California man convicted of murder in 2018 stabbing death of gay University of Pennsylvania student

Associated Press

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man has been convicted of murder with a hate crime enhancement for the 2018 stabbing of a gay University of Pennsylvania student. Twenty-six-year-old Samuel Woodward was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder plus the enhancement in for the killing of Blaze Bernstein. Bernstein was home visiting his family in Southern California on winter break when he went missing. Authorities scoured the area for him and found his body a week later in a shallow grave at a nearby park. The question during the monthslong trial was not whether Woodward killed Bernstein but why, and the circumstances under which it happened. Woodward’s lawyer says he will appeal.