Samuel Woodward, a California man found guilty He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday for killing his former classmate in a hate crime in 2018.
Blaze Bernstein — a 19-year-old Jewish and gay student at the University of Pennsylvania — disappeared while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found, after a long day of searching, buried. She went to the park in Lake Forest with Woodward the night she disappeared, authorities said. They were stabbed 28 times, the prosecutor said.
Woodward, now 27, was charged with first-degree murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors argued that Woodward killed his high school classmate because Bernstein was gay.
During a lengthy trial Friday, Judge Kimberly Menninger said there was evidence that the defendant planned the murder, and that the jury found it true that the crime was committed because of Bernstein’s sexual orientation.
Menninger also denied Woodward his freedom.
As to whether the defendant is remorseful, Menninger said, “Unfortunately for the court and the defendant, I’ve never seen any evidence of that at this point.”
According to Menninger, Woodward was absent from his trial due to an illness.
Samuel Woodward testified in Orange County Superior Court on June 13, 2024, in Santa Ana, California.
Leonard Orti/The Orange County Register via AP, FILE
The judge said the case was a “real tragedy”.
“You have a young man who is smart, funny, successful and on his way to a bright future with tremendous family support and a great group of friends,” he said. “You have a second smart young man with a lot of promise, but who is struggling with his sexual identity, his mental health and his loneliness and who clearly never got the psychological support he needed.”
He said it was “really sad” that two people from the same high school “were on opposite ends of the culture war that erupted in the brutal murder of Blaze Bernstein.”
“Unfortunately for Mr Woodward, the hatred that fueled his thoughts was deeply troubling to this court and sadly reflects a larger societal ill that runs through this country,” he said.
Orange County Attorney General Jennifer Walker, who prosecuted the case, said at the hearing that the state wanted to proceed with the planned sentencing, despite Woodward’s illness, after several people were brought to the hearing.
Defense barrister Ken Morrison told the court he wanted Woodward to stay, “as hard as it would be for him, as hard as this all has been and continues to be for his family.”
“This is unpleasant for everyone, hopefully cathartic for some as they seek a path to healing,” he said.
The court heard several victim impact statements before the sentencing, including those given by Bernstein’s parents.
His mother, Jeanne Pepper, said her son was “beautiful, kind, accomplished, loved and good at everything he tried – the antithesis of the man who would kill him”.
He said Woodward was “too cowardly” to sit in court on Friday.
Pepper recounted the fear she felt while her son was missing and the subsequent discovery of his body.
“I had to go to a cemetery heartbroken and pick a grave for my 19-year-old son,” she said. “I couldn’t believe this was real.”
He said he “fell on the floor screaming” when he learned he had been stabbed 28 times, and his health deteriorated after the murder.
“Losing my first child, my future dream, my partner in fun, is the worst and most painful thing that has ever happened to me,” she said.
A sign with a photo of Blaze Bernstein’s family is displayed during a news conference at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Lake Forest, California, on January 10, 2018.
Leonard Ortiz/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images
He remembered Bernstein as an exceptional cook and writer, with a beautiful singing voice who wanted to go to medical school.
While Woodward remains in prison, he said outsiders will celebrate Bernstein’s life and “continue to do good with others who work every day to make this world more supportive, kinder and safer for the Jewish and LGBTQ communities.”
“Let’s be clear – this was a hate crime,” he said. “Sam Woodward ended my son’s life because my son was Jewish and gay.”
Her father, Gideon Bernstein, said her death brought “the darkest and most tragic days” for her family and friends.
“The person responsible for this should have been in this room today,” he said. “He’s to blame for interrupting a great future for the Blazers, and yet I don’t think he realizes how much he destroyed along the way.”
He said living a good life is “the best revenge I can have after this crime,” and asked the judge to sentence him to life without the possibility of parole.
After their statements, Menninger reiterated that Woodward was not in court due to an illness.
Bernstein’s godmother, Hillary Gerber, asked that Woodward never be released from prison.
“Not a day goes by without Blaze’s pain and loss weighing on us,” Gerber said. “Knowing that this was a deliberate and premeditated act deepens our sadness, suffering and fear.”
Woodward faced life without the possibility of parole under the special status of a hate crime.
The defense asked the judge to strike the hate crime enhancement, arguing that there is also a lesser hate crime enhancement that the court can impose. Morrison said he asked for a sentence of 28 years to life in his shortened sentence.
Morrison said he was “struggling to figure out how to proceed” during the hearing because there is a motion by the prosecution to seal his brief.
Menninger said he has read his brief and does not yet have an opinion on the motion to seal.
Walker asked that the judge find that parole is “not appropriate for this defendant” and impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He argued that the hate crime enhancement mentioned in the defense’s sentencing brief is also inapplicable.
The jury returned its verdict on July 3 after a nearly three-month trial in Orange County.
In closing arguments, Morrison told jurors that Woodward is guilty of murder, but said the act was not a hate crime, but spontaneous and irrational.
“Right out of the gate you heard me say my client was guilty,” Morrison said. “Guilty of aggravated and violent murder. But as you know, there are many kinds of homicide.”
Woodward testified at trial that he went into a state of panic the night of the murder after he thought he might record Bernstein touching him sexually in the park, then pulled out a knife, ABC Los Angeles reported. KABC notify
Walker told jurors in closing arguments that Woodward’s hatred of gays and his affiliation with Atomwaffen Division — a far-right neo-Nazi group — led him to plan the murder.
“He already had his bags, he was already talking to people at Atomwaff about going somewhere else, and he thought he would get away with it,” he said. “It was only by the grace of God that the rain happened, and his body was found.”
