Bernstein was Jewish, gay, quick-witted and smart, and with a large circle of friends. The sentencing hearing was held without Woodward appearing in court.

This was a hate crime," Blaze Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, told the court. “Samuel Woodward ended my son’s life because my son was Jewish and gay.”

Samuel Lincoln Woodward was found guilty in July for the death of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, whose body was found days after he went missing, stabbed over 28 times and buried in a shallow grave at a Lake Forest Park.

Samuel Woodward, then 21, was driven by 'pure hate and rage' over his victim's sexual orientation and religious beliefs, the judge says.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally stabbing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein six years ago.

Samuel Woodward, who espoused anti-gay rhetoric and had ties to Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi group, stabbed his victim 28 times in a hate-fueled murder, prosecutors said.

A Newport Beach man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the anti-LGBTQ and antisemitic hate crime killing of his former classmate, Blaze Bernstein. KTLA's Sandra Mitchell hears from the victim's family and has more from inside the courtroom.

A 27-year-old man faces life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday for the hate-crime killing of a gay former classmate in Foothill Ranch six years ago.

Samuel Woodward, a California man found guilty of murdering his former classmate in 2018 in a hate crime, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.