ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A 27-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for leading his former high school classmate to believe they were meeting up for a romantic encounter and fatally stabbing him 28 times.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Nov. 15 that a jury convicted Samuel Woodward of first-degree murder along with a hate crime enhancement and personal use of a knife in connection with the stabbing death of 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Blaze Bernstein. Woodward received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
According to prosecutors, on Jan. 2, 2018, Bernstein was home for winter break in Orange County and made dinner with his family before messaging Woodward on a dating app. Bernstein arranged for Woodward to pick him up that evening near his parents’ house, and the victim left behind his glasses, keys, and wallet.
The district attorney’s office said Woodward then fatally stabbed Bernstein and buried his body in a shallow grave in a Lake Forest park. After cleaning up, Woodward reportedly messaged a friend in the early hours of Jan. 3 and said, “Hey man, life is good.”