303. The Fake Uber Homicide - The Murder of Samantha Josephson

On this episode, Garrett and Payton cover the tragic case of Samantha Josephson, a college student who never made it home after a night out. When her rideshare suddenly veers off course, it sets off a chain of events that leads to a shocking discovery and a case that would change rideshare safety forever. Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources: WhatsMyName.org - https://www.whatsmyname.org/ WomanSpace.org - womanspace.org People.com - https://people.com/crime/nathaniel-rowland-guilty-murder-samantha-josephson/ NBCPhiladelphia.com - https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/man-convicted-of-killing-woman-who-mistook-his-car-for-uber/2897866/ WISTV.com - https://www.wistv.com/2021/07/22/rowland-trial-day-3-investigators-present-gruesome-evidence-night-samantha-josephson-died/ CrimeAndInvestigation.com - https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/articles/murder-samantha-josephson-samis-law NBCNews.com - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/student-killed-after-taking-car-she-mistook-uber-was-victim-n1274534 CBSNews.com - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/samantha-josephson-murder-nathaniel-rowland-sentenced-life-prison/ KFoxTV.com - https://kfoxtv.com/news/nation-world/live-jury-delivers-plea-in-rowland-trial-the-murder-of-samantha-josephson The-Independent.com - https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/samantha-josephson-usc-student-mother-uber-killer-b1892104.html FoxCarolina.com - https://www.foxcarolina.com/2024/08/21/appeal-denied-man-who-murdered-usc-student/ TheState.com - https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article253034933.html TheCinemaholic.com - https://thecinemaholic.com/samantha-josephson/ Mirror.co.uk - https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/student-21-gets-fake-uber-35889164 ABCNews.go.com - https://abcnews.go.com/US/love-life-boyfriend-slain-university-south-carolina-studentwho/story?id=62096308 CNN.com - https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/us/south-carolina-student-killer-life-sentence APNews.com - https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-kidnapping-forensics-columbia-46a820bde1d21e199952b190172fb07b NYTimes.com - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/us/samantha-josephson-usc.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Payton Moreland?

  You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Payton Moreland.

• 0:08Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm Garrett Moreland.

• 0:09Payton Moreland?

  And he's the husband.

• 0:10Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm the husband. Welcome back to another episode. Happy Monday. Hope you are having a great start to the week. So I think for my 10 seconds, real quick, um, instead of a hot take this week, someone, you know, someone tried to cut me today at the Dutch Bros line. Someone tried to cut me. I don't know. I don't, I don't know how else to say it. I don't care if I Karened out. Someone tried to cut me today. I'm going to explain this to you guys real quick. We're in line in Dutch Bros. One car, two car, three car, lane split. Okay? The person in the right lane, boom, goes naturally. First of all, I was there before the car behind the other right car.

• 0:53Garrett Moreland?

  Naturally, my turn, left lane. Boom. I, this guy looks at me, looks, I mean, looks at us and then just says, nope. Just goes, just starts going. Boom. Instantly, I honked my horn. He looked over. I rolled down the window. I put my drinks up and said, hey, we already got our drinks. We're going to go in front of you. And he just stared at me. He went like this.

• 1:18Garrett Moreland?

  And I said, also, by the way, there's a line. I was pissed, right? Was it not kind of crazy that he tried to do that? Babe, we need to weigh in on this.

• 1:28Payton Moreland?

  Guys.

• 1:29Garrett Moreland?

  Wait, first of all.

• 1:29Payton Moreland?

  Mind you, mind you, we were just halfway through the episode when Garrett remembered this 10 seconds and demanded that we go back and retell it.

• 1:38Garrett Moreland?

  I am not a Karen type of person. I actually despise them. So if you are Karen, you're listening, I'm sorry. But I'm also a, we gotta follow the rules type of person. So when someone tries cutting me in a line, it's not happening.

• 1:53Payton Moreland?

  And the worst part was it's like

• 1:55Garrett Moreland?

  It's not happening.

• 1:55Payton Moreland?

  early in the morning. I don't know why Dutch didn't have their music going, but it was dead quiet outside.

• 2:01Garrett Moreland?

  I was like, dude, what are you doing?

• 2:02Payton Moreland?

  And Garrett's just honks his huge truck horn.

• 2:06Garrett Moreland?

  He looked at me like deer in the headlights.

• 2:09Payton Moreland?

  He's like, I'm going in front of you.

• 2:11Garrett Moreland?

  I was like, no, you're not. Guess who? Guess who didn't go in front of me? That guy did not go in front of me. All I'm saying, don't cut me. Don't cut me. If you ever see me in public and you try cutting me, I want to find your IP address and you're never going to be able to listen to the podcast again. That's my 10 seconds. Let's.

• 2:27Payton Moreland?

  Get back into the episode.

• 2:28Garrett Moreland?

  Let's get back.

• 2:29Payton Moreland?

  But actually starting the episode for you guys.

• 2:32Garrett Moreland?

  Get into today's case.

• 2:33Payton Moreland?

