California man to be sentenced to prison on hate crime charges for killing gay college student - Winnipeg Free Press

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay University of Pennsylvania student in an act of hate is expected to be sentenced to life in prison Friday.

Samuel Woodward, now 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in a Southern California courtroom for the murder of Blaze Bernstein nearly seven years ago. Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said there was no doubt about the sentence Woodward would receive because the jury’s verdict included a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Defense lawyer Ken Morrison had previously said he would appeal the verdict.

FILE - Orange County Sheriff's Deputies escort Samuel Woodward to Orange County Superior Court for arraignment in the murder case in the stabbing death of Blaze Bernstein on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Pool Photo) via Orange County Register, via AP, File) — FILE – Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies escort Samuel Woodward to Orange County Superior Court to open depositions in the murder case in the stabbing death of Blaze Bernstein on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Pool Photo) via Orange County Register, via AP, File)

Woodward was convicted this year of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement for killing Bernstein, a gay Jewish college sophomore.

Bernstein, 19, disappeared in January 2018 after going with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, about 70 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles. When Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the next day, his family found his glasses, wallet, and credit cards in his bedroom and tried to reach him, but he did not respond.

Authorities launched an extensive search and said Bernstein’s family searched social media and found he had been communicating with Woodward on Snapchat. Authorities said Woodward told the family that Bernstein went to meet a friend at the park that night and did not return.

Days later, Bernstein’s body was found in a shallow grave in the park. He had been stabbed multiple times in the face and neck.

The question in Woodward’s months-long trial was not whether he killed Bernstein, but why and under what circumstances. Prosecutors said Woodward was affiliated with the anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division, while Morrison said his client did not plan to kill anyone or hate Bernstein and faced difficult personal relationships due to his long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

Amid a series of delays, the case took years to reach trial and sparked public outcry in Southern California; Here, residents fanned out to help authorities find Bernstein after he suddenly disappeared in 2018.