Blaze Bernstein’s High School Friend Arrested In Murder
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Ari Feldman January 14, 2018
A high school friend has been arrested in the murder of Blaze Bernstein, the Ivy League student killed near his home in southern California.
Police identified the suspect as Samuel Woodward, 20, of nearby Newport Beach, the Orange County Register reported. They say DNA evidence links Woodward, who was the last person known to have seen Bernstein alive, with the slaying.
There was no word on any possible motive.
Bernstein’s family posted photos of them lighting Shabbat candles in his honor Friday night.
Image by Facebook
The 19-year-old was home for winter break from his sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania. He went missing in the early morning hours of January 3. His parents reported him missing later that morning when they realized he had left the house and never returned home.
Finally. My thoughts are: Revenge is empty. It will never bring back my son. My only hopes are that he will never have the opportunity to hurt anyone else again and that something meaningful can come from the senseless act of Blaze’s murder. Now Do Good for Blaze Bernstein
— Jeanne Pepper (@bernsteinmom) January 12, 2018
“Nothing will bring back my son so we ask the world to please honor Blaze’s memory by doing an act of kindness today – don’t wait – do it now,” the grieving mom told the Los Angeles Times. “Celebrate the goodness that still exists in this world in-spite of these acts of senseless evil.”
According to an affidavit published in the Register, police twice interviewed the man now identified as Woodward, who said he drove the man to a park so that he could meet a third person.
The Register reported, based on an affidavit signed by police investigators, that the suspect was “visibly shaking” in one interview. He also had dirt under his fingernails and scratches on his hands, which he attributed to having participated in an outdoor fight club with some friends.
#OCSDPIO: Samuel Woodward, 20, of Newport Beach. He is suspected of killing 19 yo #BlazeBernstein. pic.twitter.com/vqZDN0uPmO
— OC Sheriff, CA (@OCSD) January 13, 2018
Detectives said, however, that the friend’s story — which included driving away from the park where he had dropped off Bernstein after not hearing from him for an hour — “stayed fairly consistent” across two interviews.
Woodward attended Orange County School of the Arts around the same time as Bernstein.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aefeldman
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
