COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life in prison for abducting and murdering a woman who mistook his car for her Uber ride in 2019.
A jury on Tuesday found Nathaniel Rowland guilty in the death of 21-year-old Samantha Josephson.
The University of South Carolina student disappeared in March 2019. Her body was found less than a day later in remote woods.
Prosecutors said Rowland had trapped Josephson in the car with childproof locks that could only be opened from the outside and then stabbed her more than 100 times.
Defense attorneys argued that none of Rowland’s DNA was found on the victim.
Before his sentencing, Rowland professed his innocence in court.
"I know I'm innocent, but I guess what I know and what I think really doesn't matter. I just wish the state would have, would have done more in finding out who the actual person was instead of being satisfied with, with detaining me and proving my guilt," he said.
Josephson’s mother also got the chance to speak in court, addressing Rowland directly.
"Such a heinous vicious crime,” she said. “Why? I spent the last two years asking myself that question. You cut out a piece of me. I'm bleeding silently. You don't see it. I try to move forward each day, but forever will be broken. One cannot explain the grief my family feels. There was no warning, no time to say goodbye, no time to tell Sammy all the things I would have wanted to say.”