Killed By A Former Classmate Simply For Who He Was: Remembering Blaze Bernstein

In January 2018, 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Blaze Bernstein disappeared while visiting his family in California. Days later, his body was discovered, and the investigation led authorities to a former high school classmate. What unfolded was a heartbreaking case of betrayal, hatred, and a young life cut tragically short. This episode remembers Blaze, his life, and the devastating consequences of hate. This episode is sponsored by: Merit Beauty https://www.meritbeauty.comFabletics https://www.fabletics.com/TCKR Gusto https://gusto.com/TCKR Earnin https://app.earnin.com - Type in TrueCrimewithKendallRae under PODCAST when you sign up! Rocket Money https://www.rocketmoney.com/kendallrae Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop https://kendallrae.shop/ Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [email protected] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

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• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:30Kendall Rae?

  Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so very much for joining me today. And if you're new to my show, welcome. Happy to have you here. And make sure to click subscribe or follow or whatever it is on whatever platform you are consuming this episode on. And that way you'll never miss an episode from me. Now, guys, today, I won't lie to you. This one is going to be very, very difficult to get through. This is a case I feel is extremely important to talk about for a variety of reasons, but it's absolutely devastating. I really had a hard time prepping for this episode. It's just, there really are no words.

• 2:11Kendall Rae?

  I'm going to be telling you about the unfathomable murder of Blaze Bernstein. I just have to say right off the bat, Blaze lived so much life in his 19 years. It is just so impressive. He seemed like such a wonderful person, truly someone that I would have loved to meet, would have loved to know, would have loved to be friends with. He just brought joy to every corner of his life. It seems like everyone who knew him just adored him. He's also someone who just had such a bright future ahead of him. I mean, he really had everything going for him. And he was really about to start that future when his life was taken from him in just such a brutal way.

• 2:55Kendall Rae?

  I mean, when I tell you the circumstances of his murder, I imagine you will be left just, you know, as angry and sad and heartbroken as I am. And the person responsible for Blaze's murder is a level of evil that is hard to comprehend, especially at his young age. His case received a decent amount of attention over the years. I would have expected a lot more. I think it should have been a lot more, as I believe all cases should. But I actually had never heard of his case until recently. And once I started hearing the details, I knew I had to talk about it for so many different reasons. And like I said, as I start going through the case, those reasons are going to become very clear if you're not familiar with this case.

• 3:38Kendall Rae?

  Also, one of the huge reasons that I chose this case is because of what Blaze's family has done to cherish his legacy. It's very powerful and it deserves much more attention. And my hope is even after, you know, we go through some very dark details, that maybe you leave this episode feeling inspired to live like Blaze, or as his parents put it, blaze it forward. Before getting into this episode, I just wanted to thank you all for listening to and supporting my show and also any of the Mile Higher Media shows. Your support makes it possible for us to continue funding grants through my foundation, Higher Hope, which supports victims of violent crimes, their families, and like-minded nonprofits.

• 4:21Kendall Rae?

  And with that, I want to start by telling you about Blaze, who he was, the life he lived. And it was hard to narrow down what to say about him because there's just so much. I mean, he was such a complex person, such a unique person, who had so many different gifts, so many different talents. And he's just so interesting. Blaze Nathan Bernstein was born on April 27, 1998, in South Orange County, California, to his very loving parents, Gideon and Jeannie. And I also just want to say, they seem like such fantastic parents. And I have no doubts that they absolutely are, even though I don't know them personally. But just by the way that they have raised their children, all three of their children,

• 5:04Kendall Rae?

  you can just tell they are damn good parents. And so, yes, Blaze has siblings. They went on to have two more children, Jay and Bowie, which completed their family of five. Now, his parents say they specifically chose to move to the Lake Forest area to raise them because of how safe it was. And for a number of years, it was a great place for the kids to grow up. Although, like anywhere, it wasn't without its issues. In middle school, Blaze was getting bullied on the bus, which I know is something that so many people can relate to. It's so very common. And so, it just ended up not being a good situation for him to be in. I mean, middle school is hard enough as it is. And the whole, I guess, public school vibe wasn't really a fit for him. And as I've already sort of explained, Blaze was a very gifted individual.

• 5:49Kendall Rae?

  So, he ended up applying to the Orange County School of the Arts, or OSHA, as everyone calls it. It's a 7th through 12th grade college prep school that caters to students with talent in performing, visual, literary, culinary arts, and more. And they've definitely had some famous former students, including Pedro Pascal, Matthew Morrison, and even Vanessa Hudgens and Drake Bell, who attended for shorter periods of time. And when I was researching this school, I learned that it's very hard to get into. Only about 1 in 10 students actually get accepted. And you have to audition as part of the process, which I cannot imagine auditioning for school at that age. I would have been a complete nervous wreck. But in true Blaze fashion, he absolutely crushed it. He wanted to pursue performing arts and creative writing,

• 6:33Kendall Rae?

  and he ended up being accepted and joined the Creative Writing Conservatory. And it seems like he just really thrived there. I mean, OSHA is a school where students get to explore their interests, you know, more in depth, and they're surrounded by other kids who share their same passions. And he was able to find a great network of friendships and support there. And I wish every school could be like this and that it wasn't so expensive to go to a school like this. But truly, everything that I have heard or read about Blaze just talks about how brilliant and creative he was. And he was also a very talented writer. In fact, just listen to this opening line from his college admissions essay titled, "Picking Marbles From Dirt." I love this, I just had to share. It says, "When I write, the world around me stops,

• 7:18Kendall Rae?

  and the gears in my head turn at a million miles per second. I write until I can't write anymore, until the page is bursting with so many words and letters and syllables that if I were to fit one more period onto the end of a sentence, the entire page might just burst and send missiles of consonants and vowels flying through the air, right back to where they came from." And that's just the opening line. I will have the full essay linked below, and I highly encourage you to read it in full because it is just fantastic. But yeah, as you can imagine, teachers loved him. And everyone just knew that he was going to go on and do big things one day. And he was also very well-rounded. It wasn't just the arts that he had passion for. He also loved science.

• 8:02Kendall Rae?

  His parents say he could easily tap into each side of his brain. So jealous. But he often did that as he juggled creative writing and science-based hobbies. In 11th and 12th grade, for example, he participated in the Science Olympiad, which is a national STEM competition that features a series of team-based events and subjects such as biology, chemistry, and physics. And simultaneously, he was developing his creative writing skills that would later get him accepted into an Ivy League college. His parents would often describe him as a Renaissance man, which I think is very fitting because his knowledge and just general interests spanned into so many different subjects. Cooking, for example, was another major passion of his. He was in the kitchen from a young age, and as you'll hear, it was something he continued to pursue later on.

• 8:47Kendall Rae?

  He loved music, art, performing, learning about new cultures, traveling, volunteering, you name it. He seems like he was always busy. And another central piece of who Blaze was was his Jewish faith and heritage. And unsurprisingly, he was deeply involved in their local synagogue. On the weekends, as if he didn't already have enough going on, he volunteered as a classroom aide and was just known for his continued involvement. His paternal grandma, Leah, was born in Romania in 1936 and survived the Holocaust. And that was, as it should be, a deeply impactful piece of their family's history. And from what I've gathered, his grandparents were a very big part of his life. He got to spend a ton of time with them growing up, and religion was a big part of their upbringing and identity.

