July 15, 2025 • 47 mins
Blaze Bernstein was a bright, charismatic college student with a passion for writing, a sharp wit, and a future full of promise. But in January 2018, what began as a visit home to Southern California ended in tragedy when Blaze disappeared after meeting up with a former high school classmate. Days later, his body was discovered in a shallow grave—and the investigation quickly took a dark and disturbing turn.In this episode we explore the heartbreaking murder of Blaze Bernstein, the twisted motives behind the crime, and the questions about hate, identity, and justice that still echo today.
Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of violent hate crimes and murder. Listener discretion is advised.
Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of violent hate crimes and murder. Listener discretion is advised.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This episode MA contained content of a graphic nature, including
descriptions of physical and sexual violence against adults, children, and animals.
Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hi. I'm Shannon. Hi I'm Tanya, and we are Crimes
and Consequences, a hardcore true crime podcast. Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya.
How are you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm doing pretty good.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
How are you? I'm doing good, doing the grandma things
a mimi. And that's been fabulous. And let's see what
were we talking about just before? Oh, that's right, lavender marriages. Yeah,
just before we started recording. How I would not pooh
pooh a lavender marriage. He has to be able to.
(01:11):
I don't know how to style my clothes. I need
a stylist. And I do love that one guy on
TikTok and he's all like, girl, we'll take our mental
health meds together and we'll just oh, I love him,
oh putting the eyegel stuff. And I'm like, yes, oh
my gosh, my bow.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
A lavender marriage.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You remember when I was in law school, I had
a friend and he was gay, and he was cute
as a button, adorable, and I always used to tell him,
I'm like, we should get married. He's like I go,
I'll put you on my health insurance. Yes, exactly, exactly,
We'll be able to date whoever we want.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yes, our weekends are Yes, are our own? I need
yes that see and with the male perspective, I need
that whole whole scene for me. I would love it.
The decorating. Are you kidding me? I know? Oh my god,
I have the best success stories.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Ever Brittany and Kylie together.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, it would have been great fun. But he goes
like this one problem, and I.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Thought he was gonna say I'm gay, but he's like,
you're married, and I you know, I have been married,
so's I was married at the time. And I'm like, oh, yeah,
that is a problem. I guess we can't get married.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
But you're right there in first position. Should I ever
need another? Should I ever have the opportunity to be
wet again?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So well, let's get to this story I want to
tell you about. It's going to be about a wonderful
young man whose life was taken very tragically and suddenly
and too young. Tell you about him. His name is
Blaize Nathan Burns Stein. And before I go any further,
if you guys hit that subscribe button. He will never
(03:03):
miss any of our episodes, so let me continue. Laiz
Nathan Bernstein was born in South Orange County, California, on
April twenty seventh, nineteen ninety eight. What is that time you?
I'll tell you it's a Taurus? H too. Torres just
coupled a week in. He was born to his parents,
Gideon Bernstein and Jeanie Pepper. And His parents were both
(03:26):
from Santa Barbara, California, and they met one another in
nineteen eighty seven while they were both attending college at
the University of California. Five years later, in nineteen ninety two,
Gideon and Jeanie were married in Los Angeles, California. Gideon
worked as a chartered financial analyst and he went on
to make quite the name for himself in leisure capital
(03:49):
management in Costa Mesa, California. Jeannie got her law degree
in nineteen ninety five from the Pepperdine School of Law.
She left her job as a litigator in two thousand
to be a stay at home mother to her son,
Blaze and his siblings. He has two younger brothers, Bo
and Jay, and believe it or not, Gideon's mother, Leah Bernstein,
(04:11):
who was born in nineteen thirty six Romania, was a
retired teacher in the art of language, and she was
also one of the last known survivors of the Holocaust.
Oh this case is about the life that was taken
from a creative young man who was known as a
brilliant teenage boy who had the greatest sense of humor
(04:32):
along with the most gentle soul and to his family,
he was often known as the renaissance man. Those aren't quotes,
and he lived for the culinary arts and music. He
also enjoyed writing art performing to entertain others around him.
He was charismatic, a great communicator, and he had such
(04:53):
a quick wit about him. And as soon as Blaze
was born, his parents knew that their son was going
to change the world at some point in his life.
His mother always called him a unicorn because he was
so rare. Blaze was named after one of his grandfathers, Nathan,
as his middle name. He was also given his first
name after the French mathematician named Blaze Pascal Pascal. While
(05:18):
he was an inventor, mathematician, and physicist, he was the
first creator of the calculator in the seventeenth century. I
love when a name has a background like I was
named after Blaize Pascal. Since he was named after such
an astonishing man, his family always expected the best to
come from Blaze's life. Blaize went on to go through
(05:40):
his early childhood academic career with flying colors, and he
even went on to attend one of the best high
schools in the United States, the Orange County School of
Art also known as oh CSA. And while he was
in high school, he participated in a lot of extra
curricular activities, and this included working at the synagogue on
(06:02):
Saturdays as the classroom aid. And while he was in
his junior year and senior year of high school, he
thrived and participated in the school's Science Olympiad. He even
brought home the first place medal in the state for
his high school in chemistry. During his senior year, he
was in his school's advanced chemistry class, and his teacher said, quote,
(06:25):
Blaze seemed to always be looking for a place to
make his mark and be a leader and to contribute
end quote. According to everyone around him throughout high school,
he was known as a humble genius. All of his
younger classmates looked up to him because Blaze never worked
to impress a single person. His intelligence and personality were
(06:46):
what characterized him throughout his entire high school career, and
after graduating high school, he went to study at the
University of Pennsylvania where he studied poetry, biochemistry, food writing, psychology,
and community activism. Now, needless to say, Blaize had a
lot on his plate. He was striving to make his
(07:07):
entire family proud of him, and he was going to
attempt success at all costs. Everyone who knew him loved
the fact that he was always up for any adventure
that came across his path. He loved adventures, whether it
was a late night drive with family or friends, or
whether it was working quietly in a room on a
project that he was passionate about. Whatever life threw at him,
(07:30):
Blaze put his entire heart and soul into it, and
this was a trade that everyone cherished. At the age
of seventeen, Blaze went hiking and decided to climb the
entirety of Angels Landing all by himself. This trail is
located in Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah, and
this is not something that someone would normally do alone.
(07:53):
The altitude alone is pretty strenuous at five thousand, seven
hundred and ninety feet regardless of the terrain. Blaze accomplished
this in twenty sixteen, and this trail is known to
be pretty dangerous with steep cliffs and treacherous hiking paths,
So the kids got some good discipline.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
You know, just sitting.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Wow, the jois de vive for real. Now to many
of this would be pretty daunting, but not to him.
He originally went with a group of friends, but as
the height got more and more dangerous, the more people
were bowing out of the hike altogether. Out of the
entire group that he was with, Blaize was the only
one to make it to the very top and he
(08:34):
was so proud of his feet and this is documented
in his obituary along with some photos. If any of
our listeners would like to see them, they'll be in
the show notes. He was always one who would do anything,
in everything to experience the beauty of the nature that
surrounded him on his outdoor adventures, no matter how difficult
it was to achieve. He even went to Iceland on
(08:57):
a family trip and he was able to discover a
bird lookout within the Western Islands. Even with the freezing temperatures,
he sat patiently to watch for the Atlantic puffins as
the rest of his family waited in the van with
the heat on. Oh my god, so tenacious. I love it.
(09:18):
I know they're adorable. When Blaze got to the University
of Pennsylvania, he was entering his college career as a
creative writer who was hopeful to get into the world
of medicine. When he got to the university, he was
known around campus as a pretty shy guy, but once
people got to know him, he would never shy away
from his opinions on matters that were important to him.
(09:41):
He began his college career with his fantastic communication skills
to become the editor of the Penn Review, the campus's
superior literary magazine, as well as the university's foodie magazine
known as Penn At Petite I Love. He was voted
to be the head of editor for the magazine, and
(10:04):
he was eventually given the job as copy editor for
a University of penn cookbook titled whisk And This was
still in the developmental stages at the time of his murder.
By October of twenty seventeen, Blaze had become quite a
community activist around campus, and he even wrote a letter
to help better the University of Penn's safety and hopes
(10:27):
to also reform the campus's policies. The letter was written
to the university's student run nonprofit organization called The Daily Pennsylvanian.
This letter led to the meeting with the university's head
of University Life, and the meeting consisted of how the
campus could be made safer for all of the students.
