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[Music] like many things in life the facts of this case are not simple they're not
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black and white it's easy to forget how symbolic this trial was of a greater problem in the world you will hear
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strong compelling evidence that explains the real reason for this very sad and tragic killing
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it's been six years is it still hard to believe that blae is gone it took a while for it to set
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in but I'm at peace with it maybe that's all that we were supposed to have happy
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[Applause] [Music] birthday there were like 19 years with so many moments of Brilliance and
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[Applause] Beauty Blaze was very creative definitely when we were little kids did you want cheese sure we were like
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attached at the hip I think of him as somebody whose potential for life was completely
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obliterated blae Bernstein was gay and his killer was a member of a Neo-Nazi group undercover officers made their
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move on Sam Woodward what have you learned about neo-nazis they're everywhere they're all over the Internet they're
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here in Orange County I believe that this was a hate crime the 26-year-old's appearance has changed dramatically from
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the time of his arrest back in 2018 at the trial Sam looked like a spitting image of Charlie
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Manson it was absolutely terrifying to look at the evidence will show you that the defendant killed Blaise Bernstein
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because he was gay he was gay and Jewish hate crime or Crime of Passion the difference is the possibility of parole
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blae Bernstein was found with 28 stab wounds the prosecution has a bit of a higher bar here because they also have
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to show that Sam murdered blae because of his gay identity he had developed his longstanding beliefs against Jewish
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people and gay people what happened that night was not a hate crime we knew that he was going
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to present some story of what happened that night not the targeting of someone because of his sexual
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orientation what kind of story could he come up with Sam Woodward never planned to kill blae
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Bernstein homophobia sexual repression hookup culture it almost never ends the way that this story ends we don't have
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any control over what the outcome is he could be innocent we'll let a jury decide
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[Music] [Music] the why is the single most important issue you will need to decide not who is respons responsible
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for the death of a young man but exactly why he was killed 6 years ago for Genie
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pepper and her husband Gideon Bernstein those six years were painfully marked by
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covid delays shifting lawyers and legal strategies slow Justice is no justice it's not fair to victims and
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it's not fair to the deceased finally came April of 2024 Genie and Gideon were more than ready for their day in court
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we're impatient we want to get on with our lives but not before telling the story of their firstborn child blae
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Bernstein how he lived and why they believe he died murdered because of who he was targeted by hate it's not safe
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for you to be a lot of different minorities now the victim in this case and nobody disputes that he was a victim
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was stabbed to death Ken Morrison would defend Samuel Woodward charged with first-degree premeditated murder
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Morrison squared off against prosecutor Jennifer Walker and where we start is with who was killed Blaise Bernstein and
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he was 19 he was gay and Jewish the silent ghostly presence in the courtroom was
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Blaze that slender curious playful young man with a big world images that refuse to
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fade are there pictures or things that flash through your mind that you think of Blaze always every
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day it was just weeks after Blaze's death that we first met Genie and Gideon wounds raw they shared Bittersweet
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Memories of the sun they described as magical in the first time I saw him and I looked in his eyes there something
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about this baby he's going to change the world someday boom boom boom hey that's be the intro what do you miss
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most about plays yeah that's it his quirky personality Bo boom he was different he
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liked to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary I call him the Unicorn he was magnificently
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creative it was late summer 2016 and blae who'd already achieved so much was headed to an Ivy League school here in
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Philadelphia the University of Pennsylvania there'd be new friends mentors and challenges and Blaze seemed
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ready for it all please he really hit his stride a creative writer thinking about a career in
