Authorities say a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student whose body was found buried in a shallow grave at a California park had been stabbed more than 20 times.
The Orange County Register reports that police are investigating whether the killing was an act of rage.
Twenty-year-old Samuel Lincoln Woodward was arrested and taken into custody Friday on suspicion of homicide after DNA evidence linked him to the death of college sophomore Blaze Bernstein.
Pictured here is Blaze Bernstein the 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student whose body was found this week at a Southern California park
Bernstein was home visiting his family in Lake Forest during winter break when Woodward picked him up on January 2 and drove with him to several places before winding up at a park.
Barnes says the two knew each other from high school and detectives apparently used Snapchat to find the suspected killer.
Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, has been arrested in connection with the death of Blaze Bernstein. Police say DNA links Woodward to the case
Woodward was the last person to see Blaze Bernstein alive.
Woodward told officers he had picked Bernstein up the night before he was reported missing on January 3, but that the University of Pennsylvania pre-grad had walked off in Borrego Park, Anaheim, according to the LA Times.
There is no obvious motive behind the incident and no weapon has been found.
Woodward and Bernstein had attended the Orange County School of the Arts together.
The victim was at home on a break from his studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over the weekend it emerged Woodward defended the Confederate flag and wrote disturbing posts on social media, according to The New York Post.
He wrote in one post that the rebel flag ‘represents Southern pride, not racism.’
On another social media platform called askfm, Woodward said if he could have two items while being stranded on a deserted island, it would be ‘The Bible and a Colt .45’.
On his profile, Woodward picks the torture method ‘waterboarding’ as a new skill he wants to learn and in another message, someone states to Woodward: ‘You are violence. It scares me.’
Authorities say Woodward previously told them he had left Bernstein at the park to go see his girlfriend, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Woodward couldn’t remember the name nor the address of his ‘girlfriend’, police said.
Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20 wrote in one post that the infamous rebel flag ‘represents Southern pride, not racism’ (Pictured: Woodward’s image placed in front of Confederate Flag)
Woodward also had scratches on his hands, which police say he told them he had sustained while participating in a fight club.
Woodward also had dirt under his fingernails, which he told authorities was due to falling into a ‘dirty puddle’ while sparring.
Bernstein’s mother Jeanne said ‘Nothing will bring back my son so we ask the world to please honor Blaze’s memory by doing an act of kindness today – don’t wait – do it now. Celebrate the goodness that still exists in this world in-spite of these acts of senseless evil. People are good and Blaze knew that,’ according to the Los Angeles Times.
Pictured is the park in which Bernstein was found. The Ivy League student was planning to major in psychology and later study medicine, his father said
Bernstein, a sophomore, was planning to major in psychology and later study medicine, the Orange County Register reported his father, Gideon Bernstein, saying last week.
His dad said that he had a passion for cooking and was a creative writer. He had recently been named to the staff of Penn Appetit magazine at school.
A friend at school told WPVI that she had been communicating with Bernstein over break over ideas for the magazine for the next semester.
Pictured is another view of the park. His father had said his son had a passion for cooking and was a creative writer
In another message, someone states to Woodward that ‘You are violence. It scares me,’ to which he replies ‘I wouldn’t fight anybody unless they attacked me’
A private funeral service was held on Monday to honor Bernstein, who has been described as a talented writer, a passionate chef and a selfless volunteer by his family and friends.
People were given spatulas with the last recipe he devised in the kitchen to celebrate his culinary skills, according to ABC7.
The family of Bernstein is asking the public to do good deeds out of respect for Blaze.
Gideon and Jeanne Bernstein, parents of missing teen Blaze Bernstein, pictured here, are joined by Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Brad Valentine, right, during a news conference in Lake Forest, California
‘We want people to do acts of kindness,’ said David Thalberg, a spokesman for the Bernstein family.
‘We want them to post them, we want them to do whatever they can in Blaze’s honor. Because it’s the kind of kid he was.’
The family have created a website to honor Blaze’s life, titled the Blaze Bernstein Memorial Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County.