Orange County Sheriff's Department
Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, was found dead in his California hometown last week.
- Blaze Bernstein, the University of Pennsylvania sophomore who was found dead in California last week, was stabbed more than 20 times, police said.
- Bernstein's former high school classmate Samuel Woodward was arrested on suspicion of homicide.
- More details are emerging about what happened between the two the night of Bernstein's death.
Authorities have revealed that Blaze Bernstein, the 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania sophomore who was found dead in California last week, had been stabbed more than 20 times, according to an Orange County Register report Monday night.
The Register added that Bernstein's killing is being investigated as an act of rage.
Police with the Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested 20-year-old Samuel Woodward, Bernstein's former classmate from high school, on suspicion of homicide on Friday, after DNA evidence linked him to Bernstein's death. No murder weapon has been found, the Register reported.
Bernstein was visiting family in his hometown of Lake Forest before the start of the spring semester at UPenn. He was reported missing more than a week before police found his body in Borrego Park.
According to police, Bernstein had previously texted friends that Woodward was about to "hit on me" and that "he made me promise not to tell anyone." Police said on the night of Bernstein's death, the two former classmates drove to multiple locations before arriving at the park. At one point in the evening, Bernstein tried to kiss Woodward, who pushed him away.
Authorities later confirmed that blood found on a sleeping bag in Woodward's rental car was Bernstein's. He had become the primary suspect in the teen's death because of inconsistencies in his story - for example, he said he dropped Bernstein off at the park to meet with his girlfriend, but couldn't remember her name or where she lived. When questioned about scratches on his hands and dirt under his fingernails, he said he had been participating in a "fight club."
Bernstein's death rocked the small town of Lake Forest, which according to CBS News, hadn't seen a homicide in at least four years. Meanwhile, his death is the latest tragedy for UPenn, which has lost nine students and faculty members since the start of 2017.
Bernstein's parents Jeanne and Gideon Bernstein said in a statement they were "saddened to hear … that gruesome details of the cause of his death were published."
"Our son was a beautiful gentle soul who we loved more than anything," they said. "We were proud of everything he did and who he was. He had nothing to hide. We are in solidarity with our son and the LGBTQ community."
"There is still much discovery to be done and if it is determined that this was a hate crime, we will cry not only for our son, but for LGBTQ people everywhere that live in fear or who have been victims of hate crime."