Jeanne Pepper, the mom of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, offered the account to jurors at the Santa Ana court where 26-year-old Samuel Woodward is being tried.
Samuel Woodward charged with the killing of Blaze Bernstein in an alleged homophobic and antisemitic hate crime was in court Tuesday as his trial begins six years after he was arrested.
Despite Woodward’s association with Atomwaffen, considered a hate group, his attorney said Woodward was not driven by bigotry and didn't plan the killing.
Samuel Woodward, 26, is charged with stabbing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein 28 times while the teen was visiting his family in Southern California on January 10, 2018.