• 9:30Kendall Rae?

  Now, speaking of Blaze's identity, he was gay. And he hadn't officially come out to his family, but they did know, and they completely accepted him for exactly who he was. His mom, Jeannie, explained that they had sort of an inkling early on, but then she saw something on his phone when he was in middle school, and she felt that whatever she saw confirmed it. And then, once he was in college, the subject came up again. And he didn't, you know, explicitly come out, but he told them he had a lot of gay friends. And they didn't want to push him to say anymore, which I really respect. And they just wanted him to know that they loved him no matter what. He did, however, come out to a few close friends in high school who were also very accepting. And when he went off to the University of Pennsylvania, very hard school to get into, he was very open with people

• 10:15Kendall Rae?

  about his sexuality on campus as well.

• 10:21Kendall Rae?

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• 11:04Kendall Rae?

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• 11:47Kendall Rae?

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• 12:18Kendall Rae?

  Jeannie also said that when Blaze first went off to college, he struggled a little bit, which is so normal. I think that's the majority of people who start college, especially because he went to a smaller high school. So that transition from a small school to a massive campus was, you know, pretty overwhelming. He did eventually find his footing though, and in a short amount of time, he made a very lasting impact on the campus in the short time that he was there. For starters, his academic interests were nothing short of impressive. When he initially went in, he joined this very difficult molecular sciences program, which has a reputation for sort of weeding kids out. And while he ultimately left the program, he still decided to take a very academically rigorous path as a pre-med

• 13:02Kendall Rae?

  student. And this also doesn't surprise me, but on top of an already very challenging course load, he participated in many extracurriculars. Before what ends up happening to Blaze, he was about to be the managing editor of Penn Appetit, which is a student-run food magazine and blog. And not only that, but he wrote opinion comments for the Daily Pennsylvanian, which was the copy associate for 34th Street Magazine and the Penn Review, and was a member of Penn's Kelly Writers' House, where he was a member of the Hub Planning Committee. I honestly don't know how he did it. I don't know how Blaze had so much energy and was just able to balance so much. So yeah, I think it's safe to say he was a very

• 13:42Kendall Rae?

  gifted person. He really seemed to do everything with 100% effort and clearly was just also naturally talented at whatever he did. And he was also someone who just never backed down from a challenge. For example, when he was growing up, his family traveled a lot and one trip was to Zion National Park. Well, Blaze ended up being the only person in their group to complete the Angels Landing Trail, which is a very strenuous hike where the last half mile or so becomes very narrow and all you have to hold on to is a chain. He was just super tenacious and never gave up when things got hard. And that's one of the many things that people love and miss about him. His family also says they miss his sense of humor, his quick wit, and his gentle and generous heart. And there's also

• 14:25Kendall Rae?

  one last thing I want to highlight about Blaze, which I think in some ways is important to this case. He was also an outspoken activist. Just as one example, and there are many, but in October of 2017, he wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Pennsylvanian criticizing the university for creating task forces to appear like they're solving issues without actually solving the issues. He said in part, "To err is to be human, but to be a Penn administrator is to never learn from those mistakes." Then directly calling out the vice provost by name, he said that she didn't have the skill set to tackle such a nuanced set of issues. In his column, he references a more recent task force dedicated to creating

• 15:07Kendall Rae?

  a safer, more responsible campus community, but says, quote, "Not a single reference to sexual assaults or harassment can be found." So he's basically saying, how can this school say that they care about students' safety when they can't directly name the issues that students are facing? But yeah, I know I just gave you a ton of information about Blaze, but I just feel that it's so important. And honestly, I just scratch the surface when it comes to everything that he was. It just feels like he's impossible to summarize in any capacity, let alone in however long I've been talking. But anyway, I do hope that you can start to at least envision what a special person he was and how big of an impact he made on the people in his life. And why his murder was just

• 15:51Kendall Rae?

  so devastating and so unnecessary, so unfair. There just really aren't enough words to describe it. And that brings me to the hardest part of today's episode, which is going to be talking about what happened to him. So it was January 2nd of 2018 and Blaze was home for his holiday break just before the start of second semester of sophomore year. That night, he actually cooked dinner for his family and they said it was a really lovely evening. And I'm so happy that they got to have that dinner as their final memory of him, but it's heartbreaking to think about at the same time. And interestingly enough, during the dinner, his grandfather asked him what he thought of his name. And interestingly

• 16:33Kendall Rae?

  enough, Blaze actually said he didn't remember the full story behind his name and why he was named Blaze. So that evening, they reminded him of the meaning. This is a quote, "He was told the meaning of it that night when his family explained to him that Blaze Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and theologian who pioneered calculating machines and made numerous contributions to science. He, being Blaze, smiled and was humbled by the discussion, and his parents proudly told him that this was his namesake and they expected great things from him." Now, after dinner, everyone, you know, went about their night and eventually Blaze went in his room to go to sleep, or I guess so everyone thought. The following morning, his parents got up as usual and even though

• 17:17Kendall Rae?

  Blaze never came out of his room, that didn't necessarily set off any alarm bells, you know? He's a young person on winter break and they just figured he was sleeping in. And he and his mom were supposed to go to a dental appointment that day, as so many college students do on their winter break. And she figured she would just meet him there. She had attempted to text him and call him a few times, but had no luck. And it was only when he missed the appointment when she realized something had to be wrong. Jeannie then called Gideon to ask if maybe he had heard from him, but his response was the same as hers. Nobody had spoken to Blaze that day. Gideon then asked if she was sure that he had even slept in the house that night. And that really was the moment that

• 17:59Kendall Rae?

  both of their stomachs dropped. So they both rushed home and went straight to his room. And that's when they realized that his bed was never slept in. His glasses, his wallet, his keys, even his retainer were all still there. And of course, that was a huge red flag. So obviously, they spent the next several hours calling around, trying to reach anyone to find out if they had seen or spoken to Blaze, which nobody had. And that's when they decided to contact police. And I hate to say it, but I was not surprised at all when I heard that the Orange County Sheriff's Department, according to the Bernstein's, at first just dismissed their concerns. This is something we see so often in the cases I cover and, you know, cases beyond what I cover. It's just so incredibly common, so

• 18:43Kendall Rae?

  frustrating. It seems like these departments just never learn. And I mean, of course, it's not all police, it's not all departments, but it happens way, way too often, especially with younger people. Of course, they suggested that a 19-year-old such as Blaze was probably out on a booty call, which by the way, is so wildly offensive. But they also said that, you know, he would eventually just come home. They shouldn't be so worried. They did, however, allow them to file a missing persons report, which is better than I guess a lot of the cases that I've covered on young, missing adults and children. But they only did that after they explained that Blaze's belongings had been left behind. And after this, the Bernstein's continued to do anything they could to try and find him, including checking

• 19:26Kendall Rae?