  Our sources for this episode are what'smyname.org, womanspace.org, people.com, nbcphiladelphia.com, wistv.com, crimeandinvestigation.com, NBC News, CBS News, KFOC TV, the-independent.com, foxcarolina.com, thestate.com, thecinemaholic, mirror.co.uk, apnews.co.com, CNN, APNews.com, and NewYorkTimes.com. There's a lot of things in this world that we just implicitly trust. Things that have become such a part of our daily lives and routines that we don't even question them anymore. For example, say that you're booking a doctor's appointment. Do you really verify their credentials and certifications before you walk into the office?

• 3:18Garrett Moreland?

  I do.

• 3:19Payton Moreland?

  I don't. I don't even know. Or like if you're posting your photos on Instagram, have you read the fine print on the information of what you're supposed to be sharing, the policies? No. How about getting into a rideshare vehicle? Are you diligent about checking the license plate to make sure? You know, it's the model, it's the correct one. Do you always make sure the driver matches their pictures and knows your first name? In a rapidly changing world, full of technological updates, it's these little things that fall by the wayside. And not because we forget necessarily, but because we just trust. We trust that these systems work and that the people operating within them have good intentions.

• 4:02Payton Moreland?

  But today's story is proof that that is not always the case. Some people take advantage of these tools that we've been told we can rely on. And they use these resources to prey upon people, to trick people, even to scam them. And in some rare cases, even to take another person's life. Today I want you to meet 21-year-old Samantha Josephson. In 2019, she is a senior at the University of South Carolina, and she's majoring in political justice. And she's only months away from getting the degree that she has worked her butt off for. Samantha's not from South Carolina originally, she's actually from New Jersey. She was born in the picturesque little college town of Princeton,

• 4:48Payton Moreland?

  basically the Hogwarts of the tri-state area. But she was raised about 13 miles away from there in another smallish town called Robbinsville, New Jersey. Now, growing up, it was just her, Samantha, and her older sister Sydney, and then her parents, Macy and Seymour. And while Samantha loved being close to her family, she had always dreamed of life outside of her small New Jersey town. So when she was accepted to University of South Carolina in 2015, she begged her parents to let her travel 670 miles to college. Now, they were hesitant to say yes at first. The South was a lot different than the Northeast.

• 5:32Payton Moreland?

  They weren't sure how their young daughter would fare in another part of the country that she hadn't spent much time in. But Samantha had always been reliable, responsible, respectful. She always made the best choices for herself, and her parents knew life down there would be no different. So in the fall of 2015, they helped her pack her bags, and they made the drive down south, where Samantha would start her new life as an undergrad. And as expected, Samantha took to it like a fish to water. She joined a sorority, making dozens of new sisters in Alpha Gamma Delta. And with Greek life being a big part of the school's culture,

• 6:15Payton Moreland?

  that actually opened her up to even more connections and friendships. At one point, she even studied abroad in Barcelona, traveling through Europe to places like Paris and then Madrid. And before she knew it, her college experience was starting to come to a close. By her senior year in 2018, Samantha was thinking about what life after graduation would look like. And for her, there was only one answer: law school.

• 6:44Payton Moreland?

  She had been offered scholarships from both Rutgers in New Jersey, which would take her back closer to home, but she ultimately chose Drexel University in Philadelphia. Also, honestly, not too far away from her parents. Samantha honestly was excited about being closer to her family again and plus her boyfriend, Greg Corbischley, who she had met at USC and started dating back in the spring of 2017, was also planning to attend Rutgers School of Law. But first, he was going to spend a little time in Charleston, South Carolina to reset. So all of this to say, the two of them both were gonna go to law school. They had a bright future ahead of them.

• 7:29Payton Moreland?

  Now Greg called Samantha the love of his life. He was in it for the long haul. And so by May of 2019, when Garrett and I were getting married, there was a lot worth celebrating for Samantha over in her life, which was exactly what she was doing on the night of the 28th in downtown Columbia, just a few miles from the USC campus. So that evening Samantha, like a lot of the kids at USC, went to a collection of bars and restaurants down in an area of Columbia known as Five Points. And Samantha spent the night with a few friends at one particular spot called The Bird Dog Bar. Having a few drinks, blowing off some steam from the week.

• 8:14Payton Moreland?

  And they treated the outing honestly as a sort of celebration for Samantha having gotten into law school. And by this point, she was in the final stretch. Graduation was just around the corner. Samantha could practically smell the freedom. But around 2:00 AM, the bar was starting to shut down and honestly, as was Samantha. She was exhausted from the long week and decided to say goodbye before the rest of her friends. Now Greg, her boyfriend, wasn't there that night. He was actually already down in Charleston, getting ready for his post-graduation move.

• 8:51Payton Moreland?

  But the two spoke on the phone a few times throughout the night and they were texting. And around 2:00 a.m., she told Greg she was leaving the bar. He told her to get home safe and said he would track her location. And then Samantha left the bar. She went outside. She got lost in the crowd of dozens of other college students who were emptying out the other bars. And as promised, Greg watched her little blue dot on his Find My Friends app basically travel along a familiar road home. And then several minutes into the drive, her location stopped at a place called Montgomery Avenue in Rosewood, South Carolina.

• 9:32Payton Moreland?

