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Thread: Nathaniel David Rowland Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 SC Abduction and Murder of Samantha Josephson

  1. #1
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    Nathaniel David Rowland Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 SC Abduction and Murder of Samantha Josephson


    Samantha Josephson




    Arrest made in death of SC student abducted in fake Uber ride

    By Gregory Yee and Andy Shain
    The Post and Courier

    A Clarendon County man was charged Saturday in connection with the death of a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student who mistakenly got into a car that she thought was an Uber rideshare she ordered.

    Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was captured in the vicinity where Samantha Josephson disappeared around 24 hours earlier, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said.

    Rowland will be charged by the State Law Enforcement Division with murder and kidnapping, Holbrook said.

    “This was a bad scene,” the chief said.

    Josephson was out with friends at a bar in Columbia’s Five Points when she left around 1:30 a.m. to get an Uber. She was missing and her friends called police at about 1:30 p.m. Friday.

    “They had been out with Samantha the night before and got separated during the night,” Holbrook said. “They had not heard from her the next morning. They became worried. They continued to look for her and tried to call her.”

    Over the next couple hours, investigators gathered information, including from surveillance cameras around Five Points, and started distributing photographs and other information, the chief said.

    Meantime, the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from turkey hunters who found a body in a wooded area about 40 feet off of a dirt road, said Holbrook, who added it was “an area that would be very difficult to get to unless you knew how to get there.”

    Authorities also began looking for a black Chevrolet Impala that had been identified as the vehicle that picked up Josephson, the chief said.

    Around 3 a.m. Saturday, a Columbia police K-9 officer saw the Impala about two blocks from Five Points, Holbrook said. As the officer approached the vehicle, Rowland fled on foot. The officer apprehended him after a short pursuit.

    A passenger was in Rowland’s car when he ran from police. She was an acquaintance of Rowland’s and is cooperating with police, said Jennifer Timmons, a Columbia police spokeswoman.

    “When they returned back to the car, further examination determined there was what appeared to be blood present,” Holbrook said.

    Lab tests found the blood in the trunk and passenger compartment matched Josephson, the chief said. Josephson’s cell phone also was found inside the car along with a container of bleach, germicidal wipes and window cleaner, the chief said.

    Investigators have determined that Josephson had ordered an Uber and was waiting for the driver to arrive when another car approached her, Holbrook said. She mistakenly got into the vehicle thinking it was her ride.

    “Further investigation of the suspect vehicle determined that a child safety seat was in the back and then the child safety locks were activated on the door that would not allow someone the means of escape from the back of the suspect vehicle,” Holbrook said.

    Josephson’s body was found in an area of Clarendon County in an area known to Rowland, near to where he recently lived, the chief said.

    “I met with the (Josephson) family just before I came back to headquarters,” Holbrook said. “Our hearts are broken. … There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved on was murdered. They have a lot of support here. They have a lot of family that has come into town to support them but it was gut-wrenching. Words can’t really describe what they’re going through.”

    Josephson, a Robbinsville Township, N.J., native who planned to attend law school, was taken from the same block as Dail Dinwiddie, who has never been found since disappearing in 1992 after leaving a bar in the district popular with college students.

    Josephson’s death shocked the her family and the USC campus.

    “It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this,” Josephson’s father, Seymour, posted on Facebook. “I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this.”

    S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has spoken to Josephson’s parents, who have driven down to Columbia, said Brian Symmes, a spokesman for the governor.

    USC President Harris Pastides has warned about the dangers Five Points poses late at night, especially after a freshman was paralyzed by a stray bullet in 2015.

    “Our prayers are with the family and friends of Samantha Josephson following the devastating news of her death,” Pastides said. “Times like these leave me searching for words of wisdom and comfort.”

    Alex Waelde, a former bar owner in Five Points who runs the Drinking Ticket account on Twitter popular with USC students, said people need to be careful before hopping into a rideshare. Advice includes checking the license tag of the car with the one provided by the service.