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medicine he was Finding himself then came winter break sophomore year Blaze headed home he was really
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looking forward to being with us too there were holiday celebrations and Hanukkah candles the budding Chef cooked
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up a gourmet meal and then sometime on the night of January 2nd 2018 blae secretly left his parents house it would
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be the last time that night when did you realize that he was missing we didn't I
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didn't know that night we didn't even know we thought he slept in and the next day we were I I had my aha moment when I
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was at the dental appointment the next day blae was due to meet his mother for that dentist
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appointment but blae never showed up and wasn't answering his cell phone I called
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Gideon he asked me if blae had ever come home the night before and I screamed out
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I don't know rushed out of the office and came home we both did we flew home and checked Blaze's room his
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wallet his retainers his keys those are all still at the house his glasses yeah all of that stuff was at
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the house but your thought was well it was just so highly unusual he wanted to spend time with us I just kept texting
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and calling him and leaving messages all day where had he been we didn't know they called police and tried to log on
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to Blaze's social media accounts we just jumped on his computer this was a big challenge for us but with the help of
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family and friends they logged on to Blaze's Snapchat that's where they discovered the night he disappeared blae
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had sent his home address to someone Sam Woodward a seeming stranger we never heard the name never heard the name
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before Gideon and jeie were panicked and baffled who was Sam so Gideon messaged Sam please pick up Sam got on the phone
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the Bernstein recorded the phone conversation and would share it with police we just cracked in a snap account
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and saw that you had been uh trying to find him so you're the first real clue to the to the puzzle here Sam pieces of
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the puzzle began with him meeting Blaze near the Bernstein's home I picked him up at 11 and he said he drove him here
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nearby bgo park with its thick brush and twisting paths and that once there they
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parked okay and then did he get out of the car or what happened yeah he got out of the car and uh I got out of the car
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too and Sam added Blaze claiming he was going to meet a friend walked down a path and vanished into the darkness I
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shouted out Blaze Blaze but I didn't see anything I didn't hear anything Sam explained to The Bernstein how he knew
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Blaze and why he says they were getting together it was more of a Spur the moment kind of thing yeah dude let's
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hang out since you and I were friends when we were at oan OSHA the Orange County School of the Arts where rayar
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rovski blazee and Sam were once classmates rea's High School memories of Sam were about to come flooding back
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with a vengeance I got a call from my mom R did you hear and I said what and she said blaze is
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missing and then my mom said rehea he was with this guy named San Woodward I scream in the phone he what and she was
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like do you know this guy and I said yes I know this guy he's crazy how different were Sam and Blaze
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oh they were so different probably about as different as you could be hauntingly
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different says Blaze's oldest friend so when that word began to filter across Orange County that Blaze hadn't come
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home and that Sam Woodward might be a person of interest it chilled rehea to the Bone her memories of Sam impossible
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to shake well hello ladies he was drawing guns in his notebook in class did you say anything no but you thought
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this is [Music] terrifying the spotlight was on Sam Woodward whom rehea remembered from high
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school he was very quiet very withdrawn didn't really talk to people Sam Woodward odd man out says rehea you know
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everybody has their click but I don't think he identified with any of them really and as far as
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anyone knew the last person to see blae Bernstein alive the only reason I can think of Sam
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meeting up with blae is because either number one he wanted to hook up with him or two because he was planning to murder
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him and as for that story Sam told that on the spur of the moment he and blae had decided to hang out it didn't come
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close to adding up for rehea he had a reputation of being what racist homophobic sexist it was rehea who was
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there when Blaze's sexuality was still a secret until along a glistening California beach he bravely confided in
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his oldest friend so you guys were kind of walking down the beach alone together