  Now, when Greg noticed Samantha's phone didn't make it back to her address when it probably should have, he tried calling her, but there was no answer. So he called one of Samantha's roommates. When they said that Samantha had left alone from the bar, he told them he noticed her phone had stopped in that Rosewood area. So the roommate and a friend hopped into a car and went to look for Samantha and her phone in that same vicinity, but they couldn't find it. Now, both she and Greg assumed, okay, maybe Samantha had left it in the Uber and then had not gone home and just had like continued the night somewhere else.

• 10:16Payton Moreland?

  So the roommate and Greg are like, okay, let's just get back to this in the morning. Like it's early hours at this point. We're tired. You're tired. The roommate goes home to get some sleep. But when they wake up in the morning, Samantha is still not home. And so at this point, everyone's like, wait, this is actually pretty bad. So that's when Samantha's roommate actually called 911 to report her missing. And 911 sent a sled agent from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division over to speak with the roommate who told them Samantha had a shift at a local bar that morning. She was supposed to work at a spot called The Liberty Tap Room and Grill,

• 10:59Payton Moreland?

  less than three miles from where she was actually last seen the night before. But she never came home. She didn't show up for her shift. So the agent goes to Samantha's place of work and they're like, yeah, she really did never show, which is weird because as we've heard many times before on this show, it is just very unlike Samantha. And then you add in the fact that the boyfriend had been tracking her location.

• 11:23Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 11:24Payton Moreland?

  And it had like gone off rail and then just not went home.

• 11:29Garrett Moreland?

  That would be so scary. That'd be horrible.

• 11:31Payton Moreland?

  And everyone in her life is trying to tell the agents at this point, like she's extremely responsible. She takes her commitment seriously. She wouldn't have done this. So when her parents also hear that she didn't come home last night and had missed her shift that morning, they too instantly know something is wrong. So they hop in the car almost immediately and start making the 10 hour drive down to South Carolina. Now meanwhile, SLED actually transfers the case over to the Columbia Police Department and they put out a BOLO, be on the lookout, for Samantha Josephson. But after five hours into their drive, the Josephsons actually get a call from

• 12:16Payton Moreland?

  someone at the Columbia Police Department and it's not a reassuring one. They pretty much just asked the parents, hey, when is your ETA? And then they hang up. They don't give the family any details. They don't really ask why they're asking.

• 12:31Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 12:31Payton Moreland?

  But it is enough for the Josephsons to think this has to be bad news. Like, why would they ask when we're going to be there, but then not tell us anything else? And unfortunately, their instincts are correct because that morning, about 14 hours after Samantha was last seen at the bar, there's some turkey farmers out in a field in New Zion, South Carolina. This is 65 miles away from Columbia. And as they're out searching for turkeys, they stumble upon a human body.

• 13:06Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, gosh, man.

• 13:08Payton Moreland?

  Now, police are called to this crime scene and they find it's a female who has been stabbed repeatedly. She has scratches all over her face and body as if she was dragged out here to the middle of nowhere. Her wounds are actually so severe. Police are having a hard time identifying her. It hasn't been that long, but her face is kind of unidentifiable. Now, unfortunately, there's nothing else at the crime scene that can help them find the killer, but they are fairly certain that these are the remains of the missing 21-year-old Samantha Josephson that everyone had got the notification about that morning.

• 13:49Garrett Moreland?

  I don't know what's worse, when we cover these cases and, I don't know, it's all horrible.

• 13:54Payton Moreland?

  You never find them or you do?

• 13:55Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, you never find them or you find them quick like this, within hours. And it's like, we found her, but she's not alive.

• 14:02Payton Moreland?

  And it's not like, oh.

• 14:04Garrett Moreland?

  Is it nice to have that closure? I mean, at that point, it probably doesn't even matter. It's probably just all so effed up. You.

• 14:11Payton Moreland?

  I don't even know if you would know unless you go through it.

• 14:14Garrett Moreland?

  Horrible.

• 14:15Payton Moreland?

  I will say, it's, you know, not only are they being told, hey, you know, your, your daughter is dead. They're saying, hey, your daughter was brutally murdered. Like, most likely tortured. So they're like, hey, we believe this is your missing college student and it is something that's confirmed to the police from where her body was found when her parents finally do reach the police station in South Carolina later that day. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. You know, there were many times growing up in school where I was like, when am I ever going to use this? And let me be real honest with you. A lot of those things have turned out to be true. But you know what I wish they would have taught in school?

• 14:58Payton Moreland?

  Financial literacy. So Greenlight takes the mental load of family life and kind of puts it all into one place. It keeps your whole family in sync. Money, safety, and everyday life, all in one place. When you're using it, you can see what your kids are spending, right when they spend it. You can also easily send them money via Greenlight instead of like digging around for cash. And Greenlight just helps your household run smoother. Chores happen without nagging because you can do it all through. Through the Greenlight app. There's also like a schedule that is up to date in real time. So when you're out of milk or someone needs new cleats, it just goes on this shared

• 15:43Payton Moreland?

  list that everyone can add to. Join the 6.5 million family members who trust Greenlight. Garrett has younger siblings. They've used Greenlight and it is so amazing to watch them learn about money in the safety of their home. You've got enough on your plate. Greenlight keeps it all in sync. Get started at greenlight.com/husband. That is greenlight.com/husband. Greenlight.com/husband. Go check it out now.

• 16:10Garrett Moreland?

