Blaze Bernstein, the 19-year-old college student who was found stabbed to death and buried in a shallow grave. Photo from the Orange County Sheriffs Department.
A 20-year-old Newport Beach man pleaded not guilty Friday to killing a gay former high school classmate whose body was found buried in a shallow grave at a Lake Forest park, and a judge set his bail at $5 million.
Samuel Lincoln Woodward had been jailed without bail since his arrest Jan. 12. The usual bail for first-degree murder is $1 million, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Hanson set Woodward’s bail at $5 million, citing in part his attempts to evade surveillance efforts by sheriff’s deputies prior to his arrest. The judge also noted Woodward changed his appearance by dying and cutting his hair while he was under surveillance.
Woodward is accused of fatally stabbing 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania pre-med student Blaze Bernstein, who was last seen by Woodward late the night of Jan. 2 and was found dead a week later in a shallow grave at Borrego Park near his family’s home.
Woodward and Bernstein were classmates at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana and had reconnected through the social media platform Snapchat. Bernstein was home from college on winter break when he was slain.
According to District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Woodward picked up Bernstein from his parents’ Lake Forest home about 11 p.m. Jan. 2, and drove him to a shopping center on Portola Parkway in Foothill Ranch. Later, the two went to Borrego Park in Lake Forest, he said.
At some point, Woodward allegedly stabbed Bernstein multiple times, then buried the body in a dirt perimeter at the park.
Rackauckas declined to discuss a possible motive for the killing, but a search warrant affidavit recently obtained by the Orange County Register suggested that Bernstein may have tried to kiss Woodward, who responded by killing him in an act of rage.
The district attorney conceded that the case remained under investigation, and said prosecutors were reviewing whether the killing could be considered a hate crime.
Bernstein’s family has expressed concerns that their son was targeted because he is gay and Jewish.
In late January, ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news site, reported that three people who knew Woodward said he was part of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, an armed fascist organization that aims to overthrow the government through guerrilla tactics and terrorism.
Woodward’s attorney, Ed Munoz, labeled speculation that his client was associated with white supremacist groups as “white noise.”
If Woodward does manage to post bail, Woodward will be required to wear a GPS device, turn in his expired passport and not apply for a new one, Hanson said. Woodward must also obey a curfew of 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The judge also issued a protective order, requiring Woodward to stay away from the Bernstein family if he is released from custody.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy said Friday that Woodward returned to the crime scene at least once before sheriff’s investigators questioned him. But Munoz said there’s nothing to show his client intended to “thwart the investigation.” He also noted the defendant has no prior criminal history.
Woodward is due back in court March 2 for a pretrial hearing.
After the hearing, Munoz criticized what he called an effort by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to publicize the case, saying it could make it difficult to pick a jury.
“It seems like he wants to try this in a different county,” Munoz said of Rackauckas, who held a news conference about the case Friday morning before the arraignment.
At that news conference, Rackauckas said prosecutors realized they could not attach a special-circumstance allegation to the murder charge against Woodward because the law does not authorize the move in a case when a victim is targeted because they are female or gay. A special-circumstance allegation opens a defendant to a sentence of death or life in prison without the chance of parole.
Rackauckas called it a “glaring omission,” noting that the law does allow for capital punishment for killers motivated by race or religion. Rackauckas said it appeared to him lawmakers “intentionally left out” other protected classes such as gays and women.
If prosecutors determine that Bernstein was killed because of his sexual orientation, they could still file a hate crime allegation against Woodward, opening him to a longer prison term if convicted. Because Bernstein was stabbed to death, Woodward already faces 26 years to life in prison if found guilty.
Rackauckas called the office of Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Garden Grove, to help amend the law governing special circumstances. Nguyen’s district includes Santa Ana, where the D.A.’s office is located, but it does not include Lake Forest, where Bernstein’s body was discovered in a shallow grave.
A spokesman for state Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, who is the state minority leader, said Nguyen reached out to her about the bill. Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, whose district includes Lake Forest, was not immediately available for comment, but Rackauckas’ chief of staff, Susan Schroeder, said her office doubted he would support a change in the law.
Moorlach has said he’s already at his limit of legislation he can tout and would have read it first before he could say whether he would support it.
Nguyen noted that she recently worked with Rackauckas’ office on a law to punish anyone who dumps a body.
Bernstein’s family said a community memorial service in his honor will be held Feb. 25 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. Free tickets will be distributed beginning next week. Information will be posted online at BlazeBernstein.org.
–City News Service
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