By David K. Li - NBC News
Samantha Josephson went out to have fun with her friends on March 29, 2019, just a few months after graduating from the University of South Carolina, but she got into the wrong car believing it was her Uber and suffered "heinous, cruel acts. and malicious, "a state prosecutor informed the jury that is trying his