  This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are plenty of reasons we put off getting support and for a lot of people, cost is one of them. But BetterHelp insurance options may now be available nationwide with an average copay for eligible members of just $23 per session. And while we're reconsidering old assumptions, maybe there are a few others worth questioning too.

• 16:32Payton Moreland?

  Women inherit a lot of unwritten rules. Be ambitious, but not intimidating. Be there for everyone, but still make time for yourself. Have it all together, but don't look like you're trying too hard. And I have definitely fallen into all of these traps. But if you have been wanting to start therapy, BetterHelp works with more than 125 health plan networks and eligible members have an average copay of just $23 per session with insurance. If you don't have insurance or don't live in the United States, you can still get 10% off your first month.

• 17:04Garrett Moreland?

  And Peyton and I are big advocates for therapy. Give it a try. Life can be crazy. There's a lot going on. Like we were talking about, sometimes it feels like you need to have everything figured out. You don't. Go talk to someone. Go see what's going on. Visit betterhelp.com/husband to explore your payment options. That's betterhelp, H E L P, dot com slash husband.

• 17:26Payton Moreland?

  Now meanwhile, the Columbia police are terrified that there's a predator on the loose and at any moment, another life might be claimed. And this is just not something people are used to, especially because most of the people here are college students. They are vulnerable. They are ambitious and they're trusting. I feel like you're, you're always so trusting in college.

• 17:49Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, honestly, I would agree. I feel like when I was in college, I had zero.

• 17:55Payton Moreland?

  You just.

• 17:56Garrett Moreland?

  I was stupid.

• 17:57Payton Moreland?

  You go anywhere with anyone to any house like.

• 17:59Garrett Moreland?

  Maybe it's changed now with a lot more information that's out there and.

• 18:04Payton Moreland?

  This was the time we were in college, though.

• 18:06Garrett Moreland?

  Correct. But I mean, it's been what 10, a long time.

• 18:08Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 18:09Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 18:09Payton Moreland?

  So, police move quickly on trying to track the killer down. And meanwhile, the autopsy reveals its own set of clues. Pathologists find that Samantha's been stabbed. Prepare yourself. Approximately 120 times.

• 18:27Garrett Moreland?

  No way. No way.

• 18:30Payton Moreland?

  And, you know, I'm gonna go into a little bit of depth of where these stab wounds are, so just skip 10 seconds if you don't want to hear. But the reason she was so unidentifiable is because several of these fatal wounds had been to her brain and neck.

• 18:48Garrett Moreland?

  Gosh, no.

• 18:51Payton Moreland?

  She also had a severed hyoid bone, which as we've talked about before, could be an indicator of strangulation. Many of the stab wounds, though, were through her hands and arms, which did show that Samantha probably was trying to fight these stab wounds, which is how she even got them on her hands and arms. She obviously tried hard to fend off her attacker. Now, just to give you a scope of how bad her injuries were, when pathologists tried to take a DNA sample, they were having a hard time finding enough blood in her body to like get the DNA from. Because so much of it had drained out from 120 stabs.

• 19:35Payton Moreland?

  Now, luckily by this point, the Columbia Police had already gotten a few good leads on her killer. Because when police spoke with Samantha's friends, they learned that as she was leaving the bar the night before, she had called an Uber to take her home. Samantha's parents always encouraged her to be careful about drinking and driving. Her father even let her sync his credit card to her Uber account. So she would never have to worry about spending the money and making the choice. She could always just get an Uber instead of driving drunk. So that is exactly what Samantha did. When she got too tired to keep the party going, she just ordered an Uber on her phone.

• 20:17Payton Moreland?

  Except what police learn is her Uber driver never actually picked her up the night before. There were tons of other rideshare drivers driving to pick up clients outside the bar, especially because every bar was closing in this area. But the Uber Samantha called told police that he never actually picked her up. She never got in his car. In fact, the driver said he couldn't find her, so he just canceled the ride and chalked it up to time lost. Maybe she decided to go back in and not, not leave. So investigators go back to the bird dog where Samantha was last seen.

• 20:59Payton Moreland?

  And they asked to see the camera footage from outside the bar the night before.

• 21:03Garrett Moreland?

  Thank goodness we have some cameras.

• 21:05Payton Moreland?

  They see Samantha. She's standing by herself in a sea of people outside the bar, waiting for her Uber to obviously pick her up. Now, the car that she had ordered that she was waiting for was a dark colored Dodge. And you can actually see Samantha in this footage, approach a car, realize that it's not her Uber, and then go back to the curb. But clearly at this point, this situation is chaotic. It's confusing. Lots of people are ordering Ubers. I mean, honestly, if you've ever ordered an Uber at like an airport or a busy place.

• 21:45Garrett Moreland?

  Like, I think if you've been to, let's say Vegas, for example.

• 21:48Payton Moreland?

  Yes.

• 21:49Garrett Moreland?

  Peyton and I have been a couple of times. And when we order an Uber there, it's a nightmare.

• 21:53Payton Moreland?

  Because people, drivers just

• 21:56Garrett Moreland?

  It's crazy.

• 21:56Payton Moreland?

  roll up and are like, are you for me? Are you for me? So it's after this first mix up that another dark colored car pulls up and Samantha walks over, opens the back door and gets in. And then the vehicle drives off. Now, obviously when police are watching this, their first thought is, but she never got in her Uber. So. What car is that?