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and he came out to you yeah rehea who would later also come out stepped up when it mattered most all I could do was
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be a good friend and love him unconditionally did you get the sense that Blaise had told anyone else that I
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think that he did he was kind of upset to say it something that clearly was a big secret for him and yeah you know
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coming out to yourself is a really mature difficult thing to do and what did you tell him I told him
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it's okay if you like boys that's totally fine love her you love well he hadn't yet told his parents
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Gideon and jeie sensed blae might be gay we went up to him and said listen whatever your situation is we we embrace
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it we love you we don't care but in those first days of 2018 it wasn't just love it was also an unimaginable fear
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that cons doed Genie and Gideon as the search for Blaze began Orange County cops spoke with Sam
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he repeated what he told the Bernstein on that phone call that he had picked blaze up driven to bgo park and that
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then Blaze had vanished by January 5th the search had become massive we're out here conducting
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a search for Blaze Burnstein we're here today to get your help to find our son please keep keep your eyes open for my
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baby I want him home with me now search and rescue teams and helicopter search the Wilderness Area
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and we printed up thousands and thousands of Flyers that people in the congregation put up everybody's
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looking Shalom Rabbi Arnold rockless coordinated the search from University synagogue
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where blae was an active member and a role model please join me in honoring blae Bernstein blae embraced his Jewish
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Heritage and confronted its haters not only were 6 million Jewish people systematically murdered throughout
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Europe in concentration camps at such a young age to see someone with so much talent is a beautiful thing a good heart
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a good Soul that's what Blaze had everyone was somehow hoping for good news including seemed Sam
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Woodward okay so is this the best number to reach you at uh yes sir it is last time on that
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call that Gideon had recorded Sam sounded deeply concerned yeah I want to find blood as much as you
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[Music] do but Blaze was nowhere to be found anxious hours stretched into sleepless
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nights I really didn't know if we would ever find him as the days passed you know that it became more and more
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difficult and I thought we're never going to know we're never going to know what happened exactly we're never going
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to figure it out [Music] um yeah that's what I thought I immediately thought he's dead he's dead just from
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hearing that he was with Sam it was day seven since blae last left home a family a community was
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beyond frustrated Detectives had searched bgo park over and over but they decided to give it one more look in the
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pouring rain a detective stood right over there and hidden under a large tree branch was a mound of dirt under the wet
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caked Earth lay Blaze Burnstein if not the rain we would have never known what happened to him so the
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rain uncovered his face Leia and Richard B Burstein are Blaze's grandparents we just loved him I wish I could write like
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he wrote I wish I could cook like he cooked where's blae yeah he's in the front 48 Hours met them just a few
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months after blae was murdered I think the world lost a a beautiful soul I always think of him before I go
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to sleep their grandchild once brimming with life and possibility had been horrifically
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slaughtered with a knife then the funeral happened and it was shattering the grief stretched across
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Orange County we're hugging them right now we're all hugging them this is our big
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giant hug to them just want to know why I don't I don't even want to know because I'm not going to like that
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[Music] [Music] answer 3 days after blae Bernstein was found butchered and broken can you tell us
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what happened to blaze no com investigators confronted his onetime classmate Sam Woodward were you there
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when he disappeared at his parents' home no comment undercover officers made their
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move on Sam Woodward this afternoon as he pulled out of his Newport Beach driveway and went down the road they
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pulled that car over and arrested him Sam wward was charged with murder with the personal use of a knife then Orange
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County DA Tony rakus how did Blaise Bernstein die he was stabbed multiple times in the neck what does that tell
