SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California man convicted of stabbing to demise a homosexual College of Pennsylvania pupil in an act of hate was sentenced Friday to life with out parole in jail.
Samuel Woodward, 27, was sentenced in a Southern California courtroom on the finish of an all-day listening to for the homicide of Blaze Bernstein almost seven years in the past. Woodward, who didn’t seem in courtroom Friday as a consequence of sickness, was convicted this 12 months of first-degree homicide with an enhancement for a hate crime for killing Bernstein, a homosexual, Jewish faculty sophomore.
Dozens of Bernstein ‘s family and associates sat within the courtroom. Many wore T-shirts studying “Blaze it Ahead,” a slogan for a marketing campaign to commit acts of kindness in his title following his demise.
“Let’s be clear: This was a hate crime,” Bernstein’s mom, Jeanne Pepper, instructed the courtroom. “Samuel Woodward ended my son’s life as a result of my son was Jewish and homosexual.”
She stated she takes solace in Woodward by no means getting out of custody and that whereas he “rots in jail, we will probably be right here on the skin, celebrating the lifetime of Blaze.”
“Blaze’s reminiscence and spirit will stay on in all kinds deed carried out in his honor,” she stated.
There was no query concerning the sentence Woodward would obtain as a result of the jury’s verdict carried a life sentence with out parole, stated Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Legal professional’s workplace.
Woodward’s lawyer, Ken Morrison, requested the courtroom to condemn his shopper to twenty-eight years to life, saying the decide had some discretion on this regard and that the jurors weren’t permitted to see all of the proof within the case at trial. Morrison beforehand stated he would enchantment the decision.
Bernstein, who was 19, disappeared in January 2018 after he went out at night time with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, about 45 mile southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the subsequent day, his mother and father discovered his glasses, pockets and bank cards in his bed room and tried to succeed in him, however he didn’t reply.
Authorities launched an exhaustive search and stated Bernstein’s household scoured his social media and noticed he had communicated with Woodward on Snapchat. Authorities stated Woodward instructed the household that Bernstein had gone to satisfy a buddy within the park that night time and didn’t come again.
Days later Bernstein’s physique was present in a shallow grave within the park. He had been repeatedly stabbed within the face and neck.
The query throughout Woodward’s monthslong trial was not whether or not he killed Bernstein however why and the circumstances beneath which it occurred. Prosecutors stated Woodward was affiliated with the violent anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division, whereas Morrison stated his shopper didn’t plan to kill anybody or hate Bernstein and confronted difficult private relationships as a consequence of a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum dysfunction.
The case took years to go to trial amid a collection of delays and stoked public outcry in Southern California, the place residents fanned out in 2018 to attempt to assist authorities discover Bernstein after he out of the blue went lacking.
Woodward testified throughout his trial and gave gradual, delayed replies to legal professionals’ questions along with his lengthy hair partly protecting his face.
Bernstein and Woodward attended the identical highschool, Orange County Faculty of the Arts, and linked through a relationship app within the months earlier than the killing. Woodward stated he picked up Bernstein, went to a close-by park and repeatedly stabbed Bernstein after attempting to seize a cellphone he feared had been used to {photograph} him.
Morrison, the protection lawyer, stated Woodward was confused about his sexuality after rising up in a politically conservative and religious Catholic household the place his father overtly criticized homosexuality.
However prosecutors instructed a distinct story. They stated Woodward had repeatedly focused homosexual males on-line by reaching out to them and abruptly breaking off contact, whereas protecting a hateful, profanity-laced journal of his actions.
Authorities stated in addition they discovered a black Atomwaffen masks with traces of blood, a folding knife with a bloodied blade and a number of anti-gay, antisemitic and hate group supplies in a search of his household’s dwelling in Newport Seaside, California.
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