Man Sentenced In Hate-Crime Murder Of OC Teen

FOOTHILL RANCH, CA — A 27-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for the hate-crime killing of a gay former classmate in Foothill Ranch six years ago.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward was convicted of first-degree murder with an enhancement for a hate crime in July for the Jan. 3, 2018 stabbing of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein. The sentence brings to a close a case that shocked the local and national community — a beloved college student was brutally killed at the hands of a former classmate for being gay.

Throughout the duration of Woodward's months-long trial, prosecutors sought to answer not whether Woodward killed Bernstein, but why and the circumstances under which it happened.

Prosecutors said Woodward was affiliated with the anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group the Atomwaffen Division. Defense attorney Ken Morrison claimed his client didn't plan to kill anyone and faced challenging personal relationships due to long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

The case took several years to go to trial amid a series of delays and prompted public outcry in Southern California and across the nation.

Bernstein, who was 19 at the time of his death, went out at night with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest in January 2018 and never returned. He was visiting home during his winter break from the University of Pennsylvania.

After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the following day, a search effort was launched by authorities, who connected Woodward to the disappearance through the college sophomore's Snapchat conversations.

Days later, Bernstein's body was found in a shallow grave in the park. He had been repeatedly stabbed in the face and neck, according to police reports.

Bernstein and Woodward attended Orange County School of the Arts, a charter high school located in Santa Ana. According to prosecutors, the pair re-connected via a dating app in the months before the killing.

During the trial, Woodward said he picked up Bernstein, went to a nearby park and repeatedly stabbed Bernstein after trying to grab a cellphone he feared had been used to photograph him, NBC reported.

Woodward's defense lawyer claimed Woodward was confused about his sexuality after growing up in a politically conservative and devout Catholic family, where homosexuality was openly criticized. He also claimed his client faced harrowing difficulty with personal relationships due to long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, said Woodward had repeatedly targeted gay men online by reaching out to them and abruptly breaking off contact. Prosecutors said Woodward kept detail of these interactions in a hateful, profanity-laced journal.