• 22:20Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 22:20Payton Moreland?

  Who picked her up? Now, a few things about this car in the footage. First, it's a Chevy Impala, not a Dodge like Samantha was supposedly waiting for. But not everyone's familiar with a car's make and model. She may have seen the color, walked up. He said, yes, thought this is my ride. Another detail that's frustrating, the windows of this car are extremely tinted. There's no way to make out the driver of the vehicle or see if there's even anyone else inside, riding as a passenger in the front. But now police at least have a vehicle to search for. And as they look at more security footage around the bar and five points in general, they see that this Chevy had actually been driving around the area quite a bit that

• 23:03Payton Moreland?

  night, especially as the bars were letting out. At one point, it almost seems to take notice of Samantha because the car passes her, does a U-turn about a block away, and then comes back around and pulls up right in front of her. And while police can't see inside the vehicle, like I said, they assume it probably doesn't take Samantha very long to realize that she's not in the Uber that she had called.

• 23:31Garrett Moreland?

  That makes me sick to my stomach. I cannot imagine being trapped.

• 23:37Payton Moreland?

  Cause here's the thing. This car immediately starts driving in the opposite direction from her dorm. So from the get-go, he's already driving an odd way. And after that, remember, they're trying to track Samantha through security footage. The trail on Samantha takes a suspicious turn. Her phone is turned off about 20 minutes into that car ride. And then about 45 miles away from the Columbia area where she was picked up, there's activity of someone trying to use her debit card nine different times.

• 24:15Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 24:16Payton Moreland?

  So police head down to the area and they pull up the security video from the ATM. And they find on that video, a man standing alone. It is not Samantha using her card. He's wearing a bandana around his head and a hoodie with the drawstring pulled tight around his face. He's also wearing gloves, so they're not going to find any fingerprints on the machine. But that's not the final place he's actually spotted that night. His car is also seen passing through a Wendy's drive-through in the area. So, police go to the Wendy's, they talk to the people that work there and they said, "Oh yeah, we remember this car that night.

• 24:57Payton Moreland?

  We actually got a peek into the backseat of the car. It was covered with a white sheet. It like stood out to us. We noticed it."

• 25:06Garrett Moreland?

  Man.

• 25:07Payton Moreland?

  And they tell police, "There was no girl in the car. There was no sign of Samantha anywhere in the vehicle."

• 25:13Garrett Moreland?

  So, I will say, I will be very shocked if it's not someone that

• 25:19Garrett Moreland?

  she knows, or the family knows, or friends know, just because of how intimate the murder was.

• 25:25Payton Moreland?

  Hmm.

• 25:26Garrett Moreland?

  Being stabbed that many times. Usually doesn't happen, usually, right? When it's a crime of, I mean, I guess you can say, passion like that, where there's stabbings multiple times, that many times, usually like out of anger.

• 25:39Payton Moreland?

  It's definitely feeling like if it's not someone she knows, it's more serial killer route than someone just looking for money.

• 25:46Garrett Moreland?

  Correct.

• 25:47Payton Moreland?

  So, less than 24 hours after Samantha Josephson disappeared, police have already discovered her body and the make and model of the car that took her, and a lot of security footage. They know it was a dark Chevy Impala. So that night, a Columbia police officer named Jeffrey Kraft starts his shift. Now, obviously, he knows Samantha is missing, but he hasn't heard news that her body was found earlier that day yet. So what he's looking for tonight on his shift is any sign of the Impala that they are looking for. And it is actually a lot easier than you would ever imagine because around 2:30 a.m.

• 26:27Payton Moreland?

  This police officer is cruising about when he spots a car fitting the description of the car they're looking for. So he throws his lights on and pulls the car over. Now, as he approaches, he sees a man and a woman inside this Impala. And the car reeks of marijuana. So Kraft, the police officer, asks the driver for his license and registration. The man says he doesn't have it with him. So they have him get out of the car. Now, he doesn't put up a fight at first, but when police tell him, oh, the reason we actually pulled you over was not because you like broke any driving laws. It was because your vehicle matches the description of a suspect's vehicle that we're looking for.

• 27:12Payton Moreland?

  This driver takes off running. They tell him this and he just books it.

• 27:17Garrett Moreland?

  Instantly folds.

• 27:18Payton Moreland?

  This leads to a full on pursuit and eventually the guy is caught and apprehended. But in the meantime, that female, you know, I would love to know how many people have run away from police and like evaded it forever.

• 27:33Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm talking about on foot, not in a car or like on a bike.

• 27:37Payton Moreland?

  You ran on foot. They never learned your name.

• 27:39Garrett Moreland?

  No, it's, I bet you, if you, you take the last 30 years, I bet you it's gotta be 0.0001%.

• 27:47Payton Moreland?

  Cause what are the chances they're driving a car that's not linked to them or someone that they know that's going to tattle on them? I don't know. Guys, I'm not sure if I have talked about this, but I have been put on an extremely restrictive diet while being pregnant. And you know, what has helped me so much? Hungry Root. I know, I know. You knew that was coming. It is so nice to be able to still shop, but get on and put in my preferences, put exactly what I'm looking for, pick out recipes that fit my dietary restrictions. I love Hungry Root. We've actually been using them since like, I think 2022 was when I first started using them. That was before they were even a sponsor of the show. Okay. If you've never checked.