  their Verizon call logs and his computer for any Facebook messages or iMessages. But none of that panned out. Even his location services had been shut off, which they noticed after trying to locate him on the Find My iPhone app. That being said, they weren't at a complete loss because Blaze's little sister Bowie was pretty tech savvy and she had the idea of trying to gain access to a Snapchat account. And as I'm sure a lot of you know, Snapchat was, and I think still really is, a big platform for teens to communicate on. I think just people in general, several of my friends still use Snapchat. I don't personally use Snapchat anymore. Maybe I'm missing out. Anyway, using the family's iCloud keychain, they managed to find his password and get into the account, thankfully. But

• 20:07Kendall Rae?

  the issue though, which Bowie was familiar with, was the fact that you can't necessarily just go through someone's Snapchat conversations. I'm sure a lot of you know how Snapchat works and I'm not sure if it still works this way, but back then at least, if you opened something, it would either delete permanently or it would delete in the next 24 hours. And if you ever tried to save or screenshot something, it would notify the person who sent the message. So they knew that they had to tread carefully when using the app. But they ultimately discovered that Blaze had messaged someone the night before and had given this person his home address. And that person was a guy named Sam Woodward, who wasn't familiar to their family at the time. So his father, Gideon, ends up messaging him through the Snapchat

• 20:51Kendall Rae?

  app and asks him to get on the phone. And surprisingly, Sam agreed. And I wish so badly I could play the call for you because it's very interesting and it was a huge turning point in the case. And his sister Bowie recorded her dad talking to him. There's video of it. I couldn't find a copyright version, which is so frustrating to me. It's his family's footage. I don't understand how that even works. That's a conversation for another day. But I do want to describe what he said though, because like I said, this was a huge part of the case.

• 21:26Kendall Rae?

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• 22:10Kendall Rae?

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• 23:20Kendall Rae?

  When they get on the phone, Gideon explained that his son never came home and they're trying to piece together what might have happened, where he might be. And Sam sounded like he was trying to be helpful. He said that he had picked Blaze up around 11:00 PM just down the street from their house, and that the two of them drove to a nearby park, which I believe is pronounced Borrego Park. But he said that Blaze told him that they were meeting up with another person. And according to Sam, Blaze never told him this person's name. Then, at some point, they both get out of the car and were sitting by the bathroom, which was when Blaze began to walk away to meet up with this other guy. Sam said that he didn't see which way he went, and ultimately, that Blaze never came back.

• 24:04Kendall Rae?

  He explained that he tried looking for him, but didn't see him, and figured he must have been pulling a prank on him, and that maybe he would hear from him the next morning. And then Sam also seemed to try and somewhat clarify his connection to Blaze. And he told Gideon that they had been friends at OSHA, and it was kind of just a spur of the moment hangout. And they didn't know this while they were on the phone with Sam, but the truth was that Sam and Blaze were never friends, definitely not friends. In fact, when one of Blaze's friends, Rea, found out that he was missing and that Sam was the last person to be seen with him, she freaked out. She would later go on to say that Sam was incredibly antisocial while they were at OSHA

• 24:49Kendall Rae?

  before he ended up leaving the school entirely. And she also explained that he was openly and seemingly proudly racist, homophobic, sexist, you name it, just all of the worst possible qualities that a human could have. And that he and Blaze truly could not have been more different. Sam has been described as the kind of kid who drew guns in his notebook and even tried to defend the Confederate flag as a symbol for Southern pride and not racism. So just from hearing all that alone, you know the type, right? You know the type of guy that Sam was. And it's much worse than what you're thinking. But yeah, we all unfortunately either know someone like that

• 25:34Kendall Rae?

  or have seen someone like that through the internet or whatever. So yeah, back then, he ended up leaving OSHA and transferred to a different school. But clearly, he had been memorable enough, but not for good reasons. And honestly, without even knowing the full context of Sam's history, you know, before they learn more about him, the Bernstein's just did not have a good feeling. So of course, they ended up reaching back out to the police and let them know about Sam and that they had been together the night that Blaze went missing. And for whatever reason, it sounds like this is what really finally sparked law enforcement's concern. And so the next day, the search efforts began. And knowing that this park was the last place that Blaze was seen, that's of course where search efforts first picked up.

• 26:17Kendall Rae?

  And over the course of the next week, a massive search took place. There was a team of 25 search and rescue deputies, police canines, multiple helicopters and drones involved in the effort, not to mention the online efforts that the Bernstein's were spearheading. Even celebrities such as Charlie Puth, Kobe Bryant, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar even shared this information on their social media pages. Thousands of posters were printed and hung up, and people were working around the clock to try and locate him.

• 26:45Speaker 03

  This is an agonizing time for the parents of a missing college student.

• 26:49Speaker 04

  There's still no trace of the 19-year-old who hasn't been seen since Tuesday. CBS News' Lori Perez is live in the Lake Forest community of Foothill Ranch, where she spoke with the young man's parents. Lori? Well, Andrea and Peter, this is the last place that Blaze Bernstein was seen. This is just a small, local park, but it has a path that leads to the massive Whiting Ranch Wilderness Area just beyond that crest over there. Today, throughout the day, crews met here and headed out, looking for any sign of the teen. Adventurous, a little mischievous, but a happy kid who actually talked to his parents. That's how Gideon and Jeannie Bernstein described their 19-year-old son Blaze. Only now, the main descriptor is missing.

• 27:28Speaker 05

  It's horrifying to think that he could be out there.

• 27:31Speaker 04

  A college sophomore, Bernstein was home for winter break and disappeared Tuesday night. A friend says he picked him up after 11:00 and drove to nearby Borrego Park. The friend says he stayed in the car while Bernstein went into the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Area. Blaze's parents say the friend told them he doesn't know why Bernstein wanted to go there. They didn't even know he'd gone out until the next day, when they couldn't find him.

• 27:52Speaker 05

  The fact that he didn't tell us he was going out tells us that he wasn't planning to be gone very long. And he also left behind wallet, ID, money, glasses, and medications he takes every day.

• 28:07Speaker 04

  For the second time this week, volunteers with the Sheriff's Reserve Bureau headed out to search the wilderness park. Two aerial searches using thermal imaging have found nothing. In a cruel twist of fate, his mom says the very day he disappeared, she talked to him about putting tracking on his phone.

• 28:23Speaker 05

  He said, "Well, don't worry, you'll be able to always find me with Find My iPhone. You know, the location services will be on, you'll be able to find it."

• 28:30Speaker 04

  But they haven't been able to find it, or him. And after four days, they seem to be grasping onto hope.

• 28:36Speaker 06

  Maybe he's at somebody's house, and we don't, we just haven't, uh, you know, seen him come out of the house yet. We don't know. And, and, and that wouldn't, that's not characteristic of him?

• 28:45Speaker 05

  That's not my son.

• 28:46Speaker 06

  It's not characteristic of him, but this whole thing isn't characteristic.

• 28:49Speaker 05

  Never.

• 28:51Speaker 04

  Blaze's parents and detectives have searched the teen's social media accounts. In fact, his parents found the friend that he met on Tuesday by looking at Snapchat, but they say they have not been able to get full access to his accounts because he's 19 years old. He is set to be back on a plane tomorrow morning to go back to classes at the University of Pennsylvania.