(10:48):
Blaize was looking forward to helping with any improvement ideas
that he could provide, but his life was taken from
him before he was able to make any real progress
within the organization. His family knew that he was going
to take his time to find himself since he was
a young Jewish man who was also a member of
the gay community. When winter break in his sophomore year
(11:10):
came around, Blaze was looking forward to being at home
with his supportive family. They were going to spend Hanikah's family,
and as Blaze was practicing his culinary talent, he cooked
his family one of the best meals they ever had
in their lives. Blaize would eventually sneak out of his
parents' home on the night of January second, twenty eighteen,
(11:31):
and this would be the last day that anyone in
his family ever saw him alive. That night, nobody in
his family had known that he had snuck out of
the home, and that the following day his parents had
just assumed that he was sleeping in since they hadn't
seen him. The following morning, on January third, Blaze had
a dentist's appointment and he was supposed to meet up
(11:53):
with his mother, Jeanie, But when he never showed up,
his mother knew something was seriously wrong when he did
answer any of her phone calls. She called Gideon and
he asked if Blaze ever came home. She immediately began
to yell she had no idea. You know. Panic is
beginning to set in. Something was wrong and their responsible
son was missing. Gideon was at work at the time
(12:17):
Jeanie had called, and when they both came to realize
that their son was in trouble, they both sped home
to come up with a game plan to find him
as soon as possible. When both Gideon and Jeanie got
back to the house, they went into Blaze's room and
they were shocked to discover that all of his essentials
were still in the home, and yet he was nowhere
(12:38):
to be found. These essentials were his retainer, his wallet,
his glasses, his keys. These were all still left in
his room. His parents were completely shocked at what was happening.
Their son was home for a winter break and wanted
nothing more than to spend time with the people he
loved the most, and yet he was missing without a trace.
His mother had called and left voicemails on his phone
(13:00):
throughout the entire day, but nobody ever heard back from him.
This was so highly unusual. The only thing Gideon and
Janie knew to do next was to get law enforcement
involved and to try to get into Blaze's Facebook account.
Maybe his profile or Facebook messages could tell them who
their son was in contact with leading up to his disappearance.
(13:22):
His parents were able to get onto their son's computer,
and with some help, they were able to log into
Blaze's Snapchat account. Now, Snapchat nowadays seems to be the
most intimate of all social media among young adults. These
messages immediately erase according to the settings that are set
up by each user, and for most teenagers, this seems
(13:44):
to be the most secure way for them to communicate.
The communications between friends are almost too private, although settings
are set to where most messages disappear after being opened
by the recipient, Chats can be saved when typing to
a friend, and that was how Blaize's parents were able
to tell that he had sent his address to someone.
(14:05):
The person he had sent his address to was a
kid named Sam Woodward. Neither Genie nor Gideon had ever
heard of the name Sam Woodward before, since Blaze had
never once told them about any kind of conversation he
had with them with him, so they were immediately worried
about this random stranger found on his son's Snapchat account,
(14:29):
like who was this kid? Gideon sent Sam a message
to try to get a hold of Sam, and the
message said please pick up. Snapchat allows friends to make
calls through the app, and that was how Gideon was
able to finally get a hold of Sam when he
answered the call. Once the call connected, the Bernstein family
decided to record the phone call. While on the phone
(14:51):
with Sam, Gideon said that he knew that he had
been trying to locate Blaze through Snapchat and that Sam
was the first clue to the puzzle regarding their son's disappearance.
Sam was the person who had met Blaze around the
Bernstein's family house. When the Bernstein family demanded to know
(15:11):
how Sam Woodward knew their son, Sam said that their
meeting was purely a spur of the moment quote unquote
type of deal, and Blaize was the one who had
asked to hang out, to which Sam agreed. Now, Sam
confessed to Gideon that he had picked him up around
eleven that night. He then said that he had driven
(15:32):
him near Barrago Park. Once they got to the park,
both he and Blaize got out of the car. According
to Sam, nineteen year old Blaze walked down a path
to quote unquote meete a friend, and from the path
he vanished into thin air. Sam, while on the Snapchat
call with Gideon, said that he shouted Blaze's name multiple times,
(15:55):
but he was no longer able to see him, nor
did he hear anything back. Gideon had Sam's phone number
and asked if that was the best way to contact
him if he ever heard anything from Blaze, and Sam
gave Jeanie and Gideon a sense of hope that he
was also looking forward to eventually hearing from Blaze. While
(16:16):
on the phone with Gideon, Sam said, quote, I want
to find him as much as you do unquote. But
neither Gideon nor Ginie ever heard about Sam, so they
had no clue what to believe. They were just trying
everything they could to be the most optimistic about the
entire situation. So Sam and Blaize were friends in high school,
(16:38):
so they had known each other for a few years.
Leading up to Blaze sending Sam his address, other friends
of Blaze's from high school found out that Blaze was missing.
The last that Blaze's high school friends had heard was
that he had been last seen with a kid named
Sam Woodward and his friends all appeared to be shocked
(17:00):
that Blaze would ever hang out with Sam. Sam had
a reputation of being crazy. They were polar opposites. According
to one of Blaze's oldest friends from high school, Sam
was known to doodle while he was in classes at
the Orange County School of Art, and they weren't just
innocent doodles. Sam was known to draw guns on his
(17:21):
notebooks while in class, and this was to the point
that his classmates noticed that something just wasn't right with Sam.
Most of his classmates were terrified.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Out of them.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Oh yeah, so I don't know how you get into
the Orange County School of Art.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, on a terror, I know, right, what's up with that?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I'm not sure. But even though a lot of kids
were scared of him, Sam was super quiet and never
really conversed with his classmates. Wait till you see the pictures. Yeah,
they are polar opposites, and Sam does come across as
ghastly and would not see him with someone like Blaze.
(18:02):
But as all high schools have their various types of groups,
whether it be the emo kids, the nerds, the jacks,
or the popular kids, Sam kept to himself and out
of any sort of friend group altogether. When Blaze's friends
were told about Sam being the last person to see
him alive, they could only think of a few reasons
on why that would happen. Blaze being a gay man,
(18:25):
just wanted to hook up with Sam, or he just
wanted Blaze dead. Huh, those are the two. So if
Blaze picked Sam, it was to either hook up with
him or Sam was gonna kill him. Wow, wow, Well
we're gonna find out. Those were the only two reasons
that anyone could think of. According to the people who
(18:48):
knew Sam from high school, Sam Woodward was known to
be anti gay, a homophobe, and he was also known
to be extremely racist. Blaze was so, I'm telling you, polar,
polar opposite.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah, Blaize was.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Pretty much still in the closet when he was still
in high school, and he only told his oldest and
closest friends about his sexual orientation, people he trusted. Yeah,
even before he had come out to his parents. Jeanie
and Gideon, you know, just had a feeling that Blaze
was gay. Our parents aren't dumb, right, right, And they
(19:23):
were actually the ones who addressed this to him by
telling him that whatever your sexuality is, will always love you,
you know. So they were like they approached him before
he had approached them. Gideon and Jeanie went to the
Orange County Police and they told them everything that they
knew about their son's last meetup with a kid named Sam.
(19:45):
Law enforcement had no other choice than to speak to
Sam about the whole ordeal. Sam then told the police
that he had picked up Blaze from his home, that
Blaze wandered off by himself and then disappeared all on
his own. The police then sent out a certa party
for the missing nineteen year old, and that search party
was massive. Both of his parents got onto the local
(20:07):
news to ask for help from the public so that
they could locate their sun as soon as possible. Jeanie said, quote,
please keep your eyes open for my baby. I want
him home with me now end quote. The search and
rescue teams consisted of helicopters as well as an entire
team searching the woods that were nearby Barroigo Park, which
(20:29):
was where he was last seen by a kid. Everyone
in his high school feared. Thousands of flyers were put
up around the surrounding areas and at the synagogues that
the Bernstein family attended. Blaize's face was everywhere the flyers
read his name that he was nineteen years old. He
was around one hundred and thirty pounds at around five
(20:50):
foot nine inches in height, and he had brown hair
with blue eyes. He was last seen wearing long dark pants,
white tennis shoes, slash sneakers, and possibly a gray colored hoodie,
and he was last seen on January two, twenty eighteen,
at around ten thirty at night. Blaze was an active
member at university Synagogue located in Irvine, California. The synagogue
(21:16):
also viewed him as a role model, so they had
no problem helping with the search. Blaze always was one
to embrace his heritage as a member of the Jewish community.
Blaze was also one to embrace his heritage as a
member of the Jewish community, and he was also one
to not shy away from confrontation from hatred of the
(21:36):
Jewish faith and heritage. Blaze was related to a Holocaust survivor,
and that in and of itself is astonishing, so he
had no problem talking about the concentration camps along with
what his ancestors dealt with throughout the duration of World
War II. Those who were known to be outwardly and
(21:56):
proudly racist would hate someone like Blaze, you know, someone
with a beautiful heart and a genuine soul even within
the Jewish community. Along with all of his friends and family,
were hoping for a light at the end of the
very dark tunnel, and sadly it would never come. Those
who were hoping for good news was the last person
(22:17):
known to be with Blaze, Sam Woodward. He was hopeful
for good news. For those who had known Blaze personally,
and closely. They did not have high hopes for Blaze's
well being after hearing that his last known whereabouts were
with Sam, because you know Sam's extreme racism, homophobia and supremacy. Yeah,
(22:40):
and that's who this sweet guy was last with. Right. Oh.
