'Closeted' neo-Nazi Samuel Woodward has been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of his openly gay former classmate, Blaze Bernstein. Woodward, who did not appear in court due to illness, was convicted of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement. Bernstein's mother described the crime as a hate crime, stating that her son was killed because he was Jewish and gay. Woodward's lawyer pleaded for a lesser sentence, citing the jurors' limited access to evidence, and plans to appeal the verdict. Bernstein's body was found in a shallow grave in a park after he went missing in January 2018.