• 29:12Kendall Rae?

  And in the midst of these search efforts, the Orange County Sheriff's Department ended up bringing in Sam to speak about that night. And he came in within a day of the search starting, and his interview was interesting. They started off by just asking him some, you know, basic questions about himself. And then, obviously, they got into the events that happened on the night of January 2nd. And while some of the details of what he shared with the Bernstein's remain the same, some things differed. He explained that he and Blaze recently reconnected on social media, and that after talking for a bit, they decided to meet up. He said that he picked him up outside of his house and that they drove around for a while, but eventually, they stopped at Borrego Park. And that's when Sam claims that Blaze got out of the car

• 29:56Kendall Rae?

  and left him to go meet up with someone else, someone whose name he didn't know. Sam then said that at one point, he heard some raised voices, but didn't think much of it at the time. And after waiting for about an hour, he left to go meet with a girlfriend. He did say that he returned to the park just a few hours later to look for Blaze, but that he never ended up finding him. And what was super strange about his story is that he claimed he couldn't remember the name of the girl that he went to go meet up with, or even where she lived. And mind you, this was 48 hours later, okay? And then another very peculiar thing is that he had all these cuts all over his hands.

• 30:39Kendall Rae?

  And he explained them away, or tried to, by saying that he was part of a fight club. Yes, a fight club, and that he fell on his hands in his most recent fight. And speaking of his hands, as he was walking through the police station, he would pull his sleeves over them before he touched anything, almost like he didn't want to leave a fingerprint or any DNA behind. It just all seemed very suspicious. So while ultimately, they couldn't hold him, they were able to keep him under surveillance. And oof, he did not make things any easier on himself. A team of officers followed Sam around,

• 31:22Kendall Rae?

  and at one point, they captured footage of him cleaning out the Nissan Rogue that he had rented with a spray bottle and a rag. They also observed him carrying a large bag to the side of his parents' house. And it later came out that he even returned to Borrego Park with his hair dyed and multiple Band-Aids on each hand and fingernails that were reportedly caked with dirt. Plus, they also got a warrant to put a GPS monitor on the car and a warrant to search his phone records. And it was those records that led them to discovering Blaze's remains. As I mentioned, Borrego Park was searched heavily the week after Blaze went missing, but the efforts there had started to slow down.

• 32:04Kendall Rae?

  Well, it turns out, Sam's phone records placed him at the park around the time that Blaze's phone was shut off. And so, long story short, on January 9th, investigators decided to search the park one more time. It had been pouring rain, and that rain ultimately washed away part of the shallow grave that Blaze and his phone had been left in. And there's no easy way to say this, guys, uh, it is very, very hard to talk about, but the injuries he sustained were... Brutal. An autopsy later revealed that he had been stabbed 28 times and most of his wounds were to the side of his neck. He also had defensive wounds, which of

• 32:47Kendall Rae?

  course suggests that he had put up a fight against his attacker. And this discovery was just beyond horrific and it absolutely devastated everyone. His sister Bowie was in eighth grade at the time and she had been called out of class when she found out and oh, broke my heart listening to her talk about this. But at first she thought that maybe it was good news, that maybe they had found him or something like that, or there was a lead, or I don't know, any bit of hope. But it unfortunately was the opposite of that. She described that moment as the end of hope for me. And afterwards, she was completely numb. Gideon said that he felt fury, anger, and disbelief, which I'm sure really

• 33:31Kendall Rae?

  only scratches the surface of all the emotions that he and Jeannie felt.

• 33:38Kendall Rae?

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• 34:21Kendall Rae?

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• 35:03Kendall Rae?

  And their whole community truly mourned Blaze's murder, which I think is just evident in the number of people who showed up at a vigil shortly after this horrific discovery.

• 35:14Speaker 03

  Right now, community is remembering 19 year old Blaze Bernstein, who was found dead in Foothill Ranch. University of Pennsylvania student who was visiting family for the holidays, had been missing now for more than a week.

• 35:25Speaker 04

  Kcal 9's Andrea Fujie joins us live now with more on the investigation and the candlelight vigil held tonight. Andrea.

• 35:34Speaker 04

  Jeff and Elsa, there was a huge turnout tonight to remember the 19 year old. You can see in the distance there, candles lit for him. Now, no one is in custody yet for his murder, but investigators say he most likely knew his killer.

• 35:51Speaker 04

  Dozens of family and friends gathered to remember 19 year old Blaze Bernstein. His picture was surrounded by candles in Borrego Park where he was last seen, and not far from where his body was found near Foothill Ranch Park.

• 36:03Speaker 06

  He was really incredible. He loved life. He loved people. And he will be missed.

• 36:08Speaker 04

  The University of Pennsylvania sophomore was home in Lake Forest for winter break when investigators say eight days ago, he drove with a high school friend to the park late at night. That friend said Blaze went into the darkness alone and never came back. Investigators and volunteers searched for days until Tuesday, when Orange County Sheriff say the recent rain helped reveal his body. His father spoke at a press conference.

• 36:31Speaker 06

  Needless to say, our family is devastated by the news. And we, like so many of you around the world, love Blaze. And we wanted nothing more than to seek his safe return.

• 36:42Speaker 04

  Investigators say they've interviewed that friend, but so far, there have been no arrests in the case. But they are investigating this as a homicide.

• 36:49Speaker 05

  He was very blessed with the power of storytelling. And that if you were, if you were here, he would also be able to make a beautiful story out of this.

• 36:59Speaker 04

  As friends try to cope with their loss, some hoped a Hebrew proverb would help give them comfort.

• 37:05Speaker 05

  Say not in grief, he is no more, but in thankfulness that he was. Amen.

• 37:13Kendall Rae?

  Like you heard, no arrests had been made yet. But as we know, they were deep on Sam's trail. On January 9, search warrants were executed on his home and his vehicle, and ultimately, several important discoveries were made. Specifically, they found blood in his car, blood on a skull mask, blood on a pocket knife found in his desk drawer, as well as blood on a sleeping bag that was found just outside of his window, outside of the home. All of that was sampled and submitted for testing, and it quickly came back as a match to Blaze. In fact, both of their blood was found inside of Sam's rental car in the fabric lining of the roof, which aligns with what we know about Blaze having fought

• 37:55Kendall Rae?

  back. And with that, on January 12, 2018, 20 year old Sam Woodward was arrested after having been pulled over while driving in the car with his mom. Then on January 17, it was announced at a press conference that he had been charged with one felony count of murder with a personal use of a knife enhancement.

• 38:14Speaker 03

  Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. We've been working around the clock with the Orange County Sheriff's Department since Blaze Bernstein was reported missing on January the 3. As the search continued, Blaze's family, friends, fellow Orange County residents, and tens of thousands of people around the world were all hoping that there was an innocent explanation as to why Blaze did not return home. We were all hopeful that he'd show up and reunite with his family and friends, and family life would resume, as we all became sadly aware last week. That was not the case. This morning, the Orange County District Attorney's Office filed one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement of personal use of a knife against 20 year old Newport Beach

• 38:58Speaker 03

  resident Samuel Woodward. As prosecutors, we have an ethical duty to file charges that are supported by the evidence, evidence that's in our possession, evidence that would prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. This investigation is ongoing, and we're continuing to search for evidence that might support special circumstances allegations.