For an entire week after Blaze had disappeared, the police,
along with a huge search party, went on and searched
high and low inside and outside of Barrego Park. Blaze's
missing person's case was so well known that even Kobe
Bryant and Green Abdul Jabbar shared the story on their
(23:03):
Twitter pages in hopes that the Bernstein family could get
even more help. Wow Wow. More people to spread awareness
of Blaze's story were two stars from the Real Housewives
of Orange County, Vicki Gunvelsen and Tamrad Judge. All of
these people before they decided to call off the search,
(23:24):
everyone was up for one last look, just to make
sure that no stone was left unturned. Mother Nature did
not let up with heavy rains as the search crew
went out for one final time, and it wasn't until
an officer turned to look at a spot in the
brush and noticed that there was a mound of the
dirt that was located under a massive tree branch, and
(23:47):
underneath the wet brush and mud was Blaze's dead body.
Two days after Blaze was reported missing, Sam was taken
by the detectives out to where he had last seen Blaze,
and while they were out, the detectives noticed that Sam's
hands and knuckles had bruises and scrapes on them. Gideon
(24:09):
had told the detectives that Sam had been the very
last person to ever see Blaze alive, and Sam was
the missing piece to the puzzle of what had happened
to him. So when he was asked about, you know,
those marks on his hands where they had came from.
Sam said that he was in quote, a fight club,
and as we all know, whatever happens in fight club
(24:33):
stays in fight club. Yeah, so Sam's Sam's working on
a story.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
That's his story, and he's sticking to it.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's right. You've heard about it, you know, Brad pitt
ed Norton.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
You don't talk about fight club, thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
So next question. Yeah, not only did Sam have scrapes
on his hands, but he also had actual dirt under
his fingernails, almost like he was either playing in the
dirt without a shower, or he had buried the body
of a victim. You know, you're just so gross. Dirt,
that's what they were describing. So the search Weren't for
(25:10):
Sam consisted of sixteen pages, and according to the affid David,
Sam had spoken with Blaze on the night that he disappeared.
The two communicated through Snapchat. Sam had agreed to meet
Blaze at the family home, where he drove him to
a parking lot off of Lake Forest Hobby Lobby where
the two men were supposed to just hang out and
(25:31):
catch up. Sam told the detectives that Blaze said that
they were going to meet up with another friend that
they had known from high school, and the two of
them arrived at Barago Park a little before midnight on
January second. Sam said that Blaze was the only one
to get out of the car and he went alone
into the park to meet up with that friend. While
(25:54):
Sam was telling this information to the investigators, he was
talking very quick, noticeably shaking and out of breath. Well,
those are the three telltale signs that someone's lying, right.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
The.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Shaking, car is founding, It's.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Like everyone's sitting here, why is this happening. At one
point Throughout the investigation, Sam led the detective inside of
his car, which happened to be a rental and they
were able to take a look around and while renting
and I guess you can look I guess. While searching
the vehicle, camping and hiking gear was found in the
(26:33):
back seat of the car, along with a huge plastic
container that was on the back seat. A black belt
was also found on the floor of the back seat.
There was also blood found in the car that belonged
to both Sam and Blaze. After the search of the
car was completed, officers then went to search the home
where Sam lived, and while at the residence, officers found
(26:55):
the murder weapon, a knife that still had Blazes blood
on it. I'm really just sloppy, Yeah, I mean, give me,
you know what, I think if Gideon hadn't if the
parents didn't have the wherewithal to go into the social media, yes,
oh my gosh, you know this, he would have gotten
(27:16):
away with.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I mean, this is just sloppy.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
This is it really is who just I guess he
thinks he's never gonna get caught.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I don't know. Why don't you clean up exactly?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Now? They say, don't judge a book by its cover.
I say, judge, that fucking cover that book is exactly
what you're looking at. And when you see the fucking
pictures of.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Oh girl, did you look you see he looks like
Charles Manson?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
O you?
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, he looks like he looks like fucking crazy Charlie
because and Blaze is like the sweet.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Sweetest thank you, I mean truly a star, a starlight
And like, did you.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Look like this when you met up with Blaize? Because
he looks like a fucking crazy person. He does crazy
Charles Manson.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Untempt he doesn't bathe. I'm so yes, very surprised. So yeah,
I was like, wait till you see him, Wait till
you see him.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Blaze's family was so thankful that the rain had not
let up that day. The heavy downpour was what helped
uncover Blaze's face. The funeral for Blaze took place at
the University Synagogue, and the Bernstein family created a catchphrase
for him called hashtag Blaze It Forward and Blaze spells
(28:34):
his name b Laze Blaze it forward. Yes, mm hmm.
So many people throughout Orange County came to pay their
respects to the beautiful soul that the world had lost
in such a brutal way. He was found completely butchered.
The Bernstein family home was only a ten minute walk
from the park where Blaze's body was eventually found. The
(28:58):
following Wednesday, over three hundred people gathered at Barago Park
for a candleate vigil to honor Blaze and to celebrate
his life. Now. Not long after, Sam Woodward was arrested
on January seventeenth, twenty eighteen, and he was taken into
custody for Blaze's murder with the personal use of a knife.
(29:19):
Sam told the investigators that he had driven Blaze to
Barago Park, but after Blaize got out of the car,
he never came back. Sam said that he would cooperate
with the police, and for the most part, his story
remains pretty consistent. At some point, though, Sam's story became
a little worrisome. He told the detectives that he had
(29:41):
driven to his girlfriend's house after he knew that Blaze
was not coming back out. When Sam was asked the
name of his girlfriend and where she lived, he said
he couldn't remember her last name or what her address was,
so sure.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
The telltale sign also that you're lying, yes, he did
fuck up.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Oh memory loss of I.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Don't remember her last name or where she lives or
any details about her, so don't ask yes.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So that's where his story becomes worrisome. Sam said that
he waited for Blaze for roughly an hour and when
he never came back to the car, he tried to
get a hold of him through Snapchat, and after he
was done waiting, he then said he drove to this
alleged girlfriend's house that was located in Tustin, which is
a little over a twenty minute drive. Sam then said
(30:34):
he returned to the park around three forty am, even
though Blaze never responded. Sam told detectives that Blaze had
confided in him that he was depressed about his grades
while at the University of Pennsylvania, but according to Sam,
he never told him that he was in any way suicidal. No,
you're just trying to lay that, you know, groundwork, Sam Dick.
(30:58):
According to the autopsy done on Blaze's body, he had
been killed by being stabbed multiple times in the neck
an throat. He had been stabbed more than twenty times.
His cell phone was also found in the shallow grave
as well. This told investigators and district attorney that there
was so much hate behind the brutality of Blaze's murder.
(31:19):
When Blaze's parents were made of their son's cause of death,
they were inconsolable, as any parent would be. Sam went
through his arraignment and he pled. Guess what he pled?
Not guilty?
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Of course?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Uh. The killed himself. He stabbed himself over twenty times
in the neck.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Yes, probably that friend he was going to meet in
the wood.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
When I was at my random friend, my girlfriend's house.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Oh my gosh, this is fucking lies. It's like you
fucking liars. So yes, Sam went through his arrangement and
he pled not guilty. The detectives knew that they needed
to gather more evidence in order to put Sam Woodward
away for Blaze's murder. The more they dug into Sam's
past and present lifestyle, the more they were able to
(32:06):
find out about the things that Sam had failed to
tell the investigators. Sam had actually been affiliated with the
neo Nazi group known as and Tom Waffen Division and
Tom Woffen. This group specifically targets those of the Jewish
faith along with those who are members of LGBTQ community.
(32:31):
Blaze was a double whammy, and Sam specifically targeted him
for this group. This group even had propaganda videos and
hopes to getting more to join their hate group. Their
goal is to completely destroy the world because they hate
it so much, and their endgame is to completely start
a new reign of terror. I'm so fucking bored with
(32:54):
this is in everyone's playbook. Destroy the world and let's
take over, destroy the world and rerun it.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It's like any you're like, okay, well, if you just
okay number one, if you destroy the world.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Yeah, if you destroy the world, that's okay. It's gonna
take a long time.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
There's like, how many billions of people, like six billion
people on the Earth right now, and you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Take over and then you're gonna take over?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
What what are you taking over? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (33:19):
What are you taking over? Exactly?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
It's so boring. Can someone else think of something else
to do? Jeez, Lou, I know. Needless to say, swastikas
were their jam. They want to know.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
I'm bored with that too.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
I'm about dud yes, big Yarner on the fucking swastika
that's what I think. You boring fucks. Yeah, Well, they
wanted to create a new world where only white people
existed without anyone disagreeing with them. They wanted nothing more
than a race war. In one video, they literally shout
the words race war now and unison while shooting guns.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
And it's a bunch of white dudes, right.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yes, it is disgruntled white dudes. Aspiring members could join
online through their website. Sam even had a Facebook post
as he posed in front of the Confederate flag stating
that he was quote unquote unquote feeling rebellious unquote.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Oh what a badass.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
I know. Oh in my book, that's called feeling like
a pussy. For someone who always has issues making friends,
Sam was able to fit right in with this crowd.