• 28:32Payton Moreland?

  It out. You're interested in online grocery delivery that has quality products. I'm talking healthier alternatives. They're very transparent with what is in the ingredients. You can trust that what you're getting from Hungry Root is top notch. It completely changes the way of shopping and also for me has really helped ease my mind when it comes to this new diet. So you're going to love Hungry Root as much as I do. For a limited time, you can get 40% off your first order plus get a free item in every box for life. Go to hungryroot.com/husband and use code HUSBAND for that, you guys.

• 29:11Payton Moreland?

  That is hungryroot.com/husband code HUSBAND to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. I used to think a camera or video doorbell was home security. And then I realized those can only record a break in. They literally can't stop one. And that is the difference with Simply Safe. When an intruder steps onto your property, Simply Safe's AI-powered cameras detect the threat and alert a live US-based agent who can then intervene to stop them before they even get into your door. Because it's not my house or valuables that I'm even worried about. It's a stranger getting anywhere close to the people I love. And I'm obviously taking this way more seriously now, which I already did.

• 29:54Payton Moreland?

  But now more than ever with a baby on the way, like I said, unlike traditional security cameras, they only alert you after a break in, Simply Safe is built to stop it before it starts. And they have so many different options. If you haven't got on and checked it out, just do it, guys. If you've been waiting for a sign to get some security, this is it. Join the more than 6 million people who entrust Simply Safe with their home security. Right now, save 60% off with professional monitoring when you visit simplysafe.com/husband. That is an amazing code, guys. 60% off. That is simplysafe.com/husband. And when you order, again, just please let them know Murder With My Husband sent you.

• 30:37Payton Moreland?

  Write it in at the checkout survey. It just lets them know we sent you and it helps support the show. Simply Safe, ahead of crime and in real time. So he takes off running. Like I said, he gets apprehended. But in the meantime, the female passenger is actually still sitting in the car frozen in fear. And when police ask her what the driver's name was, she tells them Nate. AKA 24 year old Nathaniel Rowland. He was from a tiny little town near New Zion, South Carolina, where Samantha's body was found. Now, New Zion is small.

• 31:18Payton Moreland?

  It is not a place you would ever seek out unless you were familiar with the area. So this is a major red flag to detectives. Which, just a quick insert here. This is so interesting to me because I've actually lately been doing a lot of research on the serial killer, Israel Keys. Now, if you don't know, Israel Keys would basically drive around America and find extremely small towns. He would then kidnap someone from a different area, drive them to that small town, find an abandoned house and kill them there for the exact reason that police jumped to, who would ever kill here unless they knew of this area? So he would do it to trick.

• 32:03Payton Moreland?

  But in this case, police are doing the same thing. Like, who would know of this area? It has to be someone who grew up around here. So that's what is actually happening in this case. This is a major red flag to detectives. And what's even more worrisome is that if Nathaniel is the one who killed Samantha, it means he dropped her body off there last night and then drove back to Columbia to the Five Points area. Basically, the scene of the kidnapping that same day got pulled over by police. So what's he doing, hunting? Looking for another victim?

• 32:36Garrett Moreland?

  I'm also a big believer in karma. Like, what goes around comes around.

• 32:40Payton Moreland?

  This is all really strange and it was looking worse and worse for Nathaniel as police examined his car. Now, inside, they find a set of keys with a pink keychain. And when they ask the passenger if they're hers, she says no. Also, on that keyring, a USB drive that's given to all of the students, college students at USC, and a key that's labeled Room. They also find a pink cellphone in his car that doesn't belong to either him or the passenger. But the most damning evidence is a female footprint on the window in the backseat, almost like someone was trying to kick their way out of the car.

• 33:21Payton Moreland?

  And there is a lot of blood in the backseat and trunk of his car.

• 33:26Garrett Moreland?

  There's no way this girl didn't know about it or...

• 33:30Payton Moreland?

  We'll get there. Alongside with a bunch of cleaning products and bleach found in the car. And that's when they realized they actually likely just found the place where Samantha Josephson was killed. And then her body was dumped. They also realized Nathaniel probably had his child safety locks on in his backseat, which was what likely kept Samantha from being able to get out and run away. Luckily, police now had the 24-year-old Nathaniel D. Rowland in custody. And soon he was charged with kidnapping and first degree murder.

• 34:07Garrett Moreland?

  Now, it seems like it's gonna be open and shut, but why?

• 34:11Payton Moreland?

  Problem was Nathaniel from the beginning insisted that someone else had borrowed his car the night before. He wouldn't name names, like I'm not ratting, but I did not do this. It was an angle his defense attorneys would also take. There's no footage of him in any of the surveillance. It's just his car. Now prosecutors knew this was gonna be tricky. There was nothing they could actually prove that Nathaniel was the one driving. His windows were tinted. Also, the Wendy's drive-through footage doesn't show his face. Samantha hadn't been sexually assaulted, meaning there was no semen that could tie it back to Nathaniel.

• 34:52Payton Moreland?

