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Samuel Woodward remains in the California Medical Facility at Vacaville. He will remain incarcerated for life because the court gave him life without parole. Prison logs indicate that he arrived after a brief stay at Wasco State Prison following his sentencing on November 15, 2024.
Woodward killed nineteen-year-old Blaze Bernstein in January 2018. Prosecutors said the attack was fueled by his ties to the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division. Tonight, 48 Hours brings the story back. The encore episode, The Life and Death of Blaze Bernstein, airs at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific and 9 p.m. Central and streams on Paramount Plus.
Correspondent Tracy Smith retraces the Snapchat clues that led detectives to Woodward. She also opens the hate diary found on his phone and the raw courtroom testimony that sealed his fate.
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Where is Samuel Woodward incarcerated?
Samuel Woodward entered state custody in December 2024 and is listed as "LWOP, Level III" at CMF, a facility that houses inmates who need long-term medical or psychiatric care. The CDCR locator shows his earliest possible release date as "NONE," confirming that parole is permanently barred.
As per the Associated Press report dated November 15, 2024, Judge Kimberly Menninger denied probation outright, citing evidence that the defendant planned the murder. CMF's level-of-care designation suggests officials considered both Samuel Woodward's mental health history and the security risk posed by his Atomwaffen ties.
New LWOP prisoners typically pass through Wasco's reception center for classification before being placed in long-term custody. Woodward's transfer followed that standard pathway. His housing records, together with sealed psychiatric evaluations introduced during the trial, indicate he will remain under enhanced monitoring for the foreseeable future.
How did detectives link Samuel Woodward to Blaze Bernstein’s killing?
Investigators targeted Samuel Woodward just two days after Blaze Bernstein vanished. Snapchat logs showed Bernstein heading to Borrego Park at 11 p.m. on January 2, 2018. As per a CBS News report dated June 21, 2025, police later found blood stains and a knife sheath carrying Bernstein's DNA in Woodward's car.
Forensic analysts also recovered a cellphone "hate diary" in which Samuel Woodward allegedly fantasized about killing gay men to earn prestige in Atomwaffen. As per an ABC7 Los Angeles report dated July 3, 2024, prosecutor Jennifer Walker told jurors:
“The abundance of evidence here is overwhelming....The reason we're here is because of the defendant's actions.”
Phone tower pings, soil traces, and Woodward's contradictory statements rounded out a case the Orange County Sheriff called "technology built." One senior detective testified that Woodward returned to the burial site twice to cover tracks, behavior prosecutors said showed premeditation.
Inside the 2024 hate-crime trial and life sentence
The long-delayed trial opened in April 2024. Defense counsel conceded homicide but argued that Samuel Woodward acted in a panic triggered by an unwanted sexual advance. Jurors rejected that claim on July 3, 2024, finding him guilty of first-degree murder with hate crime and knife-use enhancements.
As per the ABC News report dated November 15, 2024, during sentencing, Judge Menninger remarked:
“Unfortunately for the court and for the defendant, I've never seen any evidence of this up to this point in time.”
Blaze’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, told the court:
“Let's be clear -- this was a hate crime... Sam Woodward ended my son's life because my son was Jewish and gay.”
She also recalled:
“I had to go to a cemetery with a broken heart and choose a grave for my 19-year-old son.”
Menninger imposed life without parole, noting that the hate enhancement mandated the harshest penalty short of death. Woodward waived his right to address the court, and no appeal has been filed as of June 2025.
The Life and Death of Blaze Bernstein re-airs tonight on CBS, offering fresh interviews with investigators and first-time TV access to court exhibits that sealed Woodward's fate. The episode aims to remind audiences how extremist ideology can escalate into lethal violence and where Samuel Woodward will spend the rest of his life.
Stay tuned for more updates.
