After their son is murdered by a neo-Nazi, a California family transforms grief into hope in an extraordinary way

The silent stones tell both sides of an epic story, the life and death of Blaze Bernstein. They are a sign of a violent murder, but also a promise in the faith of a better future. A monument to the best of humanity, and the very worst of human behavior.

You’ll find the stones in a quiet corner of Borrego Park, in the Orange County, California suburb. There are hundreds of them, hand-painted, with messages of tolerance, love and peace. “And they’re sent to us from all over the world,” says Gideon Bernstein. “It’s great to see the messages. It’s always positive,” adds Gideon’s wife, Jeanne Pepper.

Jeanne and Gideon are the parents of Blaze Bernstein. On January 2, 2018, the then 19-year-old Blaze left his home. A little later that night, he was murdered in Borrego Park, stabbed 28 times; his body was buried there in a shallow, muddy grave.

By all accounts, Blaze was an exceptional young man: an Ivy League student at the University of Pennsylvania who was considering a career in medicine, a writer and an aspiring chef. “I call him a unicorn,” Jeanne Pepper tells “48 Hours” correspondent Tracy Smith in “The Life and Death of Blaze Bernstein,” airing Saturday, Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

Their loss is one they live with to this day. “I think about Blaze all the time, because when I see things I think to myself, ‘What would Blaze do now?’” Pepper says.

Blaze died from something much more fundamental. He was targeted and, according to investigators, slaughtered because of who he was. was – a gay, Jewish man. Tony Rackaukas, then the Orange County District Attorney, says this was a hate crimeAuthorities say Blaze’s killer was a neo-Nazi, a member of a small violent hate group called “Atomwaffen,” whose beliefs were strongly anti-LGBTQ+ and virulently anti-Semitic.

The killer is Samuel Woodward. He was once Blaze’s high school classmate. That’s about all Blaze and Woodward had in common, according to classmate Raiah Rofsky, who tells Smith, “They were so different … about as different as you can be.” Rofsky remembers Woodward’s unsettling presence. “He was very quiet — very withdrawn, didn’t really talk to people.” Rofsky tells Smith that Woodward had a reputation. “Racist, homophobic, sexist.”

And when news spread that Blaze had disappeared while he was home in California for the winter holidays, and that the last person to see him was Woodward, Rofsky responded immediately. “The only reason I could think of that Sam would be seeing Blaze is because, one, he wanted to have sex with him, or two, he was going to kill him.” That was in January 2018.

Detectives arrested Woodward just 10 days after Blaze disappeared from Borrego Park.

It’s been an agonizing six years. There were COVID-related delays and a revolving door of defense attorneys asking the court questions about Woodward’s mental health and ability to defend himself. It left Jeanne Pepper and Gideon Bernstein frustrated and waiting for justice. “Slow justice is no justice,” Pepper says. “It’s not fair to victims and it’s not fair to the deceased.” In 2022, Woodward was found competent to stand trial. Finally, in April 2024, the murder trial began.

Remarkably, after all they’ve been through, the couple has turned their grief into hope. They’ve started what they call “a kindness movement” — promoting “positivity” and random acts of kindness in Blaze’s name. They call their movement “BlazeItForward.”

In Borrego Park, where Blaze breathed his last, there is that extraordinary reaction: the hundreds of hand-painted bricks, most left by complete strangers, in memory of Blaze Bernstein.

The silent stones speak of tolerance and Blaze’s transformation into a kind of martyr; his murder a sign of rabid hatred. His spirit gives inspiration to LGBTQ+ people, wherever they live and whomever they love.

Jeanne Pepper tells Smith, “Blaze’s life mattered and he has a legacy, to create good news, to inspire people to be better, to be kinder. And to work to fix the world, because it’s not too late and we can make it better.”

On July 3, 2024, Sam Woodward found guilty of first degree murder with a hate crime enhancement. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing is scheduled for October.