• 39:15Kendall Rae?

  And I think for as hopeful as it seemed that justice would come, that you know, this would probably be a slam dunk case, the pain didn't and doesn't just go away. Thankfully, Sam was held on a $5 million bail, but the assurance that he wouldn't be let out also just doesn't take away from this massive loss. But I was grateful, although not surprised, to hear that their community really stepped up to support his family, especially with how loved Blaze was. It just makes sense. And this is pretty crazy, but the public interest in attending his funeral was so massive that they actually had to ask for RSVPs because the space could only accommodate so many. And same goes for the public service that they held only a few weeks after that. They actually

• 39:59Kendall Rae?

  had to use the largest event space in Orange County to try and fit everyone in.

• 40:04Speaker 03

  A talented writer, a passionate chef, a selfless volunteer, a devoted brother and son, and a once in a lifetime friend. These are just a few of the ways 19 year old Blaze Bernstein was described during a private memorial service at University Synagogue in Irvine. He's a brilliant kid. And he didn't deserve this, neither did the family. A capacity crowd of nearly 1,000 people came to honor Blaze's life at the emotional ceremony. Blaze's body was found Tuesday in a shallow grave at Borrego Park, a week after he first went missing. And the support of our community has been wonderful and blessed. And it's stronger than ever, because we all realize we can make some good out of this. We can make good out of this tragedy.

• 40:49Speaker 03

  People were given a spatula, and the last recipe Blaze put together, commemorating his creativity in the kitchen. Throughout the 90 minute service, several speakers shared the message of do good for Blaze and how to best honor his life. In a statement, his parents said, as we lay Blaze to rest, we ask that communities around the world that were touched by Blaze's life, help us keep his memory and loving spirit alive, a spirit of giving and working to make the world a better place. That's what Blaze wanted.

• 41:19Kendall Rae?

  His family also had the impossible task of having to go to his apartment and gather his belongings. And this just... Wrecked me to think about, I cannot imagine being in this position. But when it comes to going, Jeannie described the thought of doing this as the opposite of giving birth. She said, it's almost like the reverse of giving birth. When you are excited and so happy that this new life is forming, this will be the opposite. I know this will be the end of his life. That's it. It's all over. Man, as a mother myself, that is one of the worst things I have ever heard. I cannot imagine the pain. I was able to see some of the footage of when they went and it's just something I don't think

• 42:03Kendall Rae?

  you can even describe unless you've been through it. I don't think there's any way for any of us to understand that, you know, unless you have been through that yourself. It did look like his friends were ultra supportive of them and I was glad to see that. But unfortunately, this, you know, wasn't close to the end of all of the hard things they were going to have to face. In fact, shortly after this, some very disturbing information came to light that made this already horrific tragedy that much more upsetting. And before I dive into the details here, I really want to issue a very strong disclaimer

• 42:44Kendall Rae?

  that I'm going to be talking about some really heavy disturbing topics. And, you know, I went back and forth on whether or not to include these things. They feel to me to be very important to discuss in today's day and age, even though they are uncomfortable and unsettling to hear, to say the least. As you may have guessed, or possibly already know, Blaze's murder was ultimately determined to be the result of a hate crime. And how they found that out is just disgusting. And in full transparency, there were some things that I decided to leave out. My coverage on this case is definitely not going to be the most in-depth that you're

• 43:28Kendall Rae?

  going to find when it comes to this part of the case, but I'm going to share with you, you know, everything that I feel you absolutely need to know, but out of respect for Blaze's family who have verbally expressed not wanting this part of the case to be the focus of their son's story. I really wanted to limit the time that, you know, we put attention towards this next piece. And I think when you hear, you're going to understand why. So shortly after Sam's arrest, ProPublica, which is an online investigative journalism site, if you haven't heard, published an article that in essence outlined Sam Woodward's connection to a neo-Nazi group called the Atom Waffen Division.

• 44:10Kendall Rae?

  Atom Waffen is the German word for atomic weapons and the group's core belief is that the world needs a racially pure white society. And to achieve this, they encourage acts of violence against all minorities. When investigators initially went through Sam's electronic devices, he had over 100 images connecting him to this group and to white supremacist propaganda. And that number would later end up being somewhere in the thousands. He took part in online chat rooms where he said things that you will never hear me repeat that honestly, in my opinion, should never be spoken out loud.

• 44:52Kendall Rae?

  They also found photos of him with a man whose essays served as the foundational ideology for the AWD or Atom Waffen Division, as well as images of him wearing a skull mask giving the Nazi salute. It was also determined that at one point, Sam traveled to Texas where he took part in a hate camp, which is essentially a training camp on how to be a violent extremist. And the group aside, investigators also uncovered a series of emails that he had written to himself, which were titled Sam's Diary of Hate. I went back and forth on whether to even include the details of these emails and his

• 45:30Kendall Rae?

  diary of hate, but I think it's very important to the case, important to talk about in the day and age that we're in. And yeah, I think it really helps paint a picture for his motive here. I think it was a very important part of the prosecution's case, which we will get to. But in these emails, he constantly expressed these horrific things specifically about what he wanted to do to members of the LGBTQ plus community. For example, he talked about how on dating apps, he would match with other men and then he would send them pictures of gay men being killed. He wrote, quote, "I told sodomites that I'm bi curious, which makes them want to convert me.

• 46:14Kendall Rae?

  They think they are going to be hate crimed and it scares the shit out of them. Downloaded Grindr so I could send photos of their fellow sodomites getting killed and tell them they're gonna be next. They're terrified. LMAO." I know that was probably very disturbing to hear, but clearly he found this sick behavior to be funny. It was really all just a sick fucking game to him. And he would joke about this, not only in his stupid little diary, but also with members of the AWD, who by the way, I just had to mention, posted disgusting things online after Blaze's murder and Sam's arrest. They were literally just celebrating what Sam did. And one person even said that they hoped it would inspire copycat crimes.

• 46:57Kendall Rae?

  So that tells you how sick these people are if you didn't already think they were, you know, some of the sickest among us.

• 47:06Kendall Rae?

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• 48:27Kendall Rae?

  Sam was at the center of all of it. So yeah, after uncovering all of this and more, it became very evident that Blaze was targeted because of who he was. However, in those early days and weeks, they didn't have all of that yet to confirm it. They didn't have the proof. So it wasn't until August 2nd of 2018 that they were able to add the hate crime enhancement, which also meant he was now facing life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, something else I really want to bring attention to today is the fact that Blaze's murder actually revealed a gap in California law. And before I explain this, please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and I am doing my best to explain this, so I hope I'm making as much sense as possible.

• 49:11Kendall Rae?

