Closeted Neo-Nazi’s chilling words to family after murdering their gay teenage son

A ‘closeted’ neo-Nazi who brutally murdered his gay classmate told his victim’s parents he wanted to help find their son after his disappearance.

Samuel Woodward, 27, was sentenced in November to life without parole for the murder of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein seven years ago.

Woodward and Bernstein met over Christmas 2018 after Bernstein — who was also Jewish — saw his former classmate on Tinder and struck up a conversation.

Bernstein was visiting family in California over winter break when he went out with Woodward and disappeared.

His body was found days later, buried in a shallow grave in Borrego Park in Lake Forest, after being stabbed repeatedly in the face and neck.

Seven years after his death, ABC News have discovered a phone conversation between Blaze’s father Gideon Bernstein and Woodward.

The elder Bernstein tells Woodward, “We haven’t heard from him all day. He missed an appointment today, and that’s when we started to worry, and I’ve been trying to figure things out. So you’re the first real clue to the puzzle here.’

Woodward replied, “Yes, I’m looking forward to it [expletive]honestly, i’m sorry. I want to find Blaze as much as you do.”

Bernstein, pictured here, was visiting family in California over winter break when he went out with Woodward and disappeared

In that phone call, Woodward also told Bernstein that his son had suggested they drive to a nearby park to meet another friend.

He told the concerned father: ‘He got out of the car, and I got out too, and I just asked him, ‘Who is this man?’

‘And [Blaze] I was like, you know, “You’ll find out soon, you know. He’s a friend of mine.”

“And then I was like, ‘Okay, Blaze.’ And I was just waiting there by the bathroom, and he, I didn’t see where he went.”

The switchboard left the troubled family with more questions than answers, and they went to the police to express their concerns about Woodward.

He was then placed under observation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who later brought him in for questioning.

An extensive investigation into the missing teenager ensued, revealing social media exchanges between the two, who planned to meet in the park later that evening.

Bernstein’s body was later found in a shallow grave in the park. He was stabbed repeatedly in the face and neck.

In that phone call, Woodward also told Bernstein that his son had suggested he drive to a nearby park to meet another friend

Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, parents of Blaze Bernstein, speak at a press conference after Samuel Woodward was sentenced to life without parole

At Woodward’s sentencing, Bernstein’s mother admitted she finds comfort in knowing the fate of her son’s killer While he’s “rotting in jail, we’ll be out here celebrating Blaze’s life.”

Prosecutors alleged that Woodward had ties to the violent anti-gay extremist neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division.

However, Woodward’s attorney said his client had no intention of killing anyone or hating Bernstein.

Instead, Morrison emphasized that Woodward faced challenging personal relationships due to a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

Bernstein and Woodward attended the same high school, Orange County School of the Arts.

The pair had connected through a dating app in the months before Bernstein’s brutal murder.

Woodward claimed that on the night of Bernstein’s death, he picked up his then-classmate, went to a nearby park and stabbed him repeatedly after a failed attempt to grab a cell phone that he feared had been used to photograph him.

During the trial, Woodward’s legal team also claimed that he was confused about his sexuality.

The 27-year-old had grown up in a politically conservative and devout Catholic family where his father openly criticized homosexuality. However, the prosecutor painted a different story.

They said Woodward repeatedly attacked gay men online by contacting them and abruptly cutting off contact, while also keeping a hateful, profane diary of his actions.

Authorities said they also found a black Atomwaffen mask with traces of blood, a pocket knife with a bloody blade and numerous anti-gay, anti-Semitic and hate group materials during a search of his family’s home in Newport Beach, California.

As a result of his conviction, Woodward will spend the rest of his life in prison.