The trial of Samuel Woodward, accused of murdering Blaze Bernstein, a University of Pennsylvania sophomore, is expected to conclude with closing statements. Woodward faces a potential life imprisonment without parole for a murder charge with hate crime enhancements. Prosecutors allege that the killing was motivated by Woodward's hatred towards Bernstein's Jewish identity and sexual orientation.
The trial of Samuel Woodward , a Newport Beach man accused of the 2018 murder of a University of Pennsylvania sophomore, Blaze Bernstein , is expected to conclude on Wednesday with closing statements being read at Santa Ana’s Central Justice Center.
Samuel Woodward, 26, faces the potential of life imprisonment without parole, as he is up against a murder charge with hate crime enhancements attached, stemming from allegations from prosecutors tied to his hatred towards Bernstein's Jewish identity and sexual orientation. Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker insists that the killing was because 'he was gay.' Bernstein, 19, was found in a shallow grave with multiple stab wounds at Borrego Park near his family's Foothill Ranch home. He was reported missing on Jan. 3, 2018, which led to a widespread search, only to have the discovery made during a later search aided by rain, according to Walker. Prosecutors painted a picture of Woodward as an individual connected to extremist neo-Nazi organizations and claimed he had a pattern of luring and then rejecting or threatening gay men online. Prosecutors allege that before their encounter, Woodward had been catfishing gay individuals, showing jurors evidence of expressions of disgust toward homosexuality in his journa
Samuel Woodward Trial Murder Blaze Bernstein University Of Pennsylvania Hate Crime Jewish Identity Sexual Orientation
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