  In fact, Nathaniel's DNA wasn't even showing up under Samantha's fingernails. However, police believed that was because Nathaniel was wearing so much clothing that night that she was never actually able to make skin-to-skin contact with him. If you remember how the person looked on the ATM, there's barely any skin showing. Right now, the only thing they could prove was that Samantha Josephson had been killed inside Nathaniel's car, but not really that he was the one who did it. So the prosecution knew before we go to trial, we're gonna need more evidence. And their best chance at gathering that was by taking a closer look at the Impala. So as police go to gather more clues, they discover something interesting in Nate's car.

• 35:36Payton Moreland?

  An eviction notice that included the name and address of Nate's girlfriend. A woman named Maria Howard. So police go to speak with her, hoping she can shed some light on her now arrested and charged boyfriend. And they get more than they bargained for. She says that the morning Samantha went missing, Nathaniel came to her house and tried to clean his car. He had rubber gloves on and was scrubbing down the console when she saw him grab this knife that had two blades, basically like a multi-tool that also had blood on it. When she asked him what was going on, she says he said to mind her own business. He doesn't give her any details. It's clear he's in a panic.

• 36:21Payton Moreland?

  So she lets police search her home for any more evidence that might corroborate her side of the story. And she leads the police to the garage where there's a garbage can, which is where, she says, Nate disposed of many of those cleanup materials. And in there.

• 36:37Garrett Moreland?

  The clothes.

• 36:38Payton Moreland?

  The knife.

• 36:39Garrett Moreland?

  Ah, okay.

• 36:40Payton Moreland?

  They find the murder weapon, the multi-blade tool that Maria claimed she had seen him with. They also find some of Nathaniel's clothes that are covered in blood, as well as a leather jacket of his that appears to have scratch marks all down the side of it, as if someone was dragging their nails along it, trying to fight back. Now, this is important because it's another, it's his clothing that has evidence on it, not hers, not someone else who could have borrowed the car. Shortly after this, the DNA results came back from the vehicle and it proves it was, in fact, Samantha's blood and footprint inside the Impala, only strengthening the prosecution's case.

• 37:21Payton Moreland?

  Now, some time has gone on, not a lot, but it's basically hit the time that should have been the biggest, most celebratory time in Samantha's life. It was her college graduation. There was a seat held in her memory. Her parents were given her degree, the degree which Samantha had worked so hard for and now would never get to pursue. And around the same time, a vigil was held back in Samantha's hometown. Friends, family members, and even complete strangers moved by her story, showed up to light a candle for her. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Rowland was skipping his court appearances back in South Carolina and still proclaiming his innocence.

• 38:03Payton Moreland?

  Now, unfortunately, it was gonna take two more years for him to face a trial because of COVID.

• 38:08Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, okay.

• 38:09Payton Moreland?

  But come.

• 38:11Payton Moreland?

  July of 2021, attorneys on both sides are ready to go to battle. Now arguably, the most important witness in this case was Nate's girlfriend, the one who lived at the home where the murder weapon was found, Maria Howard. There was a lot of uncertainty around whether Maria would even agree to testify at the trial. She was worried about her safety, the safety of her young daughter. But at the end of the day, she knew it was the right thing to do. So on day two, she showed up and was called to the witness stand.

• 38:43Garrett Moreland?

  Which I respect because I understand being scared. But I also think she probably thinks if I don't testify, people are going to think I'm involved. Which, yeah.

• 38:52Payton Moreland?

  She tells the jury not just about Nate coming to her house and cleaning out his car that day, but also how she'd asked him after he cleaned the car out about a visor that she needed to wear for work that she had left in his car. He cleans the car out, now she can't find it. And he tells Maria it was out, quote, "in the country." And when she asked what he was talking about, he mentioned something about how the visor had blood on it and I needed to get rid of it. But after pressing him for more details, he again threatened her to mind her own business. She also mentioned the details about the white sheet that was now covering the backseat,

• 39:32Payton Moreland?

  a detail that was validated by the workers and surveillance video out of that Wendy's drive-through. Maria said it wasn't until she finally saw something about Samantha's disappearance on the news that she did put it together. She said the reason she didn't immediately report it to police directly was because she didn't know what Nate was capable of. She had her young child to worry about, is she just jumping to conclusions? But Maria wasn't the only important witness called to the stand. There was also the Uber driver that was supposed to pick Samantha up that night. He said he went to the designated pickup spot for Samantha, but when he got there, there was no sign of her. He even said he had called her cellphone, but didn't receive

• 40:13Payton Moreland?

  an answer. And then came Oshamar Williams. He owned a cellphone repair shop and his surveillance footage from inside the store showed Nate coming in the morning Samantha disappeared. He had tried to pawn off Samantha's cellphone. Problem was-

• 40:32Garrett Moreland?

  What an idiot. What an absolute idiot.

• 40:34Payton Moreland?

  Oshamar was only offering $125 for the phone and Nate didn't think it was enough. So he took the phone with him where it was found in his vehicle when he was pulled over by police. Now even more damning, Oshomar got a look at the phone's lock screen and noticed it had a picture resembling Samantha on it. And again, this is helpful because it's Nate who is the one who's trying to pawn the cellphone off. That's clearly her phone because the witness identifies him and her, which helps against the defense's theory that he had nothing to do with this. Now, as anticipated, the defense tried to argue everything pointing to Nate was circumstantial.

