Samuel Woodward, a former high school classmate of Blaze Bernstein, was found guilty of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement for stabbing Bernstein 28 times in 2018 in Orange County, California. Woodward, affiliated with the Atomwaffen Division, claimed the killing was not premeditated but a reaction to Bernstein threatening to out him. The jury's decision came after deliberating for one day, with the prosecution arguing for a hate-crime murder conviction. Woodward is set to be sentenced on October 25. The case highlighted Woodward's extremist leanings and the nature of Bernstein's murder as a hate crime.