California man convicted of 2018 hate-motivated murder of gay former classmate Blaze Bernstein

On July 3, an Orange County Superior Court judge found Samuel L. Woodward, 26, guilty of first-degree murder and a hate crime enhancement.

Help us find Blaze Bernstein/Facebook Blaze Bernstein

A California man has been convicted of hate crimes after stabbing his gay former high school friend nearly 30 times in 2018 in a park, prosecutors said.

On July 3, an Orange County jury found Samuel L. Woodward, 26, guilty of first-degree murder, with an additional hate crime charge, and using a knife to kill 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to PEOPLE.

Prosecutors said Woodward, who previously pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 25.

Bernstein, a pre-med student at the University of Pennsylvania, was spending winter break at home with his family in Southern California when he was last seen on January 2, 2018.

Related: Student Murdered During Recess Was Killed By Former Classmate Because He Was Gay: Prosecutors

Prosecutors said Bernstein and Woodward previously attended Orange County School of the Arts and that they met that night around 11 p.m. after communicating on a dating app. After dinner with his family, Bernstein was picked up by Woodward, who left his glasses, keys and wallet, prosecutors said.

“Less than two hours later, Bernstein’s body was buried in a shallow grave in a Lake Forest park after he was stabbed 28 times by a former high school friend who convinced him they were at the park for a romantic encounter,” the release reads.

After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the following afternoon, his parents reported him missing. Authorities searched the area for several days before his body was found buried in Borrego Park in Lake Forest, California, on January 9, 2018.

During Bernstein’s disappearance, his parents checked his internet activity and discovered that the last person he had contact with was Woodward, who told them he had met up with their son but had wandered off to the park with someone else and never saw Bernstein again.

Related: PEOPLE Explains: UPenn Student Blasted in Bernstein Murder as New Details Emerge After Friend’s Arrest

The investigation ultimately led to Woodward’s arrest on January 12, 2018. Prosecutors said Bernstein’s blood was found on a knife belonging to Woodward, and drops of blood were found on a skull-shaped mask that prosecutors said Woodward wore to represent his allegiance to Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi and homophobic group. They added that Woodward traveled to Texas to train with the group after learning of their teachings.

Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty

Samuel Woodward in Orange County Superior Court, June 13, 2024

Investigators also reportedly found what prosecutors called a “hate journal” that detailed Woodward’s online activities to lure gay men and boys into believing he was “bi-curious” and then unfriend them. The journal reportedly contained numerous anti-gay slurs.

Los Angeles Times reported that Woodward’s defense team claimed that he killed Bernstein only because Bernstein provoked him.

According to KABC-TV, Woodward testified that he stabbed her after trying to grab her phone, which he believed Bernstein used to record him sexually touching her. During his closing argument, Woodward’s defense attorney, Ken Morrison, said that while his client was “guilty of a serious, brutal murder,” the killing was not a hate crime, the station reported.

At a news conference, Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, said she was “delighted with the verdict,” LA Times “It is a great relief that justice has been done and this vile man who murdered our son will no longer be a threat to society,” she added, according to the outlet.

Related: Tribute to Murdered Penn Student Blaze Bernstein Asks People to Do Good and ‘Blaze It Forward’

At the time of his death, Bernstein had just become editor-in-chief of Penn Appétit, the University of Pennsylvania’s food magazine, and was “very excited” about it, Bernstein’s father, Gideon Bernstein, has previously said. Orange County Register.

“This was not a crime committed in the heat of passion; it was planned, executed and covered up, and Walker meticulously presented every piece of evidence to the jury that supported it,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.

“Each of the 28 stab wounds inflicted on 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein was an act of hate, repeated over and over again, not just to kill Blaze, but to send a message.”

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