Sam was charged with first degree murder and numerous hate
crime charges. These additional hate crime charges were added on
(34:44):
August two, twenty eighteen. Opening statements took place on April ninth,
twenty twenty four and Sam's mother came to his defense
as she gave many pages of their family history to
her son's defense team. Her main object was to prove
that her son had grown up with a very toxic
household and that that's.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Who hasn't you I hate?
Speaker 2 (35:09):
And that who hasn't right, and that was what left
Sam feeling like he needed to be a part or
something bigger than himself. Yes, also known as neo Nazis.
So I needed to become a neo.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Don't don't join like a Christian church, or don't join
like some volunteer group and help animals and ship. No,
you find the fucking neo Nazis. Okay, Yeah, you want
to belong to a group, and that's the one you choose.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
What is that saying? It's like, be careful what you
wish for, You just might get it. Like, what do
you think you're fishing? What do you think you're going
to pull up in this blake of hate with these people?
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Right?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Well, I'm gonna tell you what he pulled up? So
but sally for Sam, his mother, Michelle was not the
most useful witness as she testified for her son. She
had a really hard time being consistent in her timelines
along with her son's past. The defense was trying everything
they possibly could to have the jury believe without reasonable
(36:13):
doubt that Sam was not in his right mind as
he stabbed his Jewish and gay victim, Blaisee Bernstein to death.
Michelle it appeared, was not ready to completely throw her
entire family under the bus in order to save her
neo Nazi son. The defense attempted to pull out of
her that he had been undiagnosed with a form of
(36:35):
autism which led to this dark and violent personality. Sam's father, Blake,
had previously given the defense team his stance on the
LGBTQ plus community, and with his statement he felt that
being homosexual was a sin.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Well, there you go, there you go, and.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Michelle testified that the Catholic religion was prominent within her household.
She also said that her husband, along with Sam's older brother,
would often use homophobic slurs frequently now Clay, Sam's older
brother had even called Sam a F word jit when
(37:17):
they thought that Sam could have been gay. Oh oh,
the gay F word. Yes, yes, the gay F word.
And so maybe it was a hookup maybe Sam, you know,
like that self loathing, that's like.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
It could be.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Yeah, he hated that part of himself, maybe and that's
why he lashed out at Blaze exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Michelle testified that being a homosexual was more of an
issue for Blake, her husband, than it was for her,
and she had even seen her husband hit Sam multiple times,
so Sam's diary was read aloud in the court, and
within the writings, Sam admitted that he would lead gay
men on so that he could shame and humiliate them.
(38:02):
He had no issue writing homophobic slurs and calling homosexual
men sodomites. Blaze, on the other hand, was texting his
friends about potentially seducing his right winged former classmate. Blaze
even wrote to Sam saying that he would always keep
his secret and never out him. The defense used Blaze's
(38:24):
final text with his friends to try to persuade the
jury members that Sam's murder was never premeditated. It was
purely something done after Blaze had provoked him to lash
out violence. Okay, sure, yes, with Blaze's fault to provoke
somebody to lash out like that. Blaze's parents, Jeanie and Gideon,
(38:44):
were called to testify for the prosecution on April tenth,
twenty twenty four, and Jeanie said that she knew that
many things were going to be said throughout the trial
that wouldn't be true, but she was going to do
the best that she could to get justice for her son.
Both parents testified to defend their boy, and they were
among the total of twenty three witnesses that would be
(39:07):
called by the prosecution. The prosecution presented evidence that Sam's
murdering Blaze was purely premeditated, as he had agreed to
meet up with Blaze. Sam never intended to meet up unarmed.
He had brought his knife and Adam Woffen mask. Apparently
the group wears the mask and a shoveling object to
(39:30):
barry Blaze with once the murder had been successfully completed.
Towards the tail end of the trial, Sam was looking
a lot like Charles Manson, as you most aptly described,
as he sat with his long, greasy hair and beard.
He told the jury that on the night that he
took Blaize's life, he had smoked some weed. He also
(39:51):
said that Blaze was teasing him and had threatened to
out Sam as a homosexual. So I swear to God
if there fucking blaming weed. As for violent outbursts, I'm
about done with that bullshit lie.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
You know, I've never known a violent podcast.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Thank you. Don't you dare say anything about cannabis in
that kind of way. Dare you? Sam even went as
far as accused his victim of sexual assault. But there
was never any evidence that Blaze ever did or would
have done such a thing. Sam was merely trying to
get anything to stick on. Yeah, you know, stick in
(40:33):
his own way of slandering Blaze's good name.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
Yeah, Blaze isn't there to defend him, that's.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Right, So let's make it sound like he's the fucking monster.
When you're the monster, Sam, So shut up. Sam then
told the jury that he stabbed Blaze to death, and
when asked why he carried a knife, Sam said that
he was in the Boy Scouts and he had chosen
always to carry one ever since. So what would the
(40:59):
boy Scouts say about him? Now? Right? His testimony went
on for five days as he tried to portray to
the jury members that he was somehow on the spectrum.
His defense team had trained him to take forever to
answer the most simple questions thrown to him. Oh my gosh,
can you imagine that fucking trial. Yeah, this trial was
(41:22):
postponed for years after his defense team had tried to
say that Sam's mental capacity was the reason behind the
brutal murder. On July third, twenty twenty four, Sam was
found guilty a first degree murder along with the additional
hate crimes, and on October twenty second, twenty twenty four,
(41:43):
sam would show his face for sentencing while Jeanie Bernstein
gave her victim impact statement. She said, quote, no mother
should ever have to bury her child. My heart was
so broken and yet unable to accept the reality that
he was no longer part of our world. I will
never forget hearing for the first time that Blaze had
(42:06):
been stabbed twenty eight times. End quote. She went on
to say that hearing how her son died was one
of the most painful things that any mother would ever
have to hear. Now, thankfully, oh right, I just it's heartbreaking, Yes, thankfully.
Samuel Woodward was sentenced to life in prison without any
(42:28):
possibility of parole, and he can spend the rest of
his days hating himself in his own life for what
he did to Blaze Burnstein in his family. So I
that is bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter sweet ending to
life in prison, no parole. I don't even know why
(42:50):
you signed up to come here.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
I don't neither. Oh, that's just it's just so incredibly sad.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Why they hate me? But are you sleeping with him?
Are you. People's sexual orientation should not interfere with who
they are as a person, because I really don't care
about what you do. When I'm not talking with you
with my clothes on, Yeah, I'm not thinking like, why
does it?
Speaker 1 (43:16):
Man? I don't understand why people get so upset. To me,
it's like, just worry about yourself.
Speaker 2 (43:22):
That you have. We as individuals have so much on
our plates that we can work on about ourselves. I
didn't want to look at your plate. I got so
much on my f.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
I you know, the only thing I can control in
my life is the things that I do and how
I react to yeah, and how I react to things exactly.
So just fucking worry about yourself. Mind your business, mind
your business, and don't worry about what every fucking other
person does. I could get on my soapbox, but I'm
not done.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
So every time we do one of these stories, all
I can have a peaceful week and then it'll be
like tying to record and I'll be like this motherfucker,
Oh my gosh. You know it's funny. Earlier, so Brooke
and Eye, you know, it's like Sunday and Brooke and
I are just having a nice Sunday, we went to
go see Levi's great great grandmother. We went, we came home.
(44:11):
I'm kind of it's like nice, it's cool in the house.
My grandma keeps it at a brisk eighty degrees on
this eighty degree day because she's, you know, one hundred
and two, so she's always chilly. So finally it's like
we get into this school house and it was just
you know, Levi's in his little baby swing, Brooks right
next to him on her phone, you know, going through
(44:32):
some stuff. I'm in the kitchen, I can, you know,
see down, And I thought, my god, not having a
toxic mail in the house is all the difference. I
can't even believe how beautifully wonderful this is, like a
kiss from on my forehead from the Lord. I'm so,
you know, just to notice it, like a fucking toxic mail.
(44:54):
And I think of Sam's how Blaze's parents were like, okay,
I think you know, I'm sure they had the conversation.
I think Blaze is gay cool. That's you know, parents
are like, okay, here's you know, you can fall here,
you get soft cushion, blow will always be and then
you on the opposite side of the spectrum. You have
Sam's parents who may suspect that Sam's gay, and then
(45:17):
he gets all these hateful slurs, punching, hitting, Where's that
going to go? But I see what the difference of
loving your children and hating your children two very different outcomes.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Right, it's yeah, exactly, and that's why we have the
problems that we have.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Mother Teresa said this one thing. It's like, you want
to have a peace in the world, go home and
love your family. Yeah, and that's so true.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Start, there's some wise words right there, and very much so.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
But yes, that's the story of Sweet Blaze Burnsteemly.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
His poor family. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Everyone.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Please hit the subscribe or follow button on whatever app
you're listening to, and please visit our website Crimesanconsequences dot com.
You can find us if you are enjoying our episodes.
We offer an additional episode per week and you can
find those on Patreon dot com or you can subscribe
(46:23):
to those through the Apple podcast app for very low price.
You can get an additional episode week yea price, yes, yeah,
check out Patreon dot com, slash tnt Crimes or like
I said, you can find it on the Apple podcast app.
And I think that's all the business that we have.
