California man convicted of 2018 murder of gay University of Pennsylvania student

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man was convicted Wednesday of murder with a hate crime penalty for the 2018 stabbing death of a gay University of Pennsylvania student.

Samuel Woodward, 26, was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated murder in the death of Blaze Bernstein, a gay Jewish college student who was visiting family in Southern California over winter break when he disappeared. Authorities combed the area for him and found his body a week later in a shallow grave in a nearby park.

During the months-long trial, the issue was not whether Woodward killed Bernstein, but why and under what circumstances it happened. In closing arguments, prosecutor Jennifer Walker emphasized Woodward's affiliation with a violent and homophobic neo-Nazi extremist group known as Atomwaffen Division.

“This is an individual who is focused on hate,” Walker said. “He does not follow, is not guided, influenced or victimized by Atomwaffen. He seeks hate.”

With the hate crime sentence enhancement, Woodward could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Woodward's attorney, Ken Morrison, tried at trial to argue that his client had not planned to kill Bernstein and did not hate anyone, in an effort to secure a conviction on a lesser charge, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Morrison, who plans to appeal after sentencing, said the judge made key rulings that denied “jurors the opportunity to consider evidence that is essential to a fair trial.”

Bernstein's family said in a statement that no verdict could “ease the pain of losing our son and the agony of waiting all these years without resolution,” ABC News reported.

“He was an extraordinary human being and humanitarian, someone we looked forward to seeing wonderful things from him in our lives during his young life,” the family said. “From this funny, articulate, kind, intelligent, caring and brilliant scientist, artist, writer, chef and son, there will never be anyone like him.”

Woodward and Bernstein had attended the same high school in Orange County and had met through a dating app in the months before the attack, according to testimony at trial. Woodward said he picked up Bernstein and drove to a nearby park, where he stabbed Bernstein multiple times after he tried to grab a cellphone he feared had been used to photograph him.

Prosecutors said Woodward joined the Atomwaffen Division and repeatedly targeted gay men online, contacting them and then abruptly cutting off contact while keeping a journal of his actions filled with hate and profanity. They said Woodward had shown an interest in violent acts in the weeks leading up to the killing and had contacted Bernstein online.

“Hate will never be tolerated here in Orange County – and instead of being 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 attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement Wednesday.

Morrison, the defense attorney, told jurors that Woodward faced difficulties in personal relationships because of a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder and was confused about his sexuality after growing up in a politically conservative and devoutly Catholic family where his father was openly critical of homosexuality.

The case took years to come to trial after questions arose about Woodward's mental state and after multiple changes in defense attorneys. Woodward was found competent to stand trial in late 2022.

Bernstein, who was 19 at the time, disappeared in January 2018 after going out with Woodward at a park in Lake Forest, about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the next day, his parents found his glasses, wallet and credit cards in his room and tried to contact him, but he did not respond to texts or calls.

Authorities launched an exhaustive search and said Bernstein's family went through his social media and found that he had communicated with Woodward on Snapchat. Authorities said Woodward told the family that Bernstein had gone to meet a friend in the park that night and had not returned.

A few days later, Bernstein's body was found in a shallow grave. He had been stabbed multiple times in the face and neck.

Authorities said they searched Woodward’s family home in Newport Beach and found a folding knife with a bloodstained blade in his bedroom. They also found a black Atomwaffen mask with blood stains and a slew of anti-gay, anti-Semitic and hate literature, prosecutors said.

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Ding reported from Los Angeles.

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