Samuel Woodward, a California man found guilty He was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for allegedly killing his former classmate in a hate crime in 2018.

Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania, disappeared while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found buried in a cemetery after days of searching. Authorities said she went to the park in Lake Forest with Woodward the night she disappeared. Prosecutors said he was stabbed 28 times.

Woodward, now 27, was charged with first-degree murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors claimed that Woodward killed his high school classmate because Bernstein was gay.

While giving the sentence at Friday’s long hearing, Judge Kimberly Menninger said that there was evidence that the defendant planned the murder and that the jury found the claim that the crime was committed due to Bernstein’s sexual orientation.

Menninger also denied Woodward probation.

As for whether the defendant is remorseful, Menninger said, “Unfortunately for the court and the defendant, I have not seen any evidence of that so far.” he said.

Woodward was not present at the sentencing hearing due to illness, according to Menninger.

The judge said the case was “a real tragedy”.

“Here is a smart, funny, successful young man with tremendous family support and a large group of friends who is well on his way to a bright future,” he said. “There is a second, brilliant young man who shows so much promise, but struggles with his sexual identity, mental health and loneliness, and clearly never receives the psychological support he needs.”

He said it was “really sad” that two people from the same high school found themselves on opposite ends of the culture war that “culminated in the brutal murder of Blaze Bernstein.”

“Unfortunately for Mr. Woodward, the hatred that fueled his thoughts was deeply troubling to this court and unfortunately reflects a larger social ill that is now sweeping across the country,” she said.

Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker, who prosecuted the case, said during the hearing that the state wanted to proceed with the planned sentence despite Woodward’s illness after bringing several people to the hearing.

Defense attorney Ken Morrison told the court it was Woodward’s choice to be there, “as difficult as this was for him, how difficult this whole thing has been and continues to be for his family.”

“This is an unpleasant situation for everyone, I hope it will be comforting to some as they seek a path to recovery,” he said.

The court heard multiple victim impact statements before sentencing, including those made by Bernstein’s parents.

His mother, Jeanne Pepper, said her son was “handsome, well-liked, successful, beloved and good at everything he tried, the antithesis of the man who would kill him.”

He said Woodward was too much of a coward to sit in the courtroom Friday.

Pepper described the fear she felt during her son’s disappearance and his subsequent finding.

“With a broken heart, I had to go to the cemetery and choose a grave for my 19-year-old son,” she said. “I couldn’t believe this was real.”

He said that when he learned that he had been stabbed 28 times, he “collapsed screaming” and that his health deteriorated after the murder.

“Losing my firstborn child, my dream for the future, my entertainment partner is the worst, most painful thing that has ever happened to me,” he said.

He remembered Bernstein as an incredible conductor and writer, someone who had a beautiful singing voice and wanted to go to medical school.

While Woodward remains in prison, he said they will celebrate Bernstein’s life outside and “continue to give back to others who work every day to make this world more compassionate, kind and safe for the Jewish and LGBTQ communities.”

“Let’s be clear, this was a hate crime,” he said. “Sam Woodward ended my son’s life because he was Jewish and gay.”

His father, Gideon Bernstein, said his death led to “the darkest and most tragic days” for his family and friends.

“The person who was at fault for this should have been in this room today,” he said. “He’s guilty of disrupting Blaze’s path to a bright future, yet I don’t think he realizes how many other people he’s ruined along the way.”

He said living the good life “was the best revenge I could have after this crime” and urged the judge to impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

After the statements, Menninger reiterated that Woodward did not appear in court due to illness.

Bernstein’s godmother, Hillary Gerber, wanted Woodward never to be released from prison.

“Not a day goes by that we are not burdened by Blaze’s pain and loss,” Gerber said. “Knowing that this was a deliberate, premeditated act only deepens our sadness, pain, and fear.”

Woodward faced life in prison without the possibility of parole because of the hate crime special circumstance.

While the defense asked the judge to lift the hate crime enhancement, they also argued that the court could impose a lesser hate crime enhancement. In his sentencing briefing, Morrison said he was seeking a sentence of 28 years to life.

Morrison said he was “grappling with how to proceed” during the hearing because the prosecution had a pending motion to sign his brief.

Menninger said he had read the petition and had no idea yet about the motion to sign the draft.

Walker asked the judge to find that parole “is not appropriate for this defendant” and sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also argued that the lesser hate crime enhancement stated in the defense’s sentencing report was not valid.

The jury returned its verdict July 3 after a nearly three-month trial in Orange County.

During closing arguments, Morrison told jurors that Woodward was guilty of murder, but said the act was a spontaneous, irrational crime and not a hate crime.

“You heard me say my client was guilty right out of the door,” Morrison said. “He’s guilty of serious, violent murder. But as you know, there are many different types of murder.”

Woodward testified during the trial that on the night of the murder, she was horrified after thinking Bernstein might have recorded her sexually touching him in the park, and then pulled out a knife from the ABC Los Angeles station. KABC reported.

Walker told jurors during closing arguments that Woodward’s hatred of homosexuals and his association with Atomwaffen Division, a far-right neo-Nazi group, led him to plan the murder.

“He had already got his bags, he was already talking to the Atomwaffen guys about going somewhere else and he thought he would get away with it,” he said. “It was only by the grace of God that it rained and they found his body.”