A Southern California jury convicted Samuel Woodward of murdering former high school classmate Blaze Bernstein in 2018, following a three-month trial that reunearthed a brutal case. The killings made international headlines because the killers were members of the neo-Nazi group Atomforce.
Bernstein, a 19-year-old pre-med student at Penn State, disappeared on the night of Jan. 2, 2018, after meeting Woodward, who was 20 at the time. The pair, who attended Orange County High School for the Arts together, reconnected through the dating app Tinder. Bernstein’s body was found six days later, buried in an Orange County park. Woodward was the last person Bernstein came into contact with, and he immediately came under suspicion.
Woodward was arrested on January 12 and charged with Bernstein’s murder. Weeks later, ProPublica revealed that Woodward was a member of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi guerrilla group linked to four other murders, multiple bomb plots and other crimes.
Woodward faces first-degree murder charges with aggravated hate crime — prosecutors believe Bernstein’s killing was motivated by hatred for LGBTQ+ people.
A jury on Wednesday found Woodward guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated hate crime, the top charges against the Newport Beach native. Woodward faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Deliberations lasted less than two days. Woodward will be sentenced on October 25.
The marathon trial revolved around the motive for the murder: Public defender Ken Morrison admitted his client’s culpability in the killing during his opening statement in early April.
During her three-day closing argument, Orange County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker described Bernstein’s murder as a “ritual killing” designed to give Woodward “prestige and recognition in the atomic weapons unit.” ”. She cited a skull mask found in Woodward’s rental car that was stained with Bernstein’s blood.
In the evidence submitted to the document Woodward’s extremist tendencies and hatred of gays were outlined in thousands of neo-Nazi images and documents, including Atomic Weapons Division propaganda, and a “hate diary” that Walker labeled on Woodward’s phone. His attempts to “catfish” homosexuals online. Woodward wrote on May 14, 2017: “I told the sodomites I was curious about bisexuality and it made them want to convert me.” Another entry on June 29, 2017 read: “All Homosexuals and liars alike will pay the price and be prepared to die.
“He had already got his luggage, he was already talking to the Atomic Weapons guys about going somewhere else, and he thought he was going to get away with it,” Walker said. “By the grace of God, it rained and they found his body. .
Woodward’s lawyers claim the motive was not a premeditated killing for the benefit of an extremist group but an autistic, gender-confused man who grew up in a staunchly conservative and occasionally violent family. violent outbursts among young people.
Both Woodward’s parents testified about their child’s struggles with social isolation, mental illness and sexual orientation, which Morrison claimed made the youngster more vulnerable to the right-wing extremism Sam found in obscure corners of the internet Molecule recruitment, such as messaging apps Kik and Fun.
Woodward testified for five days in June in a staccato and sometimes incoherent manner, often pausing for a minute before answering questions from attorneys and prosecutors. On his fourth day in court, Woodward spoke about the circumstances leading up to the murder, recalling how he picked up Blaze after texting via Snapchat and drove together to Borrego Park in Foothills Ranch. He and Blaze sat on a bench reminiscing about their high school days, then smoked a joint together.
“For a long time, I had been looking for someone to spend time with or talk to,” Woodward testified, adding that he had struggled to form relationships with other peers and had conducted his social life exclusively online.
Woodward claimed the marijuana made him drowsy and confused. He closed his eyes and felt only Blaydes’ hand “right on my crotch, my pants unbuttoned and him holding me in his hand,” he said. Woodward claimed that Blaydes had a cellphone in his other hand and appeared to be taking an explicit photo of his genitals.
In previous testimony, former high school classmates of Woodward and Bernstein described Woodward’s sexual interest in at least one other classmate and Bernstein’s sexual intercourse with Sam after he reached out to him. intention
Judge Menninger refused to allow Morrison to introduce the contents of Bernstein’s final message that night, a move that Woodward’s attorneys vigorously protested.
Woodward said he became enraged, screaming at Blaydes and struggling to grab the phone. He grabbed a knife used to open metal containers of marijuana and said, “That’s when the phone doesn’t get in the way, nothing gets in the way.” Forensic evidence and law enforcement testimony show that Woodward stabbed Bernstein nearly 30 times.
Two former members of the Atomic Weapons Division testified at the trial: Tyler Wiesing, who headed the organization’s New Jersey chapter; and “Brian Murphy,” a man sworn under a pseudonym A former member, he conducted firearms training with Woodward while living in Texas. The act of establishing a white supremacist dominant order.
A third AWD member named as a witness, Tristan Evans, did not testify: Evans was an active member of The Base, another neo-Nazi activist group, and recruited Woodward to join the Atomic Weapons Division, and convinced him to move to Texas in the summer of 2017. In the fall of 2018, Woodward and Evans moved back to California to find construction jobs and launch AWD’s California chapter.
In the six and a half years since the murder, the Bernstein family has worked tirelessly to hold Woodward accountable.
Woodward, now 26, was repeatedly assaulted by other inmates while incarcerated at the Orange County Central Jail and suffered a severe mental breakdown while in custody. During the trial, Woodward, who grew a thick beard and long, unkempt hair, often stared motionless into the distance for days during his testimony.
Earlier this year, after Woodward threw a glass of water at Judge Meninger during jury selection, the judge dismissed the entire jury and restarted the selection process, further delaying the trial. Issues with Woodward’s competency to stand trial, the coronavirus pandemic and the defendant’s cycling between three legal teams have delayed his trial for more than five years.
