Samuel Woodward Sentenced to Life for Hate Crime Murder of Blaze Bernstein
Samuel Woodward, a 27-year-old man from California, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2018 murder of Blaze Bernstein, a gay, Jewish university student. Woodward, affiliated with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, was convicted of stabbing Bernstein 28 times in a hate crime. The trial faced delays due to questions about Woodward's mental health, but he was eventually deemed competent to stand trial. Bernstein's murder was motivated by Woodward's rage after Bernstein kissed him during a meeting arranged via Snapchat.