  But according to California law, if you commit first degree murder, you face a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. And if there are no special circumstances, you can be eligible for parole. However, California's murder law has a category called a special circumstances murder, and this is penal code 190.2. These are the most serious types of murder. And if convicted, the perpetrator can face life in prison without parole or even the death penalty. And to qualify as a special circumstance, a murder has to follow into a specific list of categories. This list includes, but isn't limited to, killing someone because of who they are, specifically

• 49:51Kendall Rae?

  their, quote, "race, color, religion, nationality, or country of origin." But here's the gap. When Blaze was murdered, penal code 190.2 didn't include sexual orientation or gender. So if they found that someone was murdered because they were gay, that fact alone wouldn't qualify the case for the death penalty. And here's where it gets confusing and frustrating. I already mentioned that Sam's charges were upgraded to include a hate crime enhancement in August of 2018. And this fell under penal code 190.03, which is separate from the special circumstances I was just talking about. Under this code, the hate crime enhancement, the death penalty is not on the table.

• 50:36Kendall Rae?

  But sexual orientation and gender is included under what constitutes a hate crime. So killing someone because they are gay isn't a category that can trigger the death penalty. And Blaze's case brought attention to this. Unfortunately though, recognizing this gap didn't do anything for his case or change what sentence Sam was facing. But it did create a conversation and a push to include sexual orientation and gender under special circumstances. Sadly though, that never ended up happening. A bill was brought forward by Senator Janet Nwain, but it never went anywhere. I still wanted to mention this though, because how on earth in 2026, especially in California, is that not included under special circumstances?

• 51:21Kendall Rae?

  But anyway, getting back to the case here, obviously finding out this information about Sam and what he was involved in and, you know, the depths of his hatred was very, very disturbing. And what's equally disturbing is the fact that after the murder, investigators discovered that other members of this group were celebrating what Sam did. And again, nothing they said is at all worth repeating. But it makes me fucking sick that anyone could look at what happened to Blaze and feel anything other than extreme sadness. And it's just a reminder of how many really fucked up people are in this world. And I'm honestly sickened by the excuses that Sam's first attorney tried to make on his behalf.

• 52:05Kendall Rae?

  After the hate crime enhancement was added, his attorney told reporters that his client suffered from a mental disorder and that Sam himself was very confused about his own sexuality at the time of the murder. It's like, okay, yes, and honestly, I believe that. I think that he really was struggling with his own sexual orientation, and that's kind of where a lot of his hate stemmed from. And that'll make more sense here in a bit. And that is just my opinion, but it's not a valid excuse for killing another person. It just seems so irrelevant to bring that up and try to, you know, soften who he is. Another student who went to OSHA with Blaze and Sam, who was openly gay, said that Sam used to message him back in school saying some very sexually explicit things.

• 52:49Kendall Rae?

  And this student says that Sam messaged him online on and off for around three years, but never addressed him in person, almost like he could be someone totally different online behind the protection of a screen. He said he felt bad for Sam and could tell he was clearly struggling with his own sexuality, but his persona at school was so openly homophobic, which made him really uncomfortable. And obviously, this is pretty common. This is something we see a lot. All of that to say, you know, Sam was clearly having a lot of inner battles. He was a very troubled person with so much hate, but it doesn't make what he did any more excusable. But excuses like this would end up being a major part of the trial.

• 53:33Kendall Rae?

  Which, by the way, the road to this trial was anything but straightforward. It took a whopping six years for things to even get underway. Between COVID and several new attorneys, justice was more than delayed. And in the words of Blaze's mom, "slow justice is no justice." And their family didn't attend any of the hearings leading up to the trial. And honestly, I have so much respect for that decision. They said it wasn't the best use of their time and that they didn't want to dwell on what happened. And on top of it taking six years to reach this point, the trial itself went on for three months. And I think I can speak for everyone when I say that Sam's appearance when he first entered the courtroom was disturbing.

• 54:16Kendall Rae?

  His hair was long, it was matted, it was unkempt, and he walked with it in front of his face, almost like a shield. At some points, when I was watching the trial footage, I felt like I was looking at the girl from The Grudge. I don't know if he was trying to come across as scary or trying to come across as like more disturbed or just didn't want to have to look at people and wanted to kind of hide himself. Maybe it was a mix of all of that. I don't know, but ew. Now, in terms of the trial itself, I should just clarify right off the bat that Sam was not denying being Blaze's killer, and instead, he was denying that he did so premeditatively as a result of Blaze's sexuality.

• 54:57Kendall Rae?

  The defense argued that he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter, not first degree murder. The difference being that voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being committed under a sudden heat of passion, meaning that it wasn't planned. Something set him off. But of course, this does not align with what we already know, right? And that's part of the reason why I wanted to read you some of those more disturbing parts and wanted to go over some of the darkest elements of this case, because I think it's so important to establishing the fact that this was pre-planned. And of course, the prosecution argued that this was most definitely planned. And the reason for the murder was due to Blaze's sexuality.

• 55:40Kendall Rae?

  And just FYI, the hate crime enhancement in this case was specifically regarding his sexual orientation, not him being Jewish. And Prosecutor Jennifer Walker was clear about that. Now jurors did get to see quite a lot of evidence of Sam's antisemitism, but that was more so to show a broader pattern of hatred, not as what they presented as a motive for the murder. And to argue their point that this was related to his sexuality, they pointed heavily to the digital evidence, mainly Sam's conversations with other members of the AWD and his diary of hate emails, also the images on his devices, and even more. I mean, there was a lot. Now, one thing I haven't shared yet, but is super important to go through, I just felt

• 56:24Kendall Rae?

  like it was better to wait until we got to the trial coverage section. It's super critical to the case, but it's how the two of them got together that night in the first place. And the answer is Tinder. But it didn't start in January. Sam and Blaze first matched in Tinder of June of 2017 after Blaze super liked Sam. And truth be told, seeing him on there took Blaze by surprise. He even took a screenshot of Sam's profile and sent it to a friend, basically being like, "holy shit, look who I found on here." As we discussed earlier, Sam had messaged an openly gay student back at OSHA. And I guess there had been some rumors in high school that he may have also been gay or at least struggling with his sexuality.

• 57:08Kendall Rae?

  So for Blaze to see him on Tinder, his messages to that friend, you know, made it seem like that was confirmation of that rumor. Either that, or like I said, it was Blaze just being like, "oh my God, this guy who was so openly homophobic and horrible in every way is on Tinder looking for men," and just was so shocked by that, you know, and just showing this friend like, "what the hell?" And it sounds like curiosity got the best of him, because Blaze messaged him saying, "wait, Sam Woodward, is that you? Literally the last person I expected to see on here." However, of course, Sam denied that he was there looking for anything romantic with other men.

• 57:53Kendall Rae?

  His message reads, quote, "I'm on this app mainly because in terms of women, I've got jungle fever and fucked like five black chicks since I got here a month ago. In terms of men, I'm looking for an outdoorsy person to be a spotter and assist me in deer hunting." Ugh, there's so much to unpack from that message. The fact that he even said jungle fever, ew. Um, also, the fact that he felt like he needed to make it very clear, "I've fucked five black chicks." Like, he's just being like, "not gay, not gay, not gay." Okay, dude. Also, I didn't know that you could like, I thought Tinder was a dating app. Is it also an app just to find friendships or people to be a spotter for hunting? That's news to me. I could be totally wrong, but it seems like a strange place to do that.

