The defendant, Samuel Woodward, was convicted on Wednesday for the first-degree murder of Blaze Bernstein in 2018. Woodward now faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
According to The Independent, the courtroom erupted in applause as the verdict was announced. Bernstein, however, remained still, his face obscured from the camera's view by his long hair. Bernstein, a Jewish teenager, was discovered in a California park in 2018, having been stabbed 20 times. Woodward's defense team did not dispute the killing but argued that it was not motivated by hate.
Woodward, who was raised in a conservative, religious family, had connected with Bernstein on the dating app Tinder. "At that point, he pretty much said, ‘Don’t worry, I get it, completely understand,'" Woodward had testified during the trial. He also confessed to initiating their meeting. "I’m pretty sure I said we should hang out at some point … and he said he was actually free (that) night, right now," the 26-year-old recounted. "He said something else that was basically an offer to if I wanted to come over. At that point, I said ‘Alright, cool.’"
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Both Bernstein and Woodward were students at the Orange County School of the Arts. Prior to that, Bernstein had briefly attended the University of Pennsylvania to study pre-med. Woodward, on the other hand, had dropped out of college and moved to Texas, where he became involved with the neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division before returning to his parents' home in California.
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Woodward testified that he often felt friendless and that his primary form of communication with others was through online interactions. "I had been looking for people for a long time to spend time with or talk to," Woodward said, as reported by the Orange County Register. Screenshots of the online conversations between Woodward and Bernstein were presented during the trial, demonstrating how the pair had connected over the internet months before Bernstein's death.
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Woodward's defense team argued that his long-undiagnosed autism spectrum condition, coupled with his conservative upbringing in which homosexuality was openly criticized, led to confusion about his own sexuality and difficulties in forming relationships. Woodward's attorney, Ken Morrison, contested the prevailing narrative surrounding the case, stating, "There is this narrative that’s been pushed: Nazi kills gay Jew. From the defense perspective, that’s inaccurate."
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The case took years to reach trial due to questions about Woodward's mental competence. He was eventually deemed fit to stand trial in late 2022, with proceedings commencing in late April. The connection between Woodward and the crime was established after Bernstein's family discovered evidence of contact between the two on social media.
Upon searching Woodward's family home, authorities reportedly found a folding knife with a blood-stained blade in his room, along with a black Atomwaffen mask that also had traces of blood on it.
