California neo-Nazi convicted of killing gay classmate

July 4 (UPI) -- An Orange County jury has convicted a member of a neo-Nazi group for murdering a former high school classmate more than six years ago because he was gay.

Following a three-week trial, Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 26, of Newport Beach was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement for the brutal stabbing death of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein on Jan. 2, 2018.

Woodward faces up to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Oct. 24.

Bernstein was a pre-med student at the University of Pennsylvania and was home for the winter holidays in 2018 when he was reported missing Jan. 3 by his parents after he failed to make a dentist appointment that day.

During the investigation, it was learned that Bernstein's last online activity was communicating with Woodward via a smart phone dating application. They had arranged to meet the night of Jan. 2, prosecutors said.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's office , Woodward picked up Bernstein from near his family's Lake Forest residence at 11 p.m.

"Less than two hours later, Bernstein's body would be buried in a shallow grave in a Lake Forest park after having been stabbed 28 times by his former high school classmate who had led him to believe they were in the park for a romantic encounter," the office said in a statement .

"After having killed Bernstein, buried his body and cleaned up, Woodward sent a text to a friend, 'hey man, life is good.'"

Bernstein's body was discovered Jan. 9 due to heavy rains revealing his shallow grave.

"Every one of the 28 stab wounds inflicted on 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein was an act of hate that was carried out over and over again not just to kill Blaze, but to send a message," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Wednesday.

Prosecutors argued in court that Woodward was a member of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division whose members, according to the anti-semitism watchdog Anti-Defamation League , are preparing for a race war to combat the cultural and racial displacement of the White race.

Woodward was accused of having traveled to Texas to train with the group. Among evidence connecting him to the crime was a knife belonging to his father that had Berstein's blood on it as did a skull mask prosecutors said he wore in allegiance to Atomwaffen.

"Investigators also discovered what prosecutors called a 'hate diary,' which detailed Woodward's online activities to lure gay men and boys into believing he was 'bi curious,' and then unfriending them," the Orange County District Attorney's office said.

Spitzer said Woodward had educated himself in hateful ideology and surrounded himself with those with similar hateful beliefs before carrying out what he described as "the ultimate act of hate" -- brutally stabbing someone to death because of whom they love.

"Hate will never be tolerated here in Orange County -- and instead of a symbol to be revered by other haters, [Woodward] is a symbol of how society will never tolerate those who terrorize the most vulnerable members of our society through hatred and fear," Spitzer said.

When the verdict was read Wednesday, cheers were heard in the courtroom, NBC Los Angeles reported.

"This is a great relief that justice is served, and this despicable human who murdered our son will no longer be a threat to the public," Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, Blaze Bernstein's mother, told reporters during a press conference following the hearing.