• 58:37Kendall Rae?

  I guess I thought there were other apps for like finding friendships, like meetup groups and stuff like that, but maybe people really do use Tinder for that. I personally, you know, I met my husband when I was, um, 17 and Tinder did not exist back then, so I've never had the opportunity to use a dating app. And sometimes I get weirdly FOMO about that, but then people always tell me like, "there is nothing you're missing out on." Anyway, I just wanted to explain that I don't know how these apps work, but those were my questions and confusion. Now, we don't have the full exchange of their messages, but at some point in this conversation, we know that Blaze called Sam cute, to which Sam responded, "you're not too shabby looking yourself, Blaze." Sam then reportedly backed off the flirty messages and said he had been, quote, "kinda dishonest."

• 59:20Kendall Rae?

  He told Blaze that he had never been hit on by a gay guy before, to which Blaze was reportedly annoyed, but let it go. Anyway, the messages then stopped when Sam ended the match. However, on January 2nd, 2018, they rematched and the conversation picked back up. This was when Sam said, quote, "I think I owe you an explanation about why I unmatched with you." He also said he had been going through a weird time, but had figured things out now. Blaze then responded, saying, "I literally don't care." To which Sam replied, "why did you like me if you don't care? I'm confused." Blaze then reportedly told him that he found him attractive, but didn't realize that Sam was straight. And Sam's response was, "I might make an exception for you."

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• 1:02:00Kendall Rae?

  Now Blaze was honestly quick to call bullshit, saying that we've already done this prank, Sam. But Sam must have been convincing enough, maybe, because they did end up exchanging Snapchats. And as we know, Blaze did end up sending him his family's address at 10:37 that night. What I hadn't mentioned before, though, was the fact that hours later, Sam messaged him back, saying, quote, "Blaze, where are you? Are you okay? What happened?" And I bring these messages up for several reasons, the first being that I think the context is important, but also because the messages were a big part of the prosecution's proof that Sam was targeting Blaze. The defense, on the other hand, spun this argument in a different direction.

• 1:02:44Kendall Rae?

  His attorney argued that it wasn't Sam who targeted Blaze, but the other way around. However, the text message that they planned to present during trial as proof of this was deemed inadmissible. And it was Blaze's text, actually. At 11:36 PM, he texted a friend, saying, "I did something really horrible for this story, but also, no one can ever know." And then this friend responded, saying, "What story?" Now, even without being able to present this text to a jury, the defense still made the argument that Blaze was to blame, at least partially, for the events that happened. Which leads me to their accusation of why Sam committed this murder in the first place.

• 1:03:26Kendall Rae?

  In his original interview back on January 4th of 2018, Sam shared with the police that Blaze had attempted to kiss him, and that he pushed him away. Well, Sam ended up taking the stand to further explain the version of events he said happened. And when he first got up there, they had to ask him to move his hair out of his face, so they could even see him. Ridiculous, but in his testimony, which spanned several days, he shared that after picking up Blaze at his house, the two of them made their way to Borrego Park. While there, Sam says that he ended up smoking some weed and became drowsy, and ended up just nodding off, which I don't really believe that. I mean, I've smoked some weed. I've smoked a lot of weed in my life, I will say. Not really anymore, because it gives me anxiety.

• 1:04:11Kendall Rae?

  But I feel like if you're out in public with someone you just picked up and you're out of park, it's not that easy to just, like, nod off. I don't know. I guess it can happen, but it seems very unlikely to me, and just like bullshit. But anyway, he says that after he nodded off, that he awoke to Blaze's hand on his crotch, and that Blaze was holding his phone in his other hand. And he said it looked like Blaze was taking a compromising photo of him. And he said he became fearful that Blaze was then going to send this photo to people. And then Sam claims that Blaze said something along the lines of, "I got you already, I got you, I got you, you hypocrite." And he also said that Blaze may have used the word "outed" as well. And knowing the backlash that he would face

• 1:04:56Kendall Rae?

  for these images getting out, specifically the backlash from his very conservative Catholic family, Sam says he panicked, grabbed the pocket knife that he used to open the weed container, and then proceeded to drive the knife down on Blaze. So he is denying that he planned to kill him that night. He denied that he brought the pocket knife for that reason, and said he had no hatred towards Blaze for his sexual orientation. And for me personally, and I'm sure most of you after hearing about his past, and again, that's why I read all that disturbing shit that he was saying, I just straight up don't believe that. Especially because there was never evidence on Blaze's phone that this photo ever existed. And his defense attorney definitely, you know,

• 1:05:39Kendall Rae?

  tried to minimize all of the digital evidence against him, which spans years' worth of hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community, and, you know, what he was doing on Tinder, and... I mean, there's just so much. There's so much. I don't know how you even begin to minimize that. It is very clear how he felt. And also, over the course of the trial, the defense tried to argue that his autism diagnosis made it hard for him to make friends and contributed to his feelings of loneliness, which I'm sure is the case. I'm sure that was part of it, but, again, irrelevant. But they tried to argue that when it came to groups like the AWD, Sam said he joined because

• 1:06:22Kendall Rae?

  he had a desire for family, camaraderie, and brotherhood. My god, that pisses me off to even read. But his attorney said he was vulnerable to be recruited to groups such as this. Give me a break. According to the OC Register, when asked why he affiliated himself with the group, Sam said, quote, "That I might have people who could make me feel a part of something. Men who just set examples for each other and can show each other how to elevate each other to the greatest heights they can possibly be." What the fuck? On the real, though, it is people like Sam that those groups target, and that fall victim to those groups. Not victim, but you know what I mean, that fall into those groups. But they even had a former member of the group testify that the AWD was basically just a bunch of guys

• 1:07:06Kendall Rae?

  drinking together, and not anything that's serious. Hello? Are you kidding me? The nerve... The nerve. But I was glad to see another former member testified for the prosecution, and described the group as genuinely dangerous. Duh. Now, another big emphasis for the defense was, of course, Sam's repressed sexuality. His attorney tried to argue that his diary of hate was a reflection of his own internal battles, not some kind of plan he was making to hurt others, which, in my opinion, it was both. But then Sam decided to make the brilliant move of directly contradicting his own attorney, because when he was on the stand, he said there was never a time in his life

• 1:07:51Kendall Rae?

  where he questioned being gay. Either way, though, his attorney's message was basically that Sam grew up in an ultra-conservative Catholic household that was very against homosexuality, and this environment caused Sam to internalize his own feelings about his sexuality. His attorney described him as being tortured by his sexual identity because of what he heard at home, which I don't doubt. And growing up in a religious environment, it sounds like he was bullied by both his dad and his brother. And to be clear, that's not an excuse for what he did at all, but there is a part of me that feels sorry for that version of Sam when he was younger, before all of this happened. And I think I've made it pretty clear about how I feel,

• 1:08:35Kendall Rae?

  but I personally do believe that he was repressing his own sexuality, and that a lot of this hate stemmed from the hatred that he received from his own family. His mom testified that her husband, his dad, told Sam that homosexuality was a sin. And a family friend testified that Mr. Woodward would use homophobic slurs when talking to his son, and so would his brother. Now, Mr. Woodward, of course, gets up on stand, and, in my opinion, totally lied. And he denied calling Sam any kind of slur, but he did affirm his belief that homosexuality is both a choice and a sin. Disgusting, horrible parenting. So yeah, while it seemed pretty clear that Sam wasn't raised in an accepting household,

• 1:09:19Kendall Rae?

  and that he probably went through a lot of trauma for that, Sam himself seemed to go against his own attorney's point. It seems like he just still could not admit it. And on cross-examination, his whole story was just ripped to pieces. Honestly, the answer to a lot of questions was that he couldn't remember. He did acknowledge that he lied to Blaze's parents and law enforcement in the days after the murder, and that he intentionally messaged Blaze on Snapchat to make it look like he had been looking for him after he went missing. But nothing more sinister than that. And honestly, I could go on all day, talking more about the testimony and each little nuance, and all of my thoughts when it comes to it, but I really do want to bring the focus back to Blaze.

