A gay Jewish teen living in California rants to friends that having sex with a neo-Nazi former classmate will be “legendary.” He is currently on trial for a murder committed more than six years ago.
Blaise Bernstein, 19, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, first met Samuel Woodward, then 20, on Tinder in 2017. That was six months before the fateful encounter that ended with Bernstein being stabbed nearly 30 times and buried. In a shallow grave near my parents’ house.
Woodward’s defense attorney, Ken Morrison, did not deny that his client killed Bernstein, but said in a Santa Ana courtroom on Wednesday that Woodward did not hate the victim and that he did not particularly want to sexually assault her. It was not his fault, he claimed, and that he had not pre-planned the deadly knife attack. .
“We agree that the evidence shows that Samuel Woodward is guilty of murder,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told jurors. “What happened that night was, plainly and simply,… It’s not a hate crime,” he added.
The second day of the long-awaited murder trial revolved around texts Bernstein sent to friends, exclaiming about potentially seducing the ultra-conservative, Catholic-raised Woodward. Despite promising her classmates to keep her Tinder affair a secret.
‘must get [expletive] If Sam Woodward wrote it, it would become a legend,” Bernstein wrote to a friend.
In their first conversation on Tinder, Bernstein told Woodward that he was “literally someone I never expected to meet here.”
Woodward told Bernstein that he initially used the app to look for black women to date and men to go deer hunting with, and that he only contacted his former classmates to catch up. Ta. The Forward reported.
But after Bernstein called Woodward cute, he responded to the 19-year-old:
However, when Bernstein refused to invite him to his home, Woodward told Bernstein that he had been “unfaithful” and added, “I was interested because I had never been approached by a homosexual person before.” Only,” he claimed.
During their first conversation, Bernstein told Woodward he was texting friends about flirting with the “ultra-conservative” Woodward, but promised to keep it private, the defense said.
What Bernstein didn’t know, according to prosecutor Jennifer Walker, was that Woodward was involved in a violent, anti-gay and anti-Semitic group known as the Atomwaffen Division, and that he was promoting gay and lesbian sex online. He was said to have repeatedly targeted “ghosting” men in order to get in touch with them and make them laugh. .
Six months later, Woodward matched with Bernstein again on Tinder and told him he owed her an explanation, saying, “I was going through a strange time in my life, but I think I understand things now.” Told.
Bernstein said he didn’t care, and when Woodward pointed out that he was straight, he replied, “I might make an exception for you.”
The Ivy League M.D. student seemed skeptical, telling Woodward, “I’ve already done this prank, and I want you to remember that.”
However, in a subsequent Snapchat conversation, Bernstein apparently gave Woodward his parents’ home address and agreed to meet.
Woodward picked up Bernstein in his car and the two drove to Borrego Park in Lake Forest, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Around 11:30 p.m., Bernstein sent a final email to a friend that read: But no one can know that. ”
The friend wrote a letter asking for an explanation and saying he was worried about Bernstein, but received no response.
The next day, Bernstein missed his dentist appointment and his parents found his glasses, wallet and credit card in his bedroom and tried to contact him, but he did not respond to emails or phone calls.
What followed was an intense search for the missing boy, during which Bernstein’s father discovered his son talking to Woodward in the snapshots and contacted him.
Walker told the court that Woodward told the missing boy’s father and police that Bernstein had gone to the park to meet another friend, who he did not name, and never returned.
A few days later, Bernstein’s body was found in a shallow grave in a park. Prosecutors said the man had been stabbed 28 times, mostly in his face and neck.
A search of Woodward’s family home in Newport Beach, California, revealed a folding knife with blood on the blade and handle, which DNA tests matched to Bernstein.
Police also recovered a blood-splattered black Atomlwaffen mask and a stash of anti-gay and antiemetic drugs.
Investigators found an email that Woodward had sent to himself. Prosecutors say the document, which prosecutors called a “hate diary,” expresses hatred toward homosexuals and Jews and details how he targeted gay men online.
He wrote “LMAO” in one entry, according to testimony. “They think they’re going to get a hate crime, and that scares them… It’s priceless.”
Woodward was arrested and pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder with a hate crime enhancement. After years of delays related to his mental state and changes in his defense, he was first found fit to stand trial in 2022.
with post wire
