The years-long wait for justice edges closer to a resolution as the trial of Samuel Woodward, charged with killing Blaze Bernstein in what prosecutors have called a hate crime, is set to begin with opening statements on Tuesday. Woodward faces allegations of stabbing Bernstein, a former high school classmate and a gay, Jewish 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, to death in January 2018.
Woodward's trial, which has been delayed by questions about his mental competency and a reshuffling of defense counsel, follows revelations that his electronic devices contained anti-gay and antisemitic materials, including explicit expressions of his hatred for Jewish people and homosexuals and even gruesome sentiments wishing death to them, CBS News and FOX LA reported.
Bernstein went missing after he and Woodward went to a park, his parents discovered his belongings in his bedroom the next day after he failed to show up for a dentist appointment and did not respond to texts or calls, and days later, authorities uncovered Bernstein's body in a shallow grave at the park, according to authorities as reported by CBS News.
In the wake of the killing, evidence against Woodward mounted, showing his desire to join the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division. His phone records present troves of hateful material. At the same time, investigators also found a knife at Woodward's residence with a bloody blade, all of this lending weight to the charges of murder with sentencing enhancements for hate crime and the personal use of a deadly weapon, meaning Woodward could face life imprisonment without parole if convicted. However, Woodward, who reportedly suffers from Asperger's syndrome, maintains his innocence pleading not guilty to all charges.
Woodward's current attorney, Ken Morrison, cautioned against hasty judgments about the case, suggesting the narrative framed so far might be misleading. "For the past six years, the public has been reading and hearing a prosecution and muckraking narrative about this case that is simply fundamentally wrong," Morrison wrote in an email, as CBS News documented.
Jury selection, which faced setbacks including a restart after a courtroom disturbance, took weeks to complete. Attorneys sifted through 1,100 juror questionnaires to form the panel for a trial anticipated to last several months.