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you well it tells me that there was a lot of hate for Blaze's parents the details of his murder were
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too much to even imagine I just try not to think about what that really meant I don't think that I that I physically
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can deal with the trauma of what's happened as police gathered evidence the violence that happened in bgo park was
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revealed with Blaze's body his battered phone inside Sam Woodward's car blood the blood on the headliner uh belonged
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to both Sam Woodward and Blaise Bernstein Blaise Bernstein's blood was in Sam Woodward's car yes yes and then
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they went on to search the house yes what kind of forensic evidence did they gather there was a
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knife the knife had blood on it Blaze Bernstein's Blood on the knife at his arraignment Sam Woodward
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would plead not guilty investigators would continue to search for what happened that night in
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bgo park they would soon come to believe that Sam had a dark and frightening secret he was involved in this extreme
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Neo-Nazi organization automen division which does expect its members to explicitly Target members of the Jewish
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and lgbtq Community Sarah Moore monitors hate crime working for glad one of the most prominent gay rights organizations
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in the country she's kept a close eye on the small but violent group Adam Wen these are their propaganda videos posted
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between 2017 and 18 they want to kind of blow up the world as it is they want to
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create something entirely new and the new thing is what in their mind it would be a white ethn
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State and there's either no Jewish or no lgbtq or no people of color in that Society how does Adam rten recruit they
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recruit primarily online just a click away and exactly where Sam whom rayar rovski
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remembers had troubl making friends found some strangers who welcomed and encouraged him did you consider yourself
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a Neo-Nazi I just considered myself a Nazi this man does not want his identity revealed but he says he was once a
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member of Adam waen and that he came in contact with Sam the year before blae was
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murdered it was like a camaraderie type common interest and those interests were
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hating other groups hating Jews hating gays hating blacks yeah oh yeah how involved was Sam Woodward in
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Adam Wen I know that he was involved involved enough say investigators to wear the Adam waffin
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mask give the Nazi salute make a pilgrimage to Colorado to meet Neo-Nazi leader James Mason
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and travel to Texas to attend Adam wen's version of a corporate retreat they call
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it hate camp at hate camps members will get kind of a one-one training on how to
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be a violent extremist and that bitter January 2018 when news broke that Blaze had been
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stabbed to death allegedly by a member of Adam waen as Orange County mourned neo-nazis reportedly cheered everyone
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celebrated him like he killed a g which in their mind is sort of a jackpot GH it's
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disgusting there were people congratulating this accused killer for what he has done killing my son
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congratulating him had you ever heard of Adam wafin no before this but we should
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have because we're a perfect Target for that group because of Sam's involvement in Adam waen 7 months after Blaze's
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murder prosecutors upped the anti adding a hate crime enhancement a murder motivated by
00:23:42
Prejudice as the story unfolded that the murder was related to homophobia and anti-Semitism well then the anger in the
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community ratcheted up for some it brought back the darkest of times it must seem like all of this hate
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was behind you that's something in the past you can't forget it you can't forget it
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never it's a murderous Echo from her past all too real for Grandma Leia a holocaust
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Survivor once a little girl forced by Hitler's Nazis to wear a yellow star yes we did wear this St it's a horrible
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irony that what you escaped is is following me Sam Woodward was locked up in the
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Orange County jail he would begin his yearslong journey through the justice system it included a revolving door of
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defense lawyers who raised questions with the court about Sam's mental health and his ability to defend himself
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in 2022 Sam Woodward was found competent to stand trial investigators say they also minded
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Sam Woodward's phone and social media activity and along with the Nazi propaganda they found something
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else Sam had visited gay dating and porn sites and he had exchanged flirtatious messages with
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blaze so they match twice on Tinder leis Keane a reporter for the forward would cover the case and report on the
