A California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay University of Pennsylvania student in an act of hate is expected to be sentenced to life in prison.

Samuel Woodward, who is now 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in a Southern California courtroom for the murder of Blaze Bernstein nearly seven years ago. There is no question about the sentence Woodward will receive because the jury’s verdict carries a life sentence without parole, said Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

Woodward was convicted this year of first-degree murder with an enhancement for a hate crime for killing Bernstein, a gay, Jewish college sophomore.

Bernstein, who was 19, disappeared in January 2018 after he went out at night with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the next day, his parents found his glasses, wallet and credit cards in his bedroom and tried to reach him, but he didn’t respond.

  • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
    282·
    3 days ago

    I understand what you’re saying, but that does seem to be exactly what happened here.

    connected via a dating app in the months before the killing. Woodward said he picked up Bernstein, went to a nearby park and repeatedly stabbed Bernstein after trying to grab a cellphone he feared had been used to photograph him.

    Morrison, the defense lawyer, said Woodward was confused about his sexuality after growing up in a politically conservative and devout Catholic family where his father openly criticized homosexuality.

    • medgremlin@midwest.social
      5·
      2 days ago

      The bit right after that talks about how that was his MO for assaulting gay men and he kept a “profanity-laced journal” about his actions.

      • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
        51·
        2 days ago

        Right, but why is he spending so much time doing that? I don’t think it’s inconsistent, as the reason he spends all his time assaulting gay men is to externalize his self hatred.

        • medgremlin@midwest.social
          4·
          2 days ago

          I’ve spent enough time around religious wingnuts to know that some of them just do it out of hate and disgust. It’s not always self-disgust. Sometimes they just buy into the propaganda so deeply that any deviance is simply abhorrent and must be eradicated.

          I have personally dragged a couple of people out of that mindset and they are very straight, so it was never a self-hatred thing, just a brainwashing thing.

          • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
            4·
            2 days ago

            That’s fair, and my main point was about the brainwashing too, and so I agree now that it’s irrelevant whether this guy was closeted or not.