mental state and several changes of defense attorneys. Woodward was deemed competent to stand trial in late 2022.
Bernstein, who was 19 at the time, disappeared in January 2018 after going out with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, about 45 miles (70 km) southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the next day, his parents found his glasses, wallet and credit cards in his bedroom and tried to contact him, but he did not respond to texts or phone calls.
Authorities launched a thorough investigation and said Bernstein’s family searched his social media and saw that he had been communicating with Woodward via Snapchat. Authorities said Woodward told the family that Bernstein had gone to the park that night to meet a friend and had not returned.
Days later, Bernstein’s body was found in the shallow graveHe had been stabbed repeatedly in the face and neck.
Authorities said they searched Woodward’s family’s Newport Beach home and found a folding knife with a bloody blade in his room. They also found a black Atomwaffen mask with blood stains and a trove of anti-gay, anti-Semitic and hate group materials, prosecutors said.
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Ding reported from Los Angeles.