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Timeline: The Blaze Bernstein murder case
A look at the 2018 disappearance of Blaze Bernstein and the evidence that led to Sam Woodward’s arrest and conviction in the hate crime murder.
Jan. 2, 2018
Bernstein family
Blaze, a 19-year-old Ivy League student, was spending the holidays visiting family in Orange County, California, when he went missing the night of Jan. 2, 2018.
Jan. 3, 2018
CBS Newws
After Blaze failed to show up to a dentist appointment and didn’t respond to texts and calls, his parents, Jeanne Pepper and Gideon Bernstein, checked his room. They didn’t find Blaze but found his wallet, keys and glasses still at the house.
They searched Blaze’s computer and social media accounts for clues. On Blaze’s Snapchat, they found messages from Sam Woodward, who had been Blaze’s high school classmate. The messaging showed that the night Blaze went missing, he had sent his address to Woodward. Gideon Bernstein reached out to Woodward, who claimed he had picked Blaze up and driven to local Borrego Park. Woodward said that Blaze then walked off in the dark to meet another friend.
“I didn’t see where he went,” Woodward told Gideon Bernstein. “I searched all over for him … I couldn’t find him anywhere.”
After that call, the worried Bernsteins filed a missing person’s report with police.
Jan. 6, 2018
CBS Los Angeles
Law enforcement repeatedly combed Borrego Park. By this point, news of Blaze’s disappearance had already spread across Orange County.
The Bernstein family, still hoping for good news, held a press conference, asking the public to keep looking for their son.
Jan. 9, 2018
Orange County Court
After days of searching, investigators found Blaze buried in a shallow grave in Borrego Park after heavy rains helped uncover his body. He had been stabbed more than 20 times. Blaze’s damaged phone (pictured) was also found in that grave.
Investigators believed Woodward was the last person to see Blaze before he disappeared. Woodward had told them what he told the Bernsteins — that he met up with Blaze, who then walked off in the park. Investigators served a search warrant at Woodward’s home.
Jan. 12, 2018
Orange County Sheriff’s Department
Sam Woodward was arrested on Jan. 12, 2018.
Jan. 17, 2018
Woodward was charged with murder with a sentencing enhancement of personal use of a knife.
Later in 2018, then-Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told “48 Hours” that investigators had found a knife in Woodward’s home.
“The knife had blood on it,” Rackauckas said. “Blaze Bernstein’s blood on the knife.”
Orange County Sheriff’s Department
He also said they had found blood in Woodward’s car.
“The blood on the headliner belonged to both Sam Woodward and Blaze Bernstein,” Rackauckas told “48 Hours” correspondent Tracy Smith.
Feb. 2, 2018
Woodward was arraigned and pleaded not guilty
August 2, 2018
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office added a hate crime enhancement to Sam Woodward’s initial charges.
CBS Los Angeles
Prosecutors claimed Woodward killed Blaze with premeditation because Blaze was gay. If convicted, Woodward now could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Authorities say after examining Woodward’s phone, laptop and social media accounts, they found evidence of Woodward’s involvement in Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi terrorist group.
April 9, 2024
Pool
In the opening statements of his trial, the prosecution told the jury that Woodward killed Blaze because he was gay. Defense Attorney Ken Morrison conceded that Woodward killed Blaze but argued that the murder was not premeditated and instead was a case of voluntary manslaughter. He argued that Blaze did something that provoked Woodward to kill him and told the jury Woodward would testify about what happened the night Blaze was killed.
April 10, 2024
Pool
“I know that a lot of things will be said that are probably untrue,” Jeanne Pepper told “48 Hours.” “Because that’s what happens in a criminal trial…I have an opportunity to defend Blaze and that’s what I will do.”
Blaze Bernstein’s parents were among 23 witnesses who testified for the prosecution.
June 20, 2024
Pool
When it was the defense’s turn, Woodward told the jury that on the night he killed Blaze, Woodward had smoked a joint. He said that Blaze had been taunting him and threatened to out his sexuality. Woodward accused Blaze of sexual assault. There is no evidence of this.
Woodward testified that he then stabbed Blaze to death. He said that he routinely carried a knife with him since his days as a Boy Scout.
July 3, 2024
CBS Los Angeles
The jury found Sam Woodward guilty of first-degree murder with the hate crime enhancement.
“He faces life without possibility of parole,” Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said after the guilty verdict. “And that’s what we’ll be asking for.”
Oct. 22, 2024
Sam Woodward is due back in court for sentencing.
Blaze’s Legacy
KCBS
After their son’s murder, Blaze’s parents were determined not to let hate win. To honor their son, they started a movement called “Blaze It Forward” inspiring acts of kindness.
At Borrego Park where Blaze was tragically killed, there is now a tribute to Blaze. To this day, people from all over the world continue to leave stones in his memory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the Pennsylvania ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
He is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant to kick off a busy week in the United States shoring up support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy’s schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. He also will address the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering in New York and travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15 miles to 20 miles (24 kilometers to 32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.
Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of the 155 mm shells from the U.S.
With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.
So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as in a potential conflict over Taiwan.
In response, the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month. During his visit, Zelenskyy is expected to meet and thank workers who have increased production of the 155 mm rounds over the past year.
Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — are also expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant, as is Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa.
The 155 mm rounds are just one of the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense.
Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many of the European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict.
Federal agents have boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI has confirmed to CBS News.
In statements Saturday, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities have boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the FBI told CBS News in a statement.
The agency said it was “unable to comment further.”
In a lawsuit Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department has alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel that had a power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Six men who were doing work on the bridge died.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning.
Wilson has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” about the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
The budget motel chain Motel 6 is being acquired by the parent company of Oyo, a hotel operator based in India.
The New York-based investment firm Blackstone, which owns Motel 6’s parent company G6 Hospitality, announced Friday that the deal would be an all-cash transaction worth $525 million.
The transaction will also include the sale of the Studio 6 motel brand, which caters to customers seeking extended stays. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images G
Oyo, which launched in India just over a decade ago, has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. over the past few years. The company says it currently operates 320 hotels across 35 states and is aiming to add 250 more this year.
“This acquisition is a significant milestone for a startup company like us to strengthen our international presence,” Gautam Swaroop, OYO’s international division chief, said in a statement.
Blackstone had purchased Motel 6 and Studio 6 in 2012 for $1.9 billion. Since then, the private equity giant says it has heavily invested in the brand and pursued a strategy that converted the chain into a franchise.
“This transaction is a terrific outcome for investors and is the culmination of an ambitious business plan that more than tripled our investors’ capital and generated over $1 billion in profit over our hold period,” Rob Harper, the head of Blackstone Real Estate Asset Management Americas, said in a statement.
Under the deal, Oravel Stays, which owns Oyo, will acquire G6 Hospitality.