So Shannon, thank you again. I'm gonna let you get
(46:44):
back to Mimi.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
Duties all right. I'm on my way and you too. Girl.
You have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and our
listeners have a wonderful week till we see each other again.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
Until we see each other again, I'll talk to you
all right.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Leve me guy. Bye.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Si
This episode MA contained content of a graphic nature, including
descriptions of physical and sexual violence against adults, children, and animals.
Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hi. I'm Shannon. Hi I'm Tanya, and we are Crimes
and Consequences, a hardcore true crime podcast. Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya.
How are you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm doing pretty good.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
How are you? I'm doing good, doing the grandma things
a mimi. And that's been fabulous. And let's see what
were we talking about just before? Oh, that's right, lavender marriages. Yeah,
just before we started recording. How I would not pooh
pooh a lavender marriage. He has to be able to.
(01:11):
I don't know how to style my clothes. I need
a stylist. And I do love that one guy on
TikTok and he's all like, girl, we'll take our mental
health meds together and we'll just oh, I love him,
oh putting the eyegel stuff. And I'm like, yes, oh
my gosh, my bow.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
A lavender marriage.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You remember when I was in law school, I had
a friend and he was gay, and he was cute
as a button, adorable, and I always used to tell him,
I'm like, we should get married. He's like I go,
I'll put you on my health insurance. Yes, exactly, exactly,
We'll be able to date whoever we want.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yes, our weekends are Yes, are our own? I need
yes that see and with the male perspective, I need
that whole whole scene for me. I would love it.
The decorating. Are you kidding me? I know? Oh my god,
I have the best success stories.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Ever Brittany and Kylie together.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, it would have been great fun. But he goes
like this one problem, and I.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Thought he was gonna say I'm gay, but he's like,
you're married, and I you know, I have been married,
so's I was married at the time. And I'm like, oh, yeah,
that is a problem. I guess we can't get married.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
But you're right there in first position. Should I ever
need another? Should I ever have the opportunity to be
wet again?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
So well, let's get to this story I want to
tell you about. It's going to be about a wonderful
young man whose life was taken very tragically and suddenly
and too young. Tell you about him. His name is
Blaize Nathan Burns Stein. And before I go any further,
if you guys hit that subscribe button. He will never
(03:03):
miss any of our episodes, so let me continue. Laiz
Nathan Bernstein was born in South Orange County, California, on
April twenty seventh, nineteen ninety eight. What is that time you?
I'll tell you it's a Taurus? H too. Torres just
coupled a week in. He was born to his parents,
Gideon Bernstein and Jeanie Pepper. And His parents were both
(03:26):
from Santa Barbara, California, and they met one another in
nineteen eighty seven while they were both attending college at
the University of California. Five years later, in nineteen ninety two,
Gideon and Jeanie were married in Los Angeles, California. Gideon
worked as a chartered financial analyst and he went on
to make quite the name for himself in leisure capital
(03:49):
management in Costa Mesa, California. Jeannie got her law degree
in nineteen ninety five from the Pepperdine School of Law.
She left her job as a litigator in two thousand
to be a stay at home mother to her son,
Blaze and his siblings. He has two younger brothers, Bo
and Jay, and believe it or not, Gideon's mother, Leah Bernstein,
(04:11):
who was born in nineteen thirty six Romania, was a
retired teacher in the art of language, and she was
also one of the last known survivors of the Holocaust.
Oh this case is about the life that was taken
from a creative young man who was known as a
brilliant teenage boy who had the greatest sense of humor
(04:32):
along with the most gentle soul and to his family,
he was often known as the renaissance man. Those aren't quotes,
and he lived for the culinary arts and music. He
also enjoyed writing art performing to entertain others around him.
He was charismatic, a great communicator, and he had such
(04:53):
a quick wit about him. And as soon as Blaze
was born, his parents knew that their son was going
to change the world at some point in his life.
His mother always called him a unicorn because he was
so rare. Blaze was named after one of his grandfathers, Nathan,
as his middle name. He was also given his first
name after the French mathematician named Blaze Pascal Pascal. While
(05:18):
he was an inventor, mathematician, and physicist, he was the
first creator of the calculator in the seventeenth century. I
love when a name has a background like I was
named after Blaize Pascal. Since he was named after such
an astonishing man, his family always expected the best to
come from Blaze's life. Blaize went on to go through
(05:40):
his early childhood academic career with flying colors, and he
even went on to attend one of the best high
schools in the United States, the Orange County School of
Art also known as oh CSA. And while he was
in high school, he participated in a lot of extra
curricular activities, and this included working at the synagogue on
(06:02):
Saturdays as the classroom aid. And while he was in
his junior year and senior year of high school, he
thrived and participated in the school's Science Olympiad. He even
brought home the first place medal in the state for
his high school in chemistry. During his senior year, he
was in his school's advanced chemistry class, and his teacher said, quote,
(06:25):
Blaze seemed to always be looking for a place to
make his mark and be a leader and to contribute
end quote. According to everyone around him throughout high school,
he was known as a humble genius. All of his
younger classmates looked up to him because Blaze never worked
to impress a single person. His intelligence and personality were
(06:46):
what characterized him throughout his entire high school career, and
after graduating high school, he went to study at the
University of Pennsylvania where he studied poetry, biochemistry, food writing, psychology,
and community activism. Now, needless to say, Blaize had a
lot on his plate. He was striving to make his
(07:07):
entire family proud of him, and he was going to
attempt success at all costs. Everyone who knew him loved
the fact that he was always up for any adventure
that came across his path. He loved adventures, whether it
was a late night drive with family or friends, or
whether it was working quietly in a room on a
project that he was passionate about. Whatever life threw at him,
(07:30):
Blaze put his entire heart and soul into it, and
this was a trade that everyone cherished. At the age
of seventeen, Blaze went hiking and decided to climb the
entirety of Angels Landing all by himself. This trail is
located in Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah, and
this is not something that someone would normally do alone.
(07:53):
The altitude alone is pretty strenuous at five thousand, seven
hundred and ninety feet regardless of the terrain. Blaze accomplished
this in twenty sixteen, and this trail is known to
be pretty dangerous with steep cliffs and treacherous hiking paths,
So the kids got some good discipline.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
You know, just sitting.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Wow, the jois de vive for real. Now to many
of this would be pretty daunting, but not to him.
He originally went with a group of friends, but as
the height got more and more dangerous, the more people
were bowing out of the hike altogether. Out of the
entire group that he was with, Blaize was the only
one to make it to the very top and he
(08:34):
was so proud of his feet and this is documented
in his obituary along with some photos. If any of
our listeners would like to see them, they'll be in
the show notes. He was always one who would do anything,
in everything to experience the beauty of the nature that
surrounded him on his outdoor adventures, no matter how difficult
it was to achieve. He even went to Iceland on
(08:57):
a family trip and he was able to discover a
bird lookout within the Western Islands. Even with the freezing temperatures,
he sat patiently to watch for the Atlantic puffins as
the rest of his family waited in the van with
the heat on. Oh my god, so tenacious. I love it.
(09:18):
I know they're adorable. When Blaze got to the University
of Pennsylvania, he was entering his college career as a
creative writer who was hopeful to get into the world
of medicine. When he got to the university, he was
known around campus as a pretty shy guy, but once
people got to know him, he would never shy away
from his opinions on matters that were important to him.
(09:41):
He began his college career with his fantastic communication skills
to become the editor of the Penn Review, the campus's
superior literary magazine, as well as the university's foodie magazine
known as Penn At Petite I Love. He was voted
to be the head of editor for the magazine, and
(10:04):
he was eventually given the job as copy editor for
a University of penn cookbook titled whisk And This was
still in the developmental stages at the time of his murder.
By October of twenty seventeen, Blaze had become quite a
community activist around campus, and he even wrote a letter
to help better the University of Penn's safety and hopes
(10:27):
to also reform the campus's policies. The letter was written
to the university's student run nonprofit organization called The Daily Pennsylvanian.
This letter led to the meeting with the university's head
of University Life, and the meeting consisted of how the
campus could be made safer for all of the students.
(10:48):
Blaize was looking forward to helping with any improvement ideas
that he could provide, but his life was taken from
him before he was able to make any real progress
within the organization. His family knew that he was going
to take his time to find himself since he was
a young Jewish man who was also a member of
the gay community. When winter break in his sophomore year
(11:10):
came around, Blaze was looking forward to being at home
with his supportive family. They were going to spend Hanikah's family,
and as Blaze was practicing his culinary talent, he cooked
his family one of the best meals they ever had
in their lives. Blaize would eventually sneak out of his
parents' home on the night of January second, twenty eighteen,
(11:31):
and this would be the last day that anyone in
his family ever saw him alive. That night, nobody in
his family had known that he had snuck out of
the home, and that the following day his parents had
just assumed that he was sleeping in since they hadn't
seen him. The following morning, on January third, Blaze had
a dentist's appointment and he was supposed to meet up
(11:53):
with his mother, Jeanie, But when he never showed up,
his mother knew something was seriously wrong when he did
answer any of her phone calls. She called Gideon and
he asked if Blaze ever came home. She immediately began
to yell she had no idea. You know. Panic is
beginning to set in. Something was wrong and their responsible
son was missing. Gideon was at work at the time
(12:17):
Jeanie had called, and when they both came to realize
that their son was in trouble, they both sped home
to come up with a game plan to find him
as soon as possible. When both Gideon and Jeanie got
back to the house, they went into Blaze's room and
they were shocked to discover that all of his essentials
were still in the home, and yet he was nowhere
(12:38):
to be found. These essentials were his retainer, his wallet,
his glasses, his keys. These were all still left in
his room. His parents were completely shocked at what was happening.
