Gideon Bernstein’s father, who is the last person known to have seen his brother dead, contacted Samuel Woodward in a disturbing phone call allegedly days after Blaze Bernstein went missing in January 2018. The change, marked by apparent issue from Woodward, after unravelled as a chilling piece of evidence in a situation that revealed hate, murder, and deception.
Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old pre-med student at the University of Pennsylvania, disappeared while visiting his home in Lake Forest, California, during winter split. On January 3, 2018, Blaze had gone out to join Woodward, a former high school student, after connecting on social media. When Blaze failed to return home, leaving behind his glasses, bag, and packed sacks for his returning to school, his household grew alarmed.
In despair, Blaze’s papa used social media to observe Woodward and initiated a telephone call, which his daughter Beaue recorded. According to ABC News, Gideon told Woodward,” We haven’t heard from him all time. He missed an appointment now, and then we started getting concerned. You’re the second true clue to the issue here”.
Woodward responded with evident emotion, saying,” Yeah, I feel like]expletive], actually, I’m sorry. I want to consider Blaze just as much as you do. He continued to explain their evening, claiming Blaze had suggested meeting another companion at Borrego Park. According to Woodward, Blaze walked off into the day, leaving him waiting by a room.
More questions than answers were raised by the tale. As Blaze’s home pressed for precision, their impulses led them to warn authorities, who immediately placed Woodward under security.
Grim finding
His body was discovered in a deep grave in Borrego Park six weeks after Blaze vanished. His death’s brutality shocked both the police and the society. Blaze had been defensively wounded, with protective scars indicating a desperate battle for his life, and had been repeatedly stabbed in the face, chest, and hip.
Woodward was interrogated before being detained. As Daily Mail reported, a research of his house uncovered information tying him to violent neo-Nazi beliefs, including a bloody face, blade, and anti-gay and anti-Semitic components.
Hate-driven crime
Prosecutors contended that Woodward’s actions were motivated by hate, presenting evidence of his association with the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi extremist group. They claimed that Woodward had discriminated against Blaze despite the fact that he was gay and Jewish.
In court, Woodward’s defence shifted blame to personal struggles, including a diagnosis of autism and confusion about his sexuality. His attorney argued that Blaze was trying to photograph him during an intimate moment and that the killing was a panicked response to a rumored invasion of privacy.
In July of this year, Woodward was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a hate crime enhancement, and he was given a life sentence. Blaze’s parents, Jeanne Pepper Bernstein and Gideon Bernstein, expressed relief at the outcome but noted the enduring pain of losing their son.
” While he rots in prison, we will be here on the outside, celebrating the life of Blaze”, Jeanne said during the sentencing.