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conversations between Sam and blae Blaise admits that he's gay blae says I think you're hot and Sam says back to
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blae you're not too badl looking yourself Blaze so they kind of had this flirty interaction maybe Sam was like closeted
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and wanted to hook up Raya rovski moved to New York York City where she lives as
00:25:59
an openly bisexual woman she still wonders about Sam's intention and blazes that tragic night in bgo park the
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defense May argue that blae made a move on Sam and Sam freaked out okay and if you freak out does that excuse you
00:26:16
stabbing somebody April 2024 stuff is getting real the jury's being picked finally Sam Woodward headed
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to trial over time the case had taken on even greater meaning there's a lot at stake here because it's not just about
00:26:36
getting Justice for blae but it's also about what precedent this is setting for other lgbtq plus people who have been or
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might in the future be in similar situations Blaze's parents steadied themselves to relive the night that
00:26:53
shattered their lives I know that a lot of things will be said that are probably
00:26:58
untrue because that's what happens in a criminal trial I have an opportunity to defend
00:27:05
Blaze and that's what I will do see more evidence in the case at 48 [Music] hours.com please come to order Superior
00:27:25
Court is now in session the people call Genie pepper It's the final thing that I
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have to do for my son is be there and make sure that there is some form of Justice good afternoon is it took more
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than 6 years for Genie and Gideon to get this day in court I just want to thank you for being here and I'm I'm sorry
00:27:45
that the circumstances but it comes with terrible memories of the day they lost their son Blaze you remember where you
00:27:54
were when you got the phone call I do remember that yes and why does that stand out in your
00:28:02
mind because it was the beginning of how the couple have to come face to face with their son's killer but the killer
00:28:15
Sam Woodward doesn't seem to want to be seen can I ask you to move the hair out of your face a little
00:28:24
bit maybe pull the hair on the right side of your head away so we can see you please thank you even before he took the
00:28:36
stand Sam Woodward was already an eerie presence in the courtroom who got everyone's attention Sam looked like
00:28:44
Charles Manson so you couldn't really see his face no you couldn't really hear him all
00:28:51
the time reporter Lewis Keane if you're in the jury he looks extremely menacing do you want to look him in the
00:29:00
eye not really I don't care he's meaningless to me and can I nag you one more time to move your hair out of your
00:29:09
face a little bit for [Music] us BL we love you and we want you to come home back when they were
00:29:18
frantically searching for Blaze please keep your eyes open for my baby I want him home with me now Sam Woodward told
00:29:27
them he didn't know anything about what happened to their son I didn't see where
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he went I searched all over for him I couldn't find him anywhere but his looks have changed
00:29:39
dramatically and so has his story do you remember what you're thinking when you were driving the knife down again and
00:29:48
again and again an anger like nothing I'd ever felt my whole life there's absolutely no question Sam
00:30:24
Woodward killed blae Bernstein the evidence will show that Samuel Woodward is guilty of homicide the
00:30:33
question for the jury is why this homicide was committed Sam's defense attorney said in opening arguments that
00:30:41
we were going to hear from Sam about something that happened that night that provoked Sam into killing Blaze the
00:30:48
challenge for defense attorney Ken Morrison is to prove voluntary manslaughter that Woodward acted
00:30:55
impulsively there was no cold calculated decision to kill and the knife according to the
00:31:05
defense it wasn't ever meant for murder from the time Sam was a Boy Scout Sam was never without one would you ever
00:31:13
carry a pocket knife with you in your pant's pocket yes I would almost all the time
00:31:23
did you have a knife in your pocket when you with blaze Bernstein yeah yes I did the killing happened in less than an
00:31:31
hour prosecutor Jennifer Walker argues this was premeditated murder and a hate crime you'll see the cell phone evidence
00:31:40
the DNA evidence the defendant's words the defendants hate in the nearly 3 months at trial Walker painstakingly put
00:31:49
on more than 20 Witnesses including the same former Adam wafin member who spoke with us now a witness for the
00:31:57
prosecution who still wanted his identity concealed do you recognize that yes what is it that's a picture of Sam
00:32:04
Woodward all to build the case for the added hate charge and a greater sentence the difference is the possibility of
00:32:14
parole if it's no hate crime then it's 25 years to life with the possibility of parole if it's a first degree
00:32:22
premeditated murder and a hate crime Sam faces life in prison without possibility
00:32:29
of parole the facts of this case are not simple the defense uses a time honored tactic suggesting the victim is not as
00:32:38
innocent as he appears you will learn that blae Bernstein was not killed because of who he
00:32:48
was but because of what he did tell us what happened in Sam Woodward's version Sam can you pick your head up move your
00:32:57
hair Blaze was toying with him and threatening to out him once they were in bgo park Sam says he smoked a joint I
00:33:06
started nodding off Sam says he thought Blaze took a compromising picture I saw my pants
00:33:14
unbuckled I could practically like feel something somewhat close to my leg and he had his phone in his
00:33:24
hand he tells us that he believes that Blaze is taking a photo of his privates I just came undone I went in a
00:33:36
state of just Terror and I asked what are you doing what are you doing and no photo was ever found so there's no
00:33:43
