Woodward concludes testimony on Bernstein's fatal shooting at Foothill Ranch

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

5 4 minutes read

The man accused of fatally stabbing a former gay classmate in Foothill Ranch as a hate crime told jurors on his final day of testimony that he felt remorse for the killing.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 26, is charged with the Jan. 3, 2018, murder of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein.

Woodard, who began testifying late in the day on June 13, finished his fifth day on the stand Monday.

“Do you have any remorse for what you did to Blaze Bernstein, his family and his friends? Woodward's attorney, Ken Morrison of the Orange County Public Defender's Office, asked the defendant.

After a prolonged pause, Woodward, his voice cracking, replied, “Yes, I do.” »

Morrison asked Woodward what he was thinking when he started a diary with: “Dear family, I'm sorry about this…”

“Just that I love my mother, my brother, my father with all my heart, with all my mind and with all my body,” he said.

Woodward spent most of the day facing cross-examination from Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Walker.

She questioned him about whether he had reported any assaults against him during his six years in prison while awaiting trial.

Referring to his earlier testimony that he had been “gassed” by another inmate who threw diarrhea on Woodward, Walker asked him if that had happened after the defendant was “on the toilet chanting satanic things.”

“One of your cellmates said, this needs to stop?” she insisted.

“No, not at all,” Woodward said.

“You said, 'I can do whatever I want,'” Walker asked him.

“No, not at all,” Woodward said.

Walker also questioned Woodward about “using homophobic slurs” at the college.

Woodward said it was “only sometimes” with a “group of friends.”

Woodward also downplayed claims from classmates at Orange County School of the Arts about his antisocial attitude, wearing a hoodie and headphones.

“No, I wouldn’t say I was antisocial,” Woodward said.

He said he would put headphones on on an “extremely cloudy and rainy” day. “That’s the only time I remember,” he added.

Walker also insisted on how he met Tristan “Kruuz” Evans online through a neo-Nazi group. As in the past, Woodward seemed confused as to who she was referring to.

“Can you clarify who it is?” » asked Woodward.

“Do you know who I’m talking about?” » Walker asked.

“No, I don’t,” he said.

Eventually, Woodward recalled who he was and that they had met online.

Woodward also took issue with Walker's characterization of his father as anti-gay.

“I wouldn’t call him anti,” Woodward said. “How would you define pro-homosexual? »

Walker responded by asking him the question again.

“Again, I say I don’t understand,” Woodward said.

Woodward also denied using his father's revolver to make “propaganda” for the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division.

Walker showed him a photo of himself at a group meeting.

“Is that you in the Atomwaffen mask doing the Heil Hitler salute,” Walker asked him.

“It’s a skull mask and salvation is another story,” Woodward said.

The defendant said the photos of the group members holding the gun next to a flag were part of an exercise to show what they would do to fight an “invading” foreign army.

He also called it a “joke.”

Walker also asked him if he downloaded thousands of images online from neo-Nazi groups, but Woodward, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, said he sometimes downloaded large packages online.

Woodward also said he doesn't remember going to Los Angeles in the summer of 2017 to tear down posters supporting the LGBQT community.

Woodward also said he didn't remember his parents sitting him down and telling him they were worried he was in trouble with the law because of his associations with neo-Nazi groups. Woodward is accused of killing Bernstein because he was gay, not because he was Jewish, but jurors will be able to weigh evidence of the defendant's associations with neo-Nazis.

“Thanks to Attomwaffen, you wanted to gain prestige? Walker asked him.

“I remember saying something about wanting to gain…acceptance,” Woodward said of his interviews with psychology expert Martha Rogers.

“But beyond that, I don’t remember,” he added.

Woodward became irritable when Walker made him tell him about the murder. Woodward complained that he already brought it up during his testimony last week.

Woodward recounted how, after taking puffs of a potent marijuana cigarette, he came out of a haze when he felt a sensation on his leg that he initially thought indicated he had urinated on himself -even as he had done before. But he soon realized that Bernstein had unbuckled his pants and put his hand on his genitals, Woodward testified.

“I lost control of my voice,” Woodward said. “I asked him what was happening…I lost control of everything…I started to lose my mind.”

Walker asked him if he tried to “hit” Bernstein, and he said no.

Woodward said he was upset that Bernstein was holding his phone and appeared to be taking photos or videos of the encounter.

“And the phone is right there and you didn’t just grab it,” Walker asked.

“I said that in my testimony (last week),” Woodward said. “(Morrison) asked me what happened. That's exactly what I did when I picked up the phone… That's what I said before.

Bernstein, according to Woodward, “started saying over and over, 'I already got you.' Something about closeted gays.

Woodward insisted he killed Bernstein with a knife he used to open a package of pot he left nearby while the two were in a park near Bernstein's home after midnight . It was a knife he had purchased at a trade, not a knife with his father's name on it that had been found in his bedroom drawer.

Woodward said he “got rid of it,” referring to the gun, but he did not remember the details of its disposal.

When Walker asked for details about the stabbings, Woodward said “everything was a blur” and that he did not remember the order of the attacks on his hands and neck.

“What was Blaze saying when we stabbed him repeatedly?” » Walker asked.

“I don’t remember him saying anything,” Woodward said.

“He wasn't screaming for his life? » Walker asked.

“No, I don’t remember what he was saying,” Woodward said.

Walker also questioned Woodward about his attempts to “cover up” the crime, including sending text messages to Bernstein's phone making it appear he was looking for the victim.

Rogers, who began testifying toward the end of Monday's hearing, will return to the witness stand Tuesday.

Lina Portman

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