Who’s Nathaniel Rowland and what was his motive for killing Samantha Josephson?

NATHANIEL Rowland has obtained a life sentence for the kidnapping and killing of a South Carolina school scholar who mistook his automobile for her Uber experience. 

A jury discovered the 27-year-old responsible of Samantha Josephson’s homicide on July 27, 2021 – we check out his life and what led to the killing. 

Nathaniel Rowland has obtained a life sentence for the kidnapping and killing of a South Carolina school scholar who mistook his automobile for her Uber experienceCredit score: AP:Related Press

Samantha, 21, had received into Rowland’s automobile after an evening out in Columbia’s 5 Factors leisure district considering it was an Uber experience that may take her again to her residence, prosecutors mentioned. 

As a substitute, she discovered herself trapped as a result of Rowland had the childproof locks on, investigators mentioned. She was by no means seen alive once more.

Her physique as later discovered with 120 stab wounds in distant woods 65 miles from Columbia. 

Who’s Nathaniel Rowland?

Rowland, who was 24 on the time of the killing, is a resident of New Zion in Clarendon County, Columbus. 

He had studied at East Clarendon Faculty and performed basketball, in keeping with GreenVille Online. 

Rowland had one previous felony arrest in South Carolina from October 2018 for acquiring a signature or property underneath false pretenses, in keeping with the State Regulation Enforcement Division.

In response to his Fb web page he attended South Carolina State College in 2017, however the faculty’s chief of employees in 2019 confirmed he was not a scholar there on the time of Samantha’s killing. 

Why did Nathaniel Rowland kill Samantha Josephson?

No outright motive for the killing was urged by prosecutors through the course of Rowland’s trial however Decide Newman mentioned the killer was “completely heartless”.

The decide mentioned the case was the “most extreme” homicide he had seen in courtroom earlier than.

He advised the courtroom: “I’ve handled the heartless and also you fall into that class, with none regret in anyway.

“An individual who is completely impassive and what the regulation would name a wicked coronary heart.”

Who was Samantha Josephson?

Samantha Josephson, from Princeton, New Jersey, was a scholar on the College of South Carolina the place she majored in political science. 

Josephson, who was a senior on the time of her dying, had deliberate to graduate in 2019 and go on to check regulation at Drexel College Faculty of Regulation. 

Throughout her time at USC, she had studied overseas in Barcelona and visited Madrid and Paris. 

Josephson had spent the evening earlier than her dying within the 5 Factors district in downtown Columbia with mates. 

She left a bar at 2am and had ordered an Uber dwelling, and mistakenly received into Rowland’s automobile considering it was her experience. 

Detectives mentioned she had simply ordered a raise on the favored hail-a-ride app – however the actual Uber driver later cancelled the journey after she failed to indicate up.

Through the sentencing, her devastated mother Marci Josephson mentioned: “Her goals had been my goals, and her dying was my dying. I shut my eyes, and I really feel what she endured at his arms.”

How was Nathaniel Rowland caught?

Rowland was seen by cops driving a automobile that matched the outline of the one Josephson was seen getting into in CCTV footage. 

He was caught and arrested on March 20, 2019. 

Contained in the automobile, police discovered a container of liquid bleach, germicidal wipes, and window cleaner. 

The automobile additionally contained Samantha’s cellphone and a considerable amount of blood was additionally found on the backseat. 

Investigators additionally discovered cleansing provides and a two-bladed knife with Josephson’s blood on them after looking out the trash can behind Rowland’s girlfriends residence. 

Josephson’s DNA was additionally collected from Rowland’s fingernails. 

He was charged with kidnapping, homicide, and possession of a weapon through the fee of a criminal offense in April 2019.  

How lengthy has Nathaniel Rowland been sentenced for?

Rowland was sentenced to life in jail on July 27, 2021.

A jury unanimously discovered the 27-year-old South Carolina man responsible of Samantha’s homicide after an hour-long deliberation.

Rowland maintained his innocence earlier than being sentenced, together with his attorneys declaring that scientists weren’t sure his DNA was on the knife. 

The decide who sentenced Rowland mentioned: “She clearly put up an incredible battle in opposition to you and left a enough path for the jury to see what you probably did.”

Why did Nathaniel Rowland not get the dying penalty?

Prosecutors didn’t select to hunt the dying penalty in Rowland’s case. 

However he’ll spend the remainder of his life behind bars after the jury discovered him responsible on three counts of homicide, kidnapping and possession of a weapon throughout a violent crime.

South Carolina’s final execution took place in 2011 and there are at the moment 37 males on dying row.

Samantha Josephson had been on an evening out with mates earlier than she was murderedCredit score: Columbia Police Division