Blaze Bernstein killing: Samuel Woodward sentenced to life for hate crime in the killing of a gay college student

Santa Ana AP — A California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay University of Pennsylvania student in an act of hate was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole. Samuel Woodward, 27, was sentenced in a Southern California courtroom at the end of an all-day hearing for the murder of Blaze Bernstein nearly seven years ago. There was no question about the sentence Woodward would receive because the jury’s verdict carried a life sentence without parole, said Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s office. Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, parents of Blaze Bernstein, speak during a press conference after Samuel Woodward was sentenced to life without parole at Orange County Superior Court on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Santa Ana, Calif., for the fatal stabbing of his former classmate, Blaze Bernstein, in Jan. 2018. Prosecutors said Woodward was affiliated with the violent anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division, while Morrison said his client didn’t plan to kill anyone or hate Bernstein, and faced challenging personal relationships due to a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.