Blaze Bernstein Suspect Charged With Murder In Brutal Stabbing
Blaze Bernstein on a recent trip to Iceland. Image by Facebook
By Dave Goldiner January 17, 2018
Prime suspect Samuel Woodward was charged with murder Wednesday in the killing of inspirational California college student Blaze Bernstein.
The ex-high school classmate of Bernstein faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted in the brutal stabbing death, which took place after the two met near their homes in an affluent Los Angeles suburb on January 3.
Woodward was expected to be arraigned later Wednesday.
Police sources told reporters that [Bernstein was stabbed more than 20 times.] Woodward admitted being angered when Bernstein kissed him hours before the killing.
A police press release noted that Woodward, who weighs 185 pounds, was linked by DNA evidence to the killing of Bernstein, who is 50 pounds lighter.
Bernstein, 19, never returned home after meeting Woodward and his body was found days later in a shallow grave in a nearby park.
The slain teen, who was on winter break from the University of Pennsylvania, was recalled in glowing terms by friends and relatives.
His parents have asked if the killing should be probed as a hate crime, especially since Wooodward reportedly used an anti-gay slur to refer to Bernstein during his interrogation by police.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