    “I was in Five Points the other day playing designated driver for some friends and I had at least three different girls come up to my car asking if I was their Uber,” Waelde said. “A lot of the students, I feel, have gotten too comfortable with the college bubble and forget there are bad people out there.”

    A group of USC students strolling Saturday night on the block where Josephson went missing said they understood how someone can get into a bogus rideshare.

    They said drivers often don’t speak when they get in the car, forcing riders to ask if they are the driver listed on the mobile phone app used to order a ride. Or cars will pull up to them and drivers ask, “Did you call Uber?”

    “If you’re drinking, you’re going to feel like, ’Oh hey this is my car. It’s white. It’s a Chevy or an Accord or whatever it is, and you just hop in,” Halee Enderle said. “Look, I’m not good about asking who is this for.”

    Enderle and her friends said pledged to start checking the license tag numbers of rideshare cars to see if they match up what’s on the app.

    https://www.postandcourier.com/news/...e57ca5.html/?r
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Edited:

    May 1, 2019

    New charge filed in murder case of USC student Samantha Josephson

    Authorities add weapons charge against Nathaniel Rowland

    By WTLX News Staff

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — New charges have been filed against the man accused of kidnapping and murdering 21-year-old USC student Samantha Josephson.

    An indictment handed down on April 16 by a Richland County Grand Jury charges 24-year-old Nathaniel David Rowland with possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Specifically, the indictment reads:

    "That Nathaniel David Rowland did in Richland County, on or about March 29, 2019, posses or visibly display a knife, during the commission or attempted commission of a violent crime, to wit: Murder and/or Kidnapping."

    Rowland waived his right to appear at a court hearing Sunday afternoon at the Richland County jail, which is his legal right. During the proceeding, the judge said his bond would have to be set by a circuit court judge, due to South Carolina law.

    According to indictments, Rowland was formally charged with kidnapping and murder on April 16. He is being held in the Allen Glenn Detention Center.

    His next court appearance is scheduled for May 9.

    https://www.wltx.com/article/news/cr...0-4fb56d95f991
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
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    Trial Set For Man Accused Of Posing As Uber Driver And Killing USC Student Samantha Josephson

    By Mandy Matney
    Fits News

    A trial date has been set for the man accused of posing as an Uber driver before he allegedly kidnapped and killed 21-year-old University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson.

    The trial for Nathaniel David Rowland, of New Zion, S.C., will begin on July 19, 2021, according to online court records. Rowland is charged with murder and kidnapping in the 2019 murder.

    Samantha Josephson was last seen getting into a vehicle she thought was her Uber ride in the Five Points area of Columbia, S.C. around 2 a.m March 29, 2019.

    Samantha’s body was found later than afternoon by turkey hunters near the town of New Zion — which is roughly an hour-and-a-half drive from downtown Columbia — and less than two miles from her accused killer’s home.

    Last summer, Rowland was denied bail in a bond hearing - where the prosecution revealed brutal and horrifying details in the case.

    Samantha Josephson was stabbed more than 30 times with a “bladed weapon,” after she was kidnapped from Five Points, members for the prosecution told the judge over and over in the hearing. They said she had stab wounds from her feet to her face.

    The prosecution presented a pile of evidence stacked up against Rowland, including:

    • Samantha’s blood and hair found in his car.
    • Rowland was seen on video using Samantha’s debit card and attempting to sell her phone in the hours after her death.
    • Samantha’s blood was found on Rowland’s clothes that he was seen wearing on the night of her murder.
    • The murder weapon was found at a home Rowland had visited that evening.
    • Cleaning products and rubber gloves were found at his home.
    • The child safety lock was on in the car he was driving.
    • Video showed Samantha getting into Rowland’s black Chevy Impala.
    • Cell phone evidence tracked Rowland and Josephson’s phones in the same locations, including where the body was located.

    Detectives also found a footprint in the car on the window belonging to Samantha — evidence showing she fought for her life in her last moments.

