The former classmate of a murdered Ivy League who is accused of stabbing him to death after a gay kiss boasted about his devout religion on social media a year before the alleged killing.
Samuel Woodward, 20, has been charged with murdering Blaze Bernstein, 19, on January 2.
Police say he attacked Bernstein while the pair were in his parked car at Borrego Park in Orange County, California, where Bernstein was visiting home for a winter break.
The teenager’s body was found in a shallow grave a week after he vanished.
Woodward was the last person to see him alive and had picked him up from home on the night he disappeared.
Authorities with knowledge of the case revealed earlier this week that Woodward had told them Bernstein kissed him in the car and that it was unwanted advance.

Samuel Woodward, 20, (left in custody) is accused of murdering Blaze Bernstein, 19, on January 2 by allegedly stabbing him

Woodward previously boasted about his strict Catholicism on AskFM. Above is one of his posts
He allegedly said that he wanted to call him a f****t afterwards.
Old posts Woodward made in the past about his religion have resurfaced as the investigation against him continues.
He wrote on AskFM that if he was ever deserted on an island, the two things he would want with him would be ‘a Bible and a Colt .45’.
He also complained on the site about President Obama, describing him as ‘a hypocritical, spineless socialist.’
In another post, Woodward is said to have condemned the Macklemore song Same Love which the musician released in 2013 in support of same sex marriage.
He described it as ‘the worst song’ he had ever heard.
In previous posts, the youngster defended the Confederate flag.


Woodward was unapologetic about his religion when making the posts on AskFM

Woodward’s Facebook post, including this one in which he defended the Confederate flag, previously emerged
Woodward and Bernstein were classmates at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana before Bernstein started college at the University of Pennsylvania.
It is not clear how close the pair were when they were in the performing arts school together.
Staff there said they were surprised when they learned Woodward had been arrested for Bernstein’s murder and that he was a non-confrontational student.
One coach did recall how, aged 15 at the time, he requested to play military roles and was delighted when he was tasked with performing one of Brad Pitt’s monologues from the film Inglorious Basterds.
‘He really liked it. He ate it up,’ Philip Schwadron, who taught Woodward, told The Los Angeles Times.
Woodward’s parents are devout Catholics. They held hands in court when he appeared at Santa Ana Superior Court on Wednesday.


Police say Woodward stabbed Bernstein 20 times then buried his body in a shallow grave which was not revealed until a week after his killing

Blaze’s parents Jeanne and Gideon spoke out on Wednesday to say they were not focused on his son’s killer’s motives
His mother Michele is a therapist and his father Blake is the vice president of a commercial real estate.
Earlier in the week, Michele read a statement outside their home to ask for privacy.
‘This is a time of great suffering, and we would ask that you would respect that suffering. Thank you very much,’ she said.
Bernstein’s parents have said very little of his accused killer.
During an interview with Today on Thursday, his lawyer mother Jeanne said she wanted Woodward to have a ‘fair trial’.
‘It’s not going to help anything, and if we talk about these things now, then this young man will not get a fair trial, and I want that for… I want that all of us.’
‘I want the legal system to work. I’m an attorney. I value it,’ she said.
Prosecutors have not ruled out charging Woodward with a hate crime but say they will only do so if there is enough evidence.