• 1:10:02Kendall Rae?

  And thankfully, justice was served for him in the end. After the three-month trial, the jury deliberated for roughly eight hours, and came back with a guilty verdict. And months later, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

• 1:10:18Speaker 05

  Guilty. Sam Woodward found guilty of first-degree murder and a hate crime enhancement for killing his gay former classmate, Blaze Bernstein, in Foothill Ranch, six years ago. No verdict can bring back Blaze. He was an amazing human and humanitarian, and a person we were greatly looking forward to having in our lives.

• 1:10:42Speaker 04

  The parents of murdered Orange County teenager Blaze Bernstein have gone six and a half agonizing years waiting for this verdict.

• 1:10:50Speaker 03

  We, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendant Samuel Woodward guilty of the crime of first-degree murder.

• 1:10:56Speaker 04

  26-year-old Sam Woodward of Newport Beach got the maximum, guilty of first-degree murder with a hate crime. enhancement for stabbing his former classmate to death because he was gay.

• 1:11:08Speaker 05

  The pain of losing our son and the agony of waiting all these years without resolution. Now with the verdict in hand, we believe the justice has been served and that Blaze's memory will be honored through this outcome.

• 1:11:22Kendall Rae?

  And before Sam's sentencing, his mom wrote a letter to the court and she talked about how in the past, you could look into her son's eyes and see sensitivity and warmth. But now she says he's too vulnerable to let you look him in the eyes and that he is a person still worthy of respect. And I can understand a parent wanting to protect their child to some degree, but when I think about Blaze's parents in all of this, what about the respect their son deserved? What about the life he deserved to live and all of the amazing things he was going to do? I mean, I just think it was distasteful for her to say really anything nice about her son. I feel that she was making an effort to paint him as a victim in this too. And

• 1:12:06Kendall Rae?

  to say that he still deserves respect? Like, are you fucking kidding me? No, he does not. And then, ooh, this really pissed me off. But in 2018, Sam's parents left a note under Blaze's parents' doormat and they were absolutely infuriated by it because they mentioned that both families were going through a hard time right now. Like, shut the fuck up. It is so, so different. Like, yes, what you're experiencing is hard. It is nowhere near as hard as what Blaze's parents are experiencing. And even trying to bring up your pain and how hard this is for you is so inappropriate when your son murdered their child. But I don't want to waste another moment talking about Sam or his family. So we're going to end this

• 1:12:50Kendall Rae?

  episode by talking about Blaze and honoring him. Shortly after his passing, the Bernstein's and their entire community wanted to find a way to continue his legacy. And there are several ways that they have done that. For starters, there is now a Blaze Bernstein Memorial Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County. This fund provides support to organizations that Blaze would have loved supporting himself. I think that is such a worthy fund to support, such an important fund to support. And I have already made a donation. And if you are interested in doing that, I will have that in the show notes or description, a link to do so. There's also another memorial fund in his honor through the University of Pennsylvania and Kelly Writer's House. The fund offers a stipend

• 1:13:33Kendall Rae?

  to a U Penn student participating in an unpaid summer internship in a creative field. There's also the Blaze Bernstein Memorial Scholarship Endowment. These funds are meant for Orange County college-bound seniors who have demonstrated overcoming adversity and positively contributed to their community. And the link to all of these will be made available in the show notes and description box. But what I have really loved learning about was what they have done through the hashtag Blaze It Forward movement. Blaze was all about positivity and making the world a better place. So they have started this movement to keep that spirit in him alive. And it's all about doing acts of kindness and making a positive impact in the lives of others. They have taken an absolutely horrific tragedy and turned it

• 1:14:15Kendall Rae?

  into something that makes the planet and people on it better. And I could not be in more support of this. Also, something really cool that happened was Orange County rededicated their pride parade in Blaze's name. It's now permanently called the Blaze It Forward OC Pride Parade. And in 2024, Jeannie and Gideon were even the grand marshals of the parade, just three months after Sam's conviction. His family has chosen Martin Luther King Jr. Day as their Blaze It Forward Day because it's the same day as his memorial and each day they spend it giving back. They have a Facebook page I'll link for you where people post about the kindness they're spreading in his honor and it's really inspiring to look at. So definitely take a peek. And also, people have turned a section of Borrego Park

• 1:14:59Kendall Rae?

  into a memorial with hand painted rocks in his honor. And it's just so cool, all the art that has been created in his memory. Every year, new rocks are added and people also leave notes for his parents, which I imagine they really appreciate. And a juror actually left a note for them once saying that she was really sorry for what happened and was sorry that she didn't get to know him. In response to all of this, his dad said, quote, "In a time when we lost control over our lives and momentarily lost hope in humanity, this massive, positive community response has given us hope that we can make a difference." Jeannie also hosts a podcast called Pep Talks with Jeannie Pepper, where she features guests who are doing good in their communities. She also advocates for

• 1:15:43Kendall Rae?

  LGBTQ plus youth, among many other deeply important social issues. And her website for that will definitely be linked for you guys as well. So you can learn more and hear from some of the very inspiring guests. She has stated, quote, "I want to shift the narrative. We spend too much time glorifying the perpetrators of these crimes. Let's focus on people doing good." Blaze was one of those people. She says her advocacy is driven by a conversation she had with Blaze before his death. She asked him if he had ever been in love and he told her, "Don't worry, Mom. I've been loved." And to that, she says, "That's what keeps the darkness at bay, knowing how deeply Blaze was loved and how deeply he loved in

• 1:16:24Kendall Rae?

  return." So as I end this episode, I want to ask you guys, my incredible audience, to do something today or this week, or really any time that you think of it, in Blaze's honor. And if you're inspired by this movement, I would love for you to leave a comment about what that will be or what you've already done. Or better yet, you can even post about it on their Facebook page to let them know how many more people are now doing good in his memory. But that is going to be it for me today, guys. Boy, that was a very difficult episode to get through, but I hope you found it as important as I did to discuss and to remember Blaze because wow, what a fantastic young man he was. I will be back next week

• 1:17:07Kendall Rae?

  to discuss another case, but until then, stay safe out there.

• 1:17:14Kendall Rae?

  That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.

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