Samuel Woodward, a man from California found guilty of killing his former classmate in a hate crime in 2018, was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Blaze Bernstein — a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania — disappeared while visiting family in Newport Beach over winter break in January 2018. His body was found after a search of several days, buried in a Lake Forest park she went to with Woodward the night she disappeared, authorities said. He was stabbed 28 times, prosecutors said.

Woodward, now 27, was charged with first-degree murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors argued that Woodward killed his high school classmate because Bernstein was gay.

In handing down the sentence during a lengthy hearing Friday, Judge Kimberly Menninger said there was evidence the defendant planned the killing and that the jury found it true that the killing was committed because of Bernstein’s sexual orientation.

Menninger also denied Woodward probation.

Regarding the defendant’s remorse, Menninger said, “Unfortunately for the court and for the defendant, we have never seen any evidence of that until now.”

Woodward was not present at the sentencing hearing due to illness, according to Menninger.

The judge said the case was a “true tragedy”.

“You have a young man who was smart, funny, successful and on his way to a bright future with tremendous family support and a great group of friends,” she said. “You have a second, intelligent young man with a lot of promise, but struggling with his sexual identity, his mental health and his loneliness, and never getting the psychological support he so clearly needed.”

She said it was “very sad” that two people from the same high school found themselves on opposite ends of the culture war that “exploded in the brutal killing of Blaze Bernstein.”

“Unfortunately for Mr. Woodward, the hatred that fueled his thoughts was extremely disturbing to this court and unfortunately reflects a larger societal disease that is currently raging across the country,” she said.

Orange County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker, who prosecuted the case, said during the hearing that the state wanted to proceed with the scheduled sentencing despite Woodward’s illness after bringing several people to the hearing.

Defense barrister Ken Morrison told the court he preferred Woodward to be present, “despite how difficult it would have been for him, how difficult it has been and continues to be for his family”.

“This is unpleasant for everyone, hopefully cathartic for some as they seek their path to healing,” he said.

The court heard several victim impact statements before sentencing, including those from Bernstein’s parents.

His mother, Jeanne Pepper, said her son was “handsome, loved, perfect, loved and good at everything he tried — the antithesis of the man who would kill him.”

She said Woodward was “too cowardly” to sit in the courtroom on Friday.

Pepper recounted the fear she felt when her son went missing and the subsequent discovery of his body.

“I had to go to a cemetery with a broken heart and choose a grave for my 19-year-old son,” she said. “I couldn’t believe this was real.”

She said she “fell to the ground screaming” when she learned he had been stabbed 28 times and her health deteriorated following his murder.

“Losing my first born, my dream for the future, my fun partner, is the worst and most painful thing that has ever happened to me,” she said.

She remembered Bernstein as an incredible cook and writer who had a beautiful singing voice and wanted to go to medical school.

While Woodward remains in prison, she said they will be out celebrating Bernstein’s life and “continuing to do good with others who work every day to make this world more caring, better and safer for Jewish communities and LGBTQ”.

“Let’s be clear – this was a hate crime,” she said. “Sam Woodward ended my son’s life because my son was Jewish and gay.”

His father, Gideon Bernstein, said his death led to the “darkest and most tragic days” for his family and friends.

“The person to blame for this should have been in this room today,” he said. “He’s guilty of cutting off a bright future for Blaze, and yet I don’t think he realizes how many others he’s devastated along the way.”

He said living a good life “is the best revenge I can have after this crime” and urged the judge to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Following their statements, Menninger reiterated that Woodward was not in court due to illness.

Bernstein’s godmother, Hillary Gerber, asked that Woodward never be released from prison.

“Not a day goes by without the pain and loss of Blaze weighing on us,” Gerber said. “Knowing that this was a deliberate, premeditated act only deepens our sadness, pain and fear.”

Woodward faced life without the possibility of parole under the special circumstance of a hate crime.

The defense asked the judge to waive the hate crime enhancement, while also arguing that there is a lesser hate crime enhancement the court could impose. Morrison said he asked for a sentence of 28 years to life in his sentencing brief.

Morrison said he was “struggling with how to proceed” during the hearing because there is a pending motion from the prosecution to seal his case.

Menninger said he has read the brief and does not yet have an opinion on the motion to seal it.

Walker asked the judge to find that probation is “not appropriate for this defendant” and sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She also argued that the hate crime enhancement cited in the defense’s sentencing brief did not apply.

The jury reached its verdict on July 3, following a nearly three-month trial in Orange County.

During closing arguments, Morrison told jurors that Woodward was guilty of murder, but said the act was not a hate crime, but a spontaneous, irrational one.

“You heard me right out of the gate saying my client is guilty,” Morrison said. “Guilty of serious, violent murder. But as you know, there are many different kinds of homicide.”

Woodward testified during the trial that on the night of the murder, he went into a state of terror after thinking Bernstein might have recorded him sexually touching him in the park, then pulled out a knife, ABC reported Los Angeles. KABC reported.

Walker told jurors during closing arguments that Woodward’s hatred of homosexuals and his affiliation with the Atomwaffen Division — a far-right, neo-Nazi group — led him to plan the murder.

“He already had his bags, he was already talking to people at Atomwaffen to go somewhere else and he thought he was going to get away,” she said. “Only by the grace of God did the rain occur and they found his body.”