Pressed by a prosecutor to answer detailed questions about the slaying of a former high school classmate, Samuel Woodward on Monday, June 24 repeatedly said he could not remember parts of a killing he described as being like a “blur.”
Woodward during his fifth and final day on the stand said he couldn’t recall what he did with his bloody clothing after stabbing Blaze Bernstein to death in a Lake Forest community park in January 2018. He also denied that a knife law enforcement found in his room with Bernstein’s blood on it — that was identified repeatedly in court as the suspected killing weapon — was the actual blade he used in the slaying.
Under pointed cross-examination in a Santa Ana courtroom by Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker, Woodward largely remained subdued, though he was clearly frustrated about being facing new questions about the killing his defense attorney had previously asked him about. The testimony continued to move slowly, with Woodward once again repeatedly taking long pauses — up to 30 seconds — before answering questions by the attorneys.
On Thursday, Woodward described stabbing Bernstein repeatedly after he claimed Bernstein touched his genitals. Woodward said he was nodding off at the time after smoking marijuana, and feared that Bernstein had taken an explicit photograph of him and was texting it to other people.
Woodward — who grew up in a conservative religious family, was known on the largely liberal Orange County School of the Arts campus years earlier for making occasional homophobic comments and had ties to a hate group — also testified Thursday that Bernstein said something along the lines of “I got you, you (expletive) hypocrite” and used the word “outed” before Woodward stabbed him to death and buried him with his bare hands.
Under questioning by Walker on Monday, Woodward said he could not recall the order of where he stabbed Bernstein.
“How did you stab him 14 times on the left side of his neck when he was sitting right next to you?” Walker asked.
“I can’t remember,” Woodward replied.
“And how did you stab him five times to the right side of his neck, when he was sitting on your right?” The prosecutor asked.
“I can’t remember,” Woodward said.
“What was Blaze saying as you stabbed him these multiple times?”
“I can’t remember him saying anything.”
“He wasn’t screaming for his life?”
“No. I can’t remember what he was saying.”
Woodward described himself as being “covered in blood” after stabbing Bernstein to death, but couldn’t recall details of how he cleaned himself up after burying Bernstein at the edge of the park.
“Did you use the water fountain by the bathrooms to clean off the knife?” Walker asked.
“No, I did not,” Woodward replied.
“Where did you clean off the knife?
“I don’t remember.”
“What did you do with your clothes?”
“I don’t remember.”
Investigators previously identified the knife they believed Woodward used to kill Bernstein as a blade Woodward’s father had acknowledged giving to Woodward years after the elder Woodward bought it off a “drunken fisherman” who was trying to raise drinking money at a Newport Beach bar. Deputies discovered that knife — with blood they tied to Bernstein on it — in a desk drawer in Woodward’s room at his parents’ Newport Beach home.
But Woodward during his testimony on Monday said he actually used a longer knife he claimed to have bought at a swap meet.
Woodward during questioning by the prosecutor acknowledged lying to both Bernstein’s parents and law enforcement in the days after the slaying by claiming that Bernstein had wandered off to meet an unidentified other person, and that he had tried to search for Bernstein. After burying Bernstein, Woodward has acknowledged he texted Bernstein to make it look like Bernstein was missing. Bernstein’s body was discovered by law enforcement after a six day search.
Woodward also seemed to be trying to downplay his ties to Atomwaffen Division, a Neo-Nazi extremist group he had trained with in Texas after dropping out of college. He described communicating and meeting with members of Atomwaffen, rather than being a member himself.
Walker, the prosecutor, noted that thousands of images believed to be tied to Atomwaffen were found on Woodward’s phone after his arrest.
“That is you with an Atomwaffen mask on doing the “Heil Hitler” (salute),” Walker asked, showing Woodward one of the alleged propaganda photos.
“That is a skull mask,” Woodward replied. “As for the salute, that is a completely different story.”
While Woodward — who is on trial for first-degree murder — admits to killing Bernstein, he has denied it was due to Bernstein being gay, as alleged by the prosecution. A hate crime finding by the jury would result in a much longer sentence.
The prosecution alleges that Woodward — driven by the anti-gay, anti-semitic sentiments fueled by Atomwaffen — targeted gay men online, matched up with them on social networking sites and either “ghosted” them or made them fear they would be the target of a hate crime.
The defense has countered by arguing that Woodward — who is on the autism spectrum and has been described in testimony as a social outcast — struggled with his own sexuality and was not driven by hate.
Toward the end of his testimony on Thursday, Woodward once again agreed with his attorney that Bernstein “did not deserve to die for what he did to you.”
“Do you have remorse for what you did to Blaze Bernstein and his family and his friends?” Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison asked.
“Yes, I do,” Woodward replied.