evidence that Blaze actually took one what were you afraid of I grew up in a home with my mother
00:33:53
and my father and I love them more than I can imagine my father though he there's no way not a chance people
00:34:03
like him just even thinking about the look on his face if he saw something like that if he'd heard about something
00:34:10
like that that got out somehow I couldn't fathom that Sam grew up in an ultra conservative Catholic household he had
00:34:22
parents who believed homosexuality was a sin but Sam also seemed to have really conflicted feelings about his own
00:34:32
sexuality What You Come Away with is just immense sadness of all these external forces coming to bear on his
00:34:44
life he did what he did and what he did can't be undone any idea how long it took to stop
00:34:55
stabbing Blaze no idea no it was one of the most awful things I've ever heard and you know that
00:35:06
Blaze's parents are sitting there for months of this trial they've been hearing their son is accused of sexual
00:35:17
assault you can't really imagine what that's like Genie pepper walked out of the room
00:35:28
for the prosecution the only predator in this story is Sam Woodward he has a 6in
00:35:34
knife out and blazes the Predator Blaze is the problem here that's what's being sold to you by the defendant he was
00:35:43
interested and fixated on hate Adam Waf and division had that outlet for him only two people know what really
00:35:54
happened that night Sam Woodward has had his say blae Bernstein isn't alive to tell us
00:36:01
you should find him guilty of the first degree murder with the hate crime it's the only reasonable
00:36:06
conclusion do you have any hesitation do you have any doubt now it's up to the [Music]
00:36:25
jury the passage of time has been doubly hard for Blaze's grandparents Richard and Leia still waiting for justice for
00:36:33
the grandson they loved and lost I miss him all everything about him he was loving
00:36:42
and caring he was handsome too Blaze and his exceptional appetite for life I tried to treat him as just a
00:36:53
normal kid you know and he He Turned about uh sorry he turned out well on July 3rd
00:37:13
2024 the jurors began their deliberations I don't want him to die I want him to suffer every day of his
00:37:22
life is there a part of you that wants to look that young man in the eye no why not because he's a footnote in
00:37:32
history whether footnote or headline grandparents parents Rabbi oldest friend it felt like forever I was nervous and I
00:37:44
felt anxiety because I was not sure what the verdict was going to be 2,364 days after his rest Sam Woodward's
00:37:59
fate is on the line living and dying in prison or someday possibly walking free it's my understanding that you do have a
00:38:09
verdict is that accurate we have it took the jury 8 hours the verdict being read
00:38:15
there's no way to describe what it's like sort of the emotional intensity of the
00:38:22
moment we the jury find the defendant Samuel Woodward guilty of the crime of first
00:38:29
murdered but as soon as the jury says guilty I heard Genie say oh thank God God guilty of murder but was it hate did
00:38:43
Sam Target Blaze because he was gay the jury spoke again with the jury find it to be true that defendant Samuel
00:38:52
Woodward committed hate crime first-degree murder [Music] outside the Orange County courtroom all
00:39:02
that pain and uncertainty overflow good afternoon my name is Todd Spitzer I'm the district attorney of Orange County
00:39:10
the current da offered thoughts on love and law we don't care who you love or who you want to be with you deserve to
00:39:18
be a free person with Free Will and love who you love and that needs to be protected
00:39:28
we are thrilled with the verdict which holds Samuel Woodward accountable for the
00:39:36
brutal violent painful murder of our son brother grandson cousin blae Bernstein on
00:39:46
January 3rd 2018 his parents will never get to speak to him again and that loss is
00:39:54
incalculable the Woodwards also lost their son he's going to prison when the verdict was that the
00:40:02
murder was a hate crime that essentially meant that there is the proof that blae
00:40:11
was murdered because he was gay and Jewish simple as that fora who blae first came out to on
00:40:20
that California beach in my head I was telling blae we finally got him like you know case
00:40:29
closed and says the prosecutor Sam Woodward should pay the maximum price he faces life without possibility of parole
00:40:37
and that's what we'll be asking for thank you experts who monitor Adam wafin say
00:40:45
it has largely dissolved but that the threat of hate groups remains today you said love who you
00:40:54
love it sounds so simple but it's not mhm just because you're accepting of yourself that doesn't mean that
00:41:03
everybody's going to see the same way as you do you [Music] know can you picture blae if he was
00:41:17
alive today no I don't think I can can you still hear his voice no that's kind of
00:41:29
sad yeah for jeie and Gideon Every Day brings reminders of what might have been I think about blae all the time because
00:41:41
when I see things I think to myself what would blae be doing now they founded what they call a kindness movement
00:41:49
promoting positivity and random acts of kindness in Blaze's name blaz of Ford was a response to Blaze's death and in
00:41:59
bgo park where Blaze took his last breath there is this hundreds of hand painted Stones
00:42:10
most left by total strangers in the memory of Blaze Bernstein this pile of stones has grown
00:42:18
and grown and grown yes it's great to see the messaging it's always positive and they're getting sent to us
00:42:27
from all over the world still still the silent Stones speak of Tolerance and Blaze Bernstein's
00:42:36
transformation into a kind of martyr his murder a marker of rabid hate his Spirit an inspiration to lgbtq
00:42:46
plus people wherever they live and with whomever they love Blaze's life mattered and he has
00:42:57
Legacy to create good news to inspire people to be better to be kinder and to work on repairing the world because it's
00:43:07
not too late and we can make it [Music] better new CBS next a young girl's mysterious disappearance she just
00:43:26
vanished and cat and mouse game with a convicted killer we don't have s's body do you think he will give that up I
00:43:31
don't know if he does it won't be out of the goodness of his heart new 48 Hours 2
00:43:36
episodes season premiere next on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus [Music]