    In his last bond hearing, Samantha’s father Seymour Josephson called Rowland a “monster.”

    Samantha’s mother Marci Josephson called Rowland “sick and evil” and said he is a “danger to society.”

    “No words to describe the immense pain his actions have caused our family and friends. He brutally kidnapped and murdered my daughter, my baby. He locked her in the car without any way to escape,” Marci Josephson previously said. “He stole my chance of identifying her in the morgue due to the amount of torture he put her through. She was only identified from DNA.”

    The prosecution has not mentioned Rowland’s motive in the murder — which has been a puzzling question in this case as there is no known link between Josephson and Rowland.

    Rowland had no prior convictions.

    The accused killer will remain at the Richland County jail, where he has been behind bars since he was first arrested for the murder and kidnapping of Samantha Josephson.

    The Post and Courier first reported the news of the trial date here.

    https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/04/28/...tha-josephson/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Edited:

    Trial starting Monday in killing of USC student who hopped into supposed Uber ride


    By Stephen Fastenau
    The Post and Courier

    COLUMBIA — Samantha Josephson’s killing two years ago after she hopped into a car she thought was her Uber shocked the nation and pushed ride-booking companies and state legislatures to change rules.

    Now a Clarendon County man’s murder trial in the stabbing death of the University of South Carolina senior is set to start July 19 in Columbia.

    Josephson disappeared from outside a Five Points bar on a chilly March 2019 evening and was found dead hours later 65 miles away in a field by turkey hunters. Security cameras caught Josephson entering the backseat of a black sedan that authorities said was a trap because the child safety locks had been activated.

    Nathaniel Rowland, 27, is charged with murder in the killing of the 21-year-old from New Jersey. She was heading to law school that fall. He was arrested after police spotted a car matching the description the one Josephson entered was seen the night after her disappearance back in Five Points.

    Blood matching Josephson’s was found in the car, authorities testified during a 2020 hearing during which Rowland was denied bond.

    Josephson’s debit card was used twice at ATMs after she disappeared, and someone tried selling Josephson’s phone at a store for $300, prosecutors and authorities testified during the 2020 hearing.

    Rowland has denied his charges, and his family has maintained his innocence. He has no prior convictions.

    Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty, a process legal observers say rarely justifies the time and expense.

    Josephson’s death made national news because it raised fears about ride-booking services, though no one has said Rowland worked for one.

    Uber and Lyft adopted policies to make it easier to confirm a ride is one of theirs. States passed laws requiring more outward identification of ride-booking cars. And Josephson’s parents started a nonprofit aimed at raising awareness for ride-booking safety.

    https://www.postandcourier.com/colum...53f917191.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #5
    Wilso
    Guest
    Jury selection begins for the man accused of kidnapping and killing former UofSC student

    By WIS News 10 Staff

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of the man accused of kidnapping and killing former University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson.

    Josephson disappeared from outside a Five Points bar in March 2019. Her body was found hours later in a wooded area in Clarendon County.

    Nathaniel Rowland was arrested the same day Josephson’s body was found.

    Investigators say they found Josephson’s blood and cellphone in the car Rowland was in at the time. He is facing multiple charges, including murder.

    Rowland and his family have maintained his innocence.

    The solicitor’s office says they will not seek the death penalty in this case.

    https://www.wistv.com/2021/07/19/jur...uofsc-student/

  6. #6
    Wilso
    Guest
    Trial starts for man accused in Uber rider's death

    Opening arguments are expected in the trial of a man accused of killing the South Carolina woman who mistook his car for her Uber ride

    By The Associated Press

    COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Opening arguments are expected Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of killing the South Carolina woman who mistook his car for her Uber ride.

    Nathaniel Rowland faces kidnapping and murder charges in the 2019 death of 21-year-old Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville, New Jersey. The trial is being held in Richland County Circuit Court in Columbia.

