Trending
Samuel Woodward, who admitted to killing former high school classmate Blaze Bernstein and burying his body at the edge of a Lake Forest park in what a jury agreed was a hate-crime murder, was sentenced on Friday, Nov. 15 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Woodward, now 27, was convicted in July of first-degree murder for the Jan. 2018 slaying of 19-year-old Bernstein, who also attended Orange County School of the Arts.
Friday’s sentencing hearing was delayed when Woodward did not come out of jail cell. His attorney said later his client was sick. The hearing, which had been set to begin at 10 a.m., did not begin until 2 p.m., and it was held without Woodward in court.
The search for Bernstein — ending with the discovery of his body and the arrest of Woodward — drew national attention. Woodward’s jury trial, which lasted nearly three months, was the most closely watched criminal trial in recent Orange County history.
The two young men were acquaintances, but not friends, when both attended the Santa Ana campus.
Berstein was Jewish, gay, quick-witted and intelligent with a large circle of friends. After high school he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a pre-med student.
Woodward, who is on the autism spectrum, struggled at the largely liberal high school campus, where his conservative views and at-times homophobic statements made him an outcast. He dropped out after less than a year at Cal State Channel Islands, then moved to Texas to meet up with members of the Atomwaffen Division — a Neo-Nazi hate group — before moving back in with his parents in Newport Beach.
Woodward admitted to stabbing Bernstein to death during a late night meeting at Borrego Park.
The prosecution argued that the murder was driven by hate and carried out in furtherance of the ideals of the Atomwaffen Division.
The defense countered that the killing was unplanned and occurred in the heat of passion, and therefore was a lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Samuel Woodward, who admitted to killing former high school classmate Blaze Bernstein and burying his body at the edge of a Lake Forest park in what a jury agreed was a hate-crime murder, was sentenced on Friday, Nov. 15 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Woodward, now 27, was convicted in July of first-degree murder for the Jan. 2018 slaying of 19-year-old Bernstein, who also attended Orange County School of the Arts.
Friday’s sentencing hearing was delayed when Woodward did not come out of jail cell. His attorney said later his client was sick. The hearing, which had been set to begin at 10 a.m., did not begin until 2 p.m., and it was held without Woodward in court.
The search for Bernstein — ending with the discovery of his body and the arrest of Woodward — drew national attention. Woodward’s jury trial, which lasted nearly three months, was the most closely watched criminal trial in recent Orange County history.
The two young men were acquaintances, but not friends, when both attended the Santa Ana campus.
Berstein was Jewish, gay, quick-witted and intelligent with a large circle of friends. After high school he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a pre-med student.
Woodward, who is on the autism spectrum, struggled at the largely liberal high school campus, where his conservative views and at-times homophobic statements made him an outcast. He dropped out after less than a year at Cal State Channel Islands, then moved to Texas to meet up with members of the Atomwaffen Division — a Neo-Nazi hate group — before moving back in with his parents in Newport Beach.
Woodward admitted to stabbing Bernstein to death during a late night meeting at Borrego Park.
The prosecution argued that the murder was driven by hate and carried out in furtherance of the ideals of the Atomwaffen Division.
The defense countered that the killing was unplanned and occurred in the heat of passion, and therefore was a lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The information provided by California News Bird is for general informational purposes only. While we strive to ensure that the content we publish is accurate, current, and reliable, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or availability of the information, products, or services contained on our website.