Their son was home for a winter break and wanted
nothing more than to spend time with the people he
loved the most, and yet he was missing without a trace.
His mother had called and left voicemails on his phone
(13:00):
throughout the entire day, but nobody ever heard back from him.
This was so highly unusual. The only thing Gideon and
Janie knew to do next was to get law enforcement
involved and to try to get into Blaze's Facebook account.
Maybe his profile or Facebook messages could tell them who
their son was in contact with leading up to his disappearance.
(13:22):
His parents were able to get onto their son's computer,
and with some help, they were able to log into
Blaze's Snapchat account. Now, Snapchat nowadays seems to be the
most intimate of all social media among young adults. These
messages immediately erase according to the settings that are set
up by each user, and for most teenagers, this seems
(13:44):
to be the most secure way for them to communicate.
The communications between friends are almost too private, although settings
are set to where most messages disappear after being opened
by the recipient, Chats can be saved when typing to
a friend, and that was how Blaize's parents were able
to tell that he had sent his address to someone.
(14:05):
The person he had sent his address to was a
kid named Sam Woodward. Neither Genie nor Gideon had ever
heard of the name Sam Woodward before, since Blaze had
never once told them about any kind of conversation he
had with them with him, so they were immediately worried
about this random stranger found on his son's Snapchat account,
(14:29):
like who was this kid? Gideon sent Sam a message
to try to get a hold of Sam, and the
message said please pick up. Snapchat allows friends to make
calls through the app, and that was how Gideon was
able to finally get a hold of Sam when he
answered the call. Once the call connected, the Bernstein family
decided to record the phone call. While on the phone
(14:51):
with Sam, Gideon said that he knew that he had
been trying to locate Blaze through Snapchat and that Sam
was the first clue to the puzzle regarding their son's disappearance.
Sam was the person who had met Blaze around the
Bernstein's family house. When the Bernstein family demanded to know
(15:11):
how Sam Woodward knew their son, Sam said that their
meeting was purely a spur of the moment quote unquote
type of deal, and Blaize was the one who had
asked to hang out, to which Sam agreed. Now, Sam
confessed to Gideon that he had picked him up around
eleven that night. He then said that he had driven
(15:32):
him near Barrago Park. Once they got to the park,
both he and Blaize got out of the car. According
to Sam, nineteen year old Blaze walked down a path
to quote unquote meete a friend, and from the path
he vanished into thin air. Sam, while on the Snapchat
call with Gideon, said that he shouted Blaze's name multiple times,
(15:55):
but he was no longer able to see him, nor
did he hear anything back. Gideon had Sam's phone number
and asked if that was the best way to contact
him if he ever heard anything from Blaze, and Sam
gave Jeanie and Gideon a sense of hope that he
was also looking forward to eventually hearing from Blaze. While
(16:16):
on the phone with Gideon, Sam said, quote, I want
to find him as much as you do unquote. But
neither Gideon nor Ginie ever heard about Sam, so they
had no clue what to believe. They were just trying
everything they could to be the most optimistic about the
entire situation. So Sam and Blaize were friends in high school,
(16:38):
so they had known each other for a few years.
Leading up to Blaze sending Sam his address, other friends
of Blaze's from high school found out that Blaze was missing.
The last that Blaze's high school friends had heard was
that he had been last seen with a kid named
Sam Woodward and his friends all appeared to be shocked
(17:00):
that Blaze would ever hang out with Sam. Sam had
a reputation of being crazy. They were polar opposites. According
to one of Blaze's oldest friends from high school, Sam
was known to doodle while he was in classes at
the Orange County School of Art, and they weren't just
innocent doodles. Sam was known to draw guns on his
(17:21):
notebooks while in class, and this was to the point
that his classmates noticed that something just wasn't right with Sam.
Most of his classmates were terrified.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Out of them.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Oh yeah, so I don't know how you get into
the Orange County School of Art.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, on a terror, I know, right, what's up with that?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I'm not sure. But even though a lot of kids
were scared of him, Sam was super quiet and never
really conversed with his classmates. Wait till you see the pictures. Yeah,
they are polar opposites, and Sam does come across as
ghastly and would not see him with someone like Blaze.
(18:02):
But as all high schools have their various types of groups,
whether it be the emo kids, the nerds, the jacks,
or the popular kids, Sam kept to himself and out
of any sort of friend group altogether. When Blaze's friends
were told about Sam being the last person to see
him alive, they could only think of a few reasons
on why that would happen. Blaze being a gay man,
(18:25):
just wanted to hook up with Sam, or he just
wanted Blaze dead. Huh, those are the two. So if
Blaze picked Sam, it was to either hook up with
him or Sam was gonna kill him. Wow, wow, Well
we're gonna find out. Those were the only two reasons
that anyone could think of. According to the people who
(18:48):
knew Sam from high school, Sam Woodward was known to
be anti gay, a homophobe, and he was also known
to be extremely racist. Blaze was so, I'm telling you, polar,
polar opposite.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah, Blaize was.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Pretty much still in the closet when he was still
in high school, and he only told his oldest and
closest friends about his sexual orientation, people he trusted. Yeah,
even before he had come out to his parents. Jeanie
and Gideon, you know, just had a feeling that Blaze
was gay. Our parents aren't dumb, right, right, And they
(19:23):
were actually the ones who addressed this to him by
telling him that whatever your sexuality is, will always love you,
you know. So they were like they approached him before
he had approached them. Gideon and Jeanie went to the
Orange County Police and they told them everything that they
knew about their son's last meetup with a kid named Sam.
(19:45):
Law enforcement had no other choice than to speak to
Sam about the whole ordeal. Sam then told the police
that he had picked up Blaze from his home, that
Blaze wandered off by himself and then disappeared all on
his own. The police then sent out a certa party
for the missing nineteen year old, and that search party
was massive. Both of his parents got onto the local
(20:07):
news to ask for help from the public so that
they could locate their sun as soon as possible. Jeanie said, quote,
please keep your eyes open for my baby. I want
him home with me now end quote. The search and
rescue teams consisted of helicopters as well as an entire
team searching the woods that were nearby Barroigo Park, which
(20:29):
was where he was last seen by a kid. Everyone
in his high school feared. Thousands of flyers were put
up around the surrounding areas and at the synagogues that
the Bernstein family attended. Blaize's face was everywhere the flyers
read his name that he was nineteen years old. He
was around one hundred and thirty pounds at around five
(20:50):
foot nine inches in height, and he had brown hair
with blue eyes. He was last seen wearing long dark pants,
white tennis shoes, slash sneakers, and possibly a gray colored hoodie,
and he was last seen on January two, twenty eighteen,
at around ten thirty at night. Blaze was an active
member at university Synagogue located in Irvine, California. The synagogue
(21:16):
also viewed him as a role model, so they had
no problem helping with the search. Blaze always was one
to embrace his heritage as a member of the Jewish community.
Blaze was also one to embrace his heritage as a
member of the Jewish community, and he was also one
to not shy away from confrontation from hatred of the
(21:36):
Jewish faith and heritage. Blaze was related to a Holocaust survivor,
and that in and of itself is astonishing, so he
had no problem talking about the concentration camps along with
what his ancestors dealt with throughout the duration of World
War II. Those who were known to be outwardly and
(21:56):
proudly racist would hate someone like Blaze, you know, someone
with a beautiful heart and a genuine soul even within
the Jewish community. Along with all of his friends and family,
were hoping for a light at the end of the
very dark tunnel, and sadly it would never come. Those
who were hoping for good news was the last person
(22:17):
known to be with Blaze, Sam Woodward. He was hopeful
for good news. For those who had known Blaze personally,
and closely. They did not have high hopes for Blaze's
well being after hearing that his last known whereabouts were
with Sam, because you know Sam's extreme racism, homophobia and supremacy. Yeah,
(22:40):
and that's who this sweet guy was last with. Right. Oh.
For an entire week after Blaze had disappeared, the police,
along with a huge search party, went on and searched
high and low inside and outside of Barrego Park. Blaze's
missing person's case was so well known that even Kobe
Bryant and Green Abdul Jabbar shared the story on their
(23:03):
Twitter pages in hopes that the Bernstein family could get
even more help. Wow Wow. More people to spread awareness
of Blaze's story were two stars from the Real Housewives
of Orange County, Vicki Gunvelsen and Tamrad Judge. All of
these people before they decided to call off the search,
(23:24):
everyone was up for one last look, just to make
sure that no stone was left unturned. Mother Nature did
not let up with heavy rains as the search crew
went out for one final time, and it wasn't until
an officer turned to look at a spot in the
brush and noticed that there was a mound of the
dirt that was located under a massive tree branch, and
(23:47):
underneath the wet brush and mud was Blaze's dead body.