    The University of South Carolina student got into Rowland’s car in Columbia’s Five Points entertainment district without checking its license plate or having the driver say her name, authorities said. She then was trapped in the vehicle because Rowland had turned on the child locks in his backseat so the doors could only be opened from the outside, authorities said.

    Investigators later found the victim’s blood and cellphone in Rowland’s black Chevrolet Impala, along with bleach, window cleaner and cleaning wipes. Her body was discovered in woods off a dirt road in Clarendon County about 65 miles (105 kilometers) away with wounds to her head, neck, face, upper body, leg and foot.

    Rowland could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder. Prosecutors have indicated they would not pursue the death penalty.

    Rowland has been in the Richland County jail since his arrest a day after Josephson disappeared. He was denied bond last summer.

    Josephson’s death drew national attention to the safety of ride-hailing services and prompted some changes. South Carolina lawmakers enacted a measure that requires drivers to make license plate numbers visible in the front of their vehicles and creates criminal penalties for people who impersonate ride-hailing drivers.

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...death-78944001

  7. #7
    Wilso
    Guest
    South Carolina man convicted of killing USC student who mistook his car for her Uber ride

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the 2019 abduction and murder of a 21-year-old college student who mistook his car for her Uber ride.

    The jury took a little more than an hour to find Nathaniel Rowland guilty of killing Samantha Josephson, a University of South Carolina student who disappeared from Columbia’s Five Points entertainment district in March 2019.

    “Her dreams were my dreams, and her death was my death. I close my eyes, and I feel what she endured at his hands,” the victim’s mother, Marci Josephson, said during the sentencing phase of Rowland’s trial Tuesday.

    The student from Robbinsville, New Jersey, got into Rowland’s car thinking it was an Uber ride that would take her back to her apartment, prosecutors said. Instead, she found herself trapped because Rowland had the childproof locks on, investigators said. She was never seen alive again.

    Covered in roughly 120 stab wounds, her body was later found in remote woods about 65 miles (105 kilometers) from Columbia. The death cast a national spotlight on ride-hailing safety and led to some changes, including more prominent displays of driver’s license plates.

    Rowland maintained his innocence before being sentenced, but Circuit Judge Clifton Newman noted that all the evidence pointed to Rowland.

    “She obviously put up an amazing fight against you and left a sufficient trail for the jury to see what you did,” Newman said after sentencing Rowland to life in prison. A person convicted of murder is not eligible for parole in South Carolina.

    Wearing a mask, Rowland showed little emotion as Josephson’s relatives reflected on the pain of their loss and how Josephson’s future – the college senior was slated to attend law school on a full scholarship – was cut short.

    The prosecution spent about a week presenting voluminous evidence and called nearly three dozen witnesses. Experts linked Josephson’s blood to the interior of Rowland’s Chevrolet Impala and to the suspected murder weapon, a knife with two blades. Her blood was also found on cleaning supplies in the trash behind the home of the man’s girlfriend at the time — and on a sock and bandana owned by Rowland, the experts testified.

    Other evidence included cellphone tracking data pinpointing Rowland’s location the night of the crime. One forensic scientist testified that DNA collected from Rowland’s fingernails matched the victim’s genetic material, and DNA belonging to both suspect and victim were found on gloves also located in the trash.

    Rowland’s defense attorneys pointed out that scientists weren’t absolutely certain Rowland’s DNA was on the knife. His attorneys also argued that although Josephson appeared to fight her attacker, none of Rowland’s DNA was found on her body and he had no visible marks of such a fight after his arrest. The defense called no witnesses, and Rowland did not testify.

    Before resting the defense’s case, Rowland’s lawyer asked the charges be thrown out because prosecutors had a circumstantial case — never showing that Rowland actually killed Josephson nor that he was driving the vehicle when she disappeared.

    Newman rejected the request, saying there was an avalanche of direct and circumstantial evidence that a jury should consider.

    https://www.greenvilleonline.com/sto...sc/5388749001/

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