• 41:13Garrett Moreland?

  Which is funny because at this point, it's not circumstantial. I mean, the murder weapon was found in his home.

• 41:19Payton Moreland?

  Well, and what's crazy is at trial, it comes out that they took samples from under Nathaniel's fingernails after he was arrested and they found it was a match for Samantha's genetic material. Plus, a pair of gloves, a sock, a bandana, and the knife he threw in Marie's trash, all belonging to him, had Samantha's DNA on it.

• 41:38Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, open and shut.

• 41:40Payton Moreland?

  Now, after six days of testimony, the jury deliberated for an hour and seven minutes. And when they came back, they had all unanimously agreed Nathaniel Rowland was guilty on all charges. The family had chosen not to pursue the death penalty, but spoke out during his sentencing hearing. Samantha's mother, Marcy, said in court, quote, "Her dreams were my dreams and her death was my death. I closed my eyes and I feel what she endured at his hands." Which I'm sure like haunting her father Seymour said through tears quote, do I tell you that I contemplated suicide several times over the past 28 months to me, the

• 42:23Payton Moreland?

  monster has stolen that bright light, this enthusiasm for life out of me. I tried to stop having these thoughts or desires only because I'm afraid of what this would ultimately do to Sydney Samantha's sister and Marcy, which is also just like horrifying. The judge then told Nate that leniency was not in his DNA and that he was sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, what's unusual about this case is there's really never been a clear motive. As I mentioned, Samantha wasn't sexually assaulted.

• 43:00Garrett Moreland?

  He didn't know her.

• 43:01Payton Moreland?

  If the motive was robbery, the murder that followed was like Garrett said, particularly gruesome and uncharacteristic of what we see following robberies gone wrong. So what did Nate want? Was he

• 43:16Garrett Moreland?

  Sorry to interrupt, which is scary. These are the scariest types of killers that kill. I mean, every killer is scary, but someone who kills for fun and for pleasure.

• 43:27Payton Moreland?

  That's what my mind goes to is he is serial killer in the making. Was he just stopped before he could get away with anything else? Was this just a thrill kill and nothing more? I'm not sure we'll ever really have the answers to those questions. What we do have, though, is some meaningful change. Samantha's death forced lawmakers in South Carolina to pass new legislation stating that rideshare drivers must display an illuminated sign given to them by the company when picking someone up, which we see now a lot.

• 44:02Garrett Moreland?

  Great. I mean, I guess someone could really fake it if they wanted to, but I think it's a great start. So that's awesome.

• 44:08Payton Moreland?

  Cause this wasn't really a thing back in 2015.

• 44:10Garrett Moreland?

  Uh, I was not.

• 44:11Payton Moreland?

  And if anyone stops working for the rideshare company, it's illegal for them to keep and continue using the sign. It's also illegal to have a fake one. It was called the Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act.

• 44:25Payton Moreland?

  Since then, the law has sparked national change and in 2023 Samantha's law went into effect federally, which is why we now see this everywhere. This required all rideshare drivers nationally to display illuminated signs and scannable QR codes to verify their identity before you get in the car. It also criminalized misrepresentation of being a rideshare driver and promoted more effective background checks for drivers. But the advocacy doesn't even end there. Samantha's family has since established the What's My Name Foundation to educate people about rideshare safety. And they came up with a memorable slogan to help you stay safe when using a rideshare app.

• 45:09Garrett Moreland?

  What's my name?

• 45:10Payton Moreland?

  It uses Sammy's name as an acronym. S is for stop. Before you request a ride, think about where you're headed and review the app's safety features before you get in. A is for ask. Ask your driver, what is my name before getting in? M is for match. Be sure the make, model, and license plate of the car matches what is listed on the app. And finally, I is for inform. Share your ride details with a friend using the share status function in these apps. And that is Sammy's acronym. Now, because Samantha's story shouldn't be a cautionary tale, it should be one about

• 45:51Payton Moreland?

  a driven young woman who went on to be a great lawyer, who lived a long, happy life full of success surrounded by family. But one person robbed her of all of that. All it took was one quick Uber ride for Sammy's story to become a warning of what happens when the systems that we implicitly should be able to trust are weaponized against us.

• 46:18Garrett Moreland?

  This is crazy. Not often do we cover a case where someone is murdered so brutally like that and there's really no motive behind it. That's scary.

• 46:28Payton Moreland?

  I forgot to say the female that was riding in the car must have been completely cleared. And I think her identity was protected. Just but yeah, so if you had any questions involving that.

• 46:40Garrett Moreland?

  That's so sad, horrible. Um, shout out to the family. Um, happy that.

• 46:47Payton Moreland?

  There's been change.

• 46:48Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, the happy that there's been change. I'm extremely sorry that something this tragic and brutal has happened to them. But I'm happy that they're able to get some change and have a lasting effect.

• 46:59Payton Moreland?

  You know, they probably don't even know how many people they've saved.

• 47:02Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, probably.

• 47:03Payton Moreland?

  Because I'm sure it has been a lot, maybe not even just murder, but like assaults, robbery, so many different things. All right, you guys, that was our episode for this week and we will see you next time with another one. I love it.

• 47:18Garrett Moreland?

  And I hate it.

• 47:19Payton Moreland?

  Goodbye.