Two days after Blaze was reported missing, Sam was taken
by the detectives out to where he had last seen Blaze,
and while they were out, the detectives noticed that Sam's
hands and knuckles had bruises and scrapes on them. Gideon
(24:09):
had told the detectives that Sam had been the very
last person to ever see Blaze alive, and Sam was
the missing piece to the puzzle of what had happened
to him. So when he was asked about, you know,
those marks on his hands where they had came from.
Sam said that he was in quote, a fight club,
and as we all know, whatever happens in fight club
(24:33):
stays in fight club. Yeah, so Sam's Sam's working on
a story.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
That's his story, and he's sticking to it.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's right. You've heard about it, you know, Brad pitt
ed Norton.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
You don't talk about fight club, thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
So next question. Yeah, not only did Sam have scrapes
on his hands, but he also had actual dirt under
his fingernails, almost like he was either playing in the
dirt without a shower, or he had buried the body
of a victim. You know, you're just so gross. Dirt,
that's what they were describing. So the search Weren't for
(25:10):
Sam consisted of sixteen pages, and according to the affid David,
Sam had spoken with Blaze on the night that he disappeared.
The two communicated through Snapchat. Sam had agreed to meet
Blaze at the family home, where he drove him to
a parking lot off of Lake Forest Hobby Lobby where
the two men were supposed to just hang out and
(25:31):
catch up. Sam told the detectives that Blaze said that
they were going to meet up with another friend that
they had known from high school, and the two of
them arrived at Barago Park a little before midnight on
January second. Sam said that Blaze was the only one
to get out of the car and he went alone
into the park to meet up with that friend. While
(25:54):
Sam was telling this information to the investigators, he was
talking very quick, noticeably shaking and out of breath. Well,
those are the three telltale signs that someone's lying, right.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
The.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Shaking, car is founding, It's.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Like everyone's sitting here, why is this happening. At one
point Throughout the investigation, Sam led the detective inside of
his car, which happened to be a rental and they
were able to take a look around and while renting
and I guess you can look I guess. While searching
the vehicle, camping and hiking gear was found in the
(26:33):
back seat of the car, along with a huge plastic
container that was on the back seat. A black belt
was also found on the floor of the back seat.
There was also blood found in the car that belonged
to both Sam and Blaze. After the search of the
car was completed, officers then went to search the home
where Sam lived, and while at the residence, officers found
(26:55):
the murder weapon, a knife that still had Blazes blood
on it. I'm really just sloppy, Yeah, I mean, give me,
you know what, I think if Gideon hadn't if the
parents didn't have the wherewithal to go into the social media, yes,
oh my gosh, you know this, he would have gotten
(27:16):
away with.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I mean, this is just sloppy.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
This is it really is who just I guess he
thinks he's never gonna get caught.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I don't know. Why don't you clean up exactly?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Now? They say, don't judge a book by its cover.
I say, judge, that fucking cover that book is exactly
what you're looking at. And when you see the fucking
pictures of.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Oh girl, did you look you see he looks like
Charles Manson?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
O you?
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, he looks like he looks like fucking crazy Charlie
because and Blaze is like the sweet.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Sweetest thank you, I mean truly a star, a starlight
And like, did you.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Look like this when you met up with Blaize? Because
he looks like a fucking crazy person. He does crazy
Charles Manson.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Untempt he doesn't bathe. I'm so yes, very surprised. So yeah,
I was like, wait till you see him, Wait till
you see him.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Blaze's family was so thankful that the rain had not
let up that day. The heavy downpour was what helped
uncover Blaze's face. The funeral for Blaze took place at
the University Synagogue, and the Bernstein family created a catchphrase
for him called hashtag Blaze It Forward and Blaze spells
(28:34):
his name b Laze Blaze it forward. Yes, mm hmm.
So many people throughout Orange County came to pay their
respects to the beautiful soul that the world had lost
in such a brutal way. He was found completely butchered.
The Bernstein family home was only a ten minute walk
from the park where Blaze's body was eventually found. The
(28:58):
following Wednesday, over three hundred people gathered at Barago Park
for a candleate vigil to honor Blaze and to celebrate
his life. Now. Not long after, Sam Woodward was arrested
on January seventeenth, twenty eighteen, and he was taken into
custody for Blaze's murder with the personal use of a knife.
(29:19):
Sam told the investigators that he had driven Blaze to
Barago Park, but after Blaize got out of the car,
he never came back. Sam said that he would cooperate
with the police, and for the most part, his story
remains pretty consistent. At some point, though, Sam's story became
a little worrisome. He told the detectives that he had
(29:41):
driven to his girlfriend's house after he knew that Blaze
was not coming back out. When Sam was asked the
name of his girlfriend and where she lived, he said
he couldn't remember her last name or what her address was,
so sure.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
The telltale sign also that you're lying, yes, he did
fuck up.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Oh memory loss of I.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Don't remember her last name or where she lives or
any details about her, so don't ask yes.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So that's where his story becomes worrisome. Sam said that
he waited for Blaze for roughly an hour and when
he never came back to the car, he tried to
get a hold of him through Snapchat, and after he
was done waiting, he then said he drove to this
alleged girlfriend's house that was located in Tustin, which is
a little over a twenty minute drive. Sam then said
(30:34):
he returned to the park around three forty am, even
though Blaze never responded. Sam told detectives that Blaze had
confided in him that he was depressed about his grades
while at the University of Pennsylvania, but according to Sam,
he never told him that he was in any way suicidal. No,
you're just trying to lay that, you know, groundwork, Sam Dick.
(30:58):
According to the autopsy done on Blaze's body, he had
been killed by being stabbed multiple times in the neck
an throat. He had been stabbed more than twenty times.
His cell phone was also found in the shallow grave
as well. This told investigators and district attorney that there
was so much hate behind the brutality of Blaze's murder.
(31:19):
When Blaze's parents were made of their son's cause of death,
they were inconsolable, as any parent would be. Sam went
through his arraignment and he pled. Guess what he pled?
Not guilty?
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Of course?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Uh. The killed himself. He stabbed himself over twenty times
in the neck.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Yes, probably that friend he was going to meet in
the wood.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
When I was at my random friend, my girlfriend's house.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Oh my gosh, this is fucking lies. It's like you
fucking liars. So yes, Sam went through his arrangement and
he pled not guilty. The detectives knew that they needed
to gather more evidence in order to put Sam Woodward
away for Blaze's murder. The more they dug into Sam's
past and present lifestyle, the more they were able to
(32:06):
find out about the things that Sam had failed to
tell the investigators. Sam had actually been affiliated with the
neo Nazi group known as and Tom Waffen Division and
Tom Woffen. This group specifically targets those of the Jewish
faith along with those who are members of LGBTQ community.
(32:31):
Blaze was a double whammy, and Sam specifically targeted him
for this group. This group even had propaganda videos and
hopes to getting more to join their hate group. Their
goal is to completely destroy the world because they hate
it so much, and their endgame is to completely start
a new reign of terror. I'm so fucking bored with
(32:54):
this is in everyone's playbook. Destroy the world and let's
take over, destroy the world and rerun it.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It's like any you're like, okay, well, if you just
okay number one, if you destroy the world.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Yeah, if you destroy the world, that's okay. It's gonna
take a long time.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
There's like, how many billions of people, like six billion
people on the Earth right now, and you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Take over and then you're gonna take over?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
What what are you taking over? Thank you?
Speaker 3 (33:19):
What are you taking over? Exactly?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
It's so boring. Can someone else think of something else
to do? Jeez, Lou, I know. Needless to say, swastikas
were their jam. They want to know.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
I'm bored with that too.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
I'm about dud yes, big Yarner on the fucking swastika
that's what I think. You boring fucks. Yeah, Well, they
wanted to create a new world where only white people
existed without anyone disagreeing with them. They wanted nothing more
than a race war. In one video, they literally shout
the words race war now and unison while shooting guns.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
And it's a bunch of white dudes, right.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yes, it is disgruntled white dudes. Aspiring members could join
online through their website. Sam even had a Facebook post
as he posed in front of the Confederate flag stating
that he was quote unquote unquote feeling rebellious unquote.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Oh what a badass.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
I know. Oh in my book, that's called feeling like
a pussy. For someone who always has issues making friends,
Sam was able to fit right in with this crowd.
Sam was charged with first degree murder and numerous hate
crime charges. These additional hate crime charges were added on
(34:44):
August two, twenty eighteen. Opening statements took place on April ninth,
twenty twenty four and Sam's mother came to his defense
as she gave many pages of their family history to
her son's defense team. Her main object was to prove
that her son had grown up with a very toxic
household and that that's.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Who hasn't you I hate?
Speaker 2 (35:09):
And that who hasn't right, and that was what left
Sam feeling like he needed to be a part or
something bigger than himself. Yes, also known as neo Nazis.
So I needed to become a neo.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Don't don't join like a Christian church, or don't join
like some volunteer group and help animals and ship. No,
you find the fucking neo Nazis. Okay, Yeah, you want
to belong to a group, and that's the one you choose.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
What is that saying? It's like, be careful what you
wish for, You just might get it. Like, what do
you think you're fishing? What do you think you're going
to pull up in this blake of hate with these people?
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Right?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Well, I'm gonna tell you what he pulled up? So
but sally for Sam, his mother, Michelle was not the
most useful witness as she testified for her son. She
had a really hard time being consistent in her timelines
along with her son's past. The defense was trying everything
they possibly could to have the jury believe without reasonable
(36:13):
doubt that Sam was not in his right mind as
he stabbed his Jewish and gay victim, Blaisee Bernstein to death.
Michelle it appeared, was not ready to completely throw her
entire family under the bus in order to save her
neo Nazi son. The defense attempted to pull out of
her that he had been undiagnosed with a form of
(36:35):
autism which led to this dark and violent personality. Sam's father, Blake,
had previously given the defense team his stance on the
LGBTQ plus community, and with his statement he felt that
being homosexual was a sin.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Well, there you go, there you go, and.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Michelle testified that the Catholic religion was prominent within her household.
She also said that her husband, along with Sam's older brother,
would often use homophobic slurs frequently now Clay, Sam's older
brother had even called Sam a F word jit when
(37:17):
they thought that Sam could have been gay. Oh oh,
the gay F word. Yes, yes, the gay F word.
And so maybe it was a hookup maybe Sam, you know,
like that self loathing, that's like.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
It could be.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Yeah, he hated that part of himself, maybe and that's
why he lashed out at Blaze exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Michelle testified that being a homosexual was more of an
issue for Blake, her husband, than it was for her,
and she had even seen her husband hit Sam multiple times,
so Sam's diary was read aloud in the court, and
within the writings, Sam admitted that he would lead gay
men on so that he could shame and humiliate them.
(38:02):
He had no issue writing homophobic slurs and calling homosexual
men sodomites. Blaze, on the other hand, was texting his
friends about potentially seducing his right winged former classmate. Blaze
even wrote to Sam saying that he would always keep
his secret and never out him. The defense used Blaze's
(38:24):
final text with his friends to try to persuade the
jury members that Sam's murder was never premeditated. It was
purely something done after Blaze had provoked him to lash
out violence. Okay, sure, yes, with Blaze's fault to provoke
somebody to lash out like that. Blaze's parents, Jeanie and Gideon,
(38:44):
were called to testify for the prosecution on April tenth,
twenty twenty four, and Jeanie said that she knew that
many things were going to be said throughout the trial
that wouldn't be true, but she was going to do
the best that she could to get justice for her son.
Both parents testified to defend their boy, and they were
among the total of twenty three witnesses that would be
(39:07):
called by the prosecution. The prosecution presented evidence that Sam's
murdering Blaze was purely premeditated, as he had agreed to
meet up with Blaze. Sam never intended to meet up unarmed.
He had brought his knife and Adam Woffen mask. Apparently
the group wears the mask and a shoveling object to
(39:30):
barry Blaze with once the murder had been successfully completed.
Towards the tail end of the trial, Sam was looking
a lot like Charles Manson, as you most aptly described,
as he sat with his long, greasy hair and beard.
He told the jury that on the night that he
took Blaize's life, he had smoked some weed. He also
(39:51):
said that Blaze was teasing him and had threatened to
out Sam as a homosexual. So I swear to God
if there fucking blaming weed. As for violent outbursts, I'm
about done with that bullshit lie.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
You know, I've never known a violent podcast.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Thank you. Don't you dare say anything about cannabis in
that kind of way. Dare you? Sam even went as
far as accused his victim of sexual assault. But there
was never any evidence that Blaze ever did or would
have done such a thing. Sam was merely trying to
get anything to stick on. Yeah, you know, stick in
(40:33):
his own way of slandering Blaze's good name.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
Yeah, Blaze isn't there to defend him, that's.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Right, So let's make it sound like he's the fucking monster.
When you're the monster, Sam, So shut up. Sam then
told the jury that he stabbed Blaze to death, and
when asked why he carried a knife, Sam said that
he was in the Boy Scouts and he had chosen
always to carry one ever since. So what would the
(40:59):
boy Scouts say about him? Now? Right? His testimony went
on for five days as he tried to portray to
the jury members that he was somehow on the spectrum.
His defense team had trained him to take forever to
answer the most simple questions thrown to him. Oh my gosh,
can you imagine that fucking trial. Yeah, this trial was
(41:22):
postponed for years after his defense team had tried to
say that Sam's mental capacity was the reason behind the
brutal murder. On July third, twenty twenty four, Sam was
found guilty a first degree murder along with the additional
hate crimes, and on October twenty second, twenty twenty four,
(41:43):
sam would show his face for sentencing while Jeanie Bernstein
gave her victim impact statement. She said, quote, no mother
should ever have to bury her child. My heart was
so broken and yet unable to accept the reality that
he was no longer part of our world. I will
never forget hearing for the first time that Blaze had
(42:06):
been stabbed twenty eight times. End quote. She went on
to say that hearing how her son died was one
of the most painful things that any mother would ever
have to hear. Now, thankfully, oh right, I just it's heartbreaking, Yes, thankfully.
Samuel Woodward was sentenced to life in prison without any
(42:28):
possibility of parole, and he can spend the rest of
his days hating himself in his own life for what
he did to Blaze Burnstein in his family. So I
that is bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter sweet ending to
life in prison, no parole. I don't even know why
(42:50):
you signed up to come here.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
I don't neither. Oh, that's just it's just so incredibly sad.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Why they hate me? But are you sleeping with him?
Are you. People's sexual orientation should not interfere with who
they are as a person, because I really don't care
about what you do. When I'm not talking with you
with my clothes on, Yeah, I'm not thinking like, why
does it?
Speaker 1 (43:16):
Man? I don't understand why people get so upset. To me,
it's like, just worry about yourself.
Speaker 2 (43:22):
That you have. We as individuals have so much on
our plates that we can work on about ourselves. I
didn't want to look at your plate. I got so
much on my f.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
I you know, the only thing I can control in
my life is the things that I do and how
I react to yeah, and how I react to things exactly.
So just fucking worry about yourself. Mind your business, mind
your business, and don't worry about what every fucking other
person does. I could get on my soapbox, but I'm
not done.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
So every time we do one of these stories, all
I can have a peaceful week and then it'll be
like tying to record and I'll be like this motherfucker,
Oh my gosh. You know it's funny. Earlier, so Brooke
and Eye, you know, it's like Sunday and Brooke and
I are just having a nice Sunday, we went to
go see Levi's great great grandmother. We went, we came home.
(44:11):
I'm kind of it's like nice, it's cool in the house.
My grandma keeps it at a brisk eighty degrees on
this eighty degree day because she's, you know, one hundred
and two, so she's always chilly. So finally it's like
we get into this school house and it was just
you know, Levi's in his little baby swing, Brooks right
next to him on her phone, you know, going through
(44:32):
some stuff. I'm in the kitchen, I can, you know,
see down, And I thought, my god, not having a
toxic mail in the house is all the difference. I
can't even believe how beautifully wonderful this is, like a
kiss from on my forehead from the Lord. I'm so,
you know, just to notice it, like a fucking toxic mail.
(44:54):
And I think of Sam's how Blaze's parents were like, okay,
I think you know, I'm sure they had the conversation.
I think Blaze is gay cool. That's you know, parents
are like, okay, here's you know, you can fall here,
you get soft cushion, blow will always be and then
you on the opposite side of the spectrum. You have
Sam's parents who may suspect that Sam's gay, and then
(45:17):
he gets all these hateful slurs, punching, hitting, Where's that
going to go? But I see what the difference of
loving your children and hating your children two very different outcomes.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Right, it's yeah, exactly, and that's why we have the
problems that we have.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Mother Teresa said this one thing. It's like, you want
to have a peace in the world, go home and
love your family. Yeah, and that's so true.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Start, there's some wise words right there, and very much so.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
But yes, that's the story of Sweet Blaze Burnsteemly.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
His poor family. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Everyone.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Please hit the subscribe or follow button on whatever app
you're listening to, and please visit our website Crimesanconsequences dot com.
You can find us if you are enjoying our episodes.
We offer an additional episode per week and you can
find those on Patreon dot com or you can subscribe
(46:23):
to those through the Apple podcast app for very low price.
You can get an additional episode week yea price, yes, yeah,
check out Patreon dot com, slash tnt Crimes or like
I said, you can find it on the Apple podcast app.
And I think that's all the business that we have.
So Shannon, thank you again. I'm gonna let you get
(46:44):
back to Mimi.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
Duties all right. I'm on my way and you too. Girl.
You have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and our
listeners have a wonderful week till we see each other again.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
Until we see each other again, I'll talk to you
all right.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Leve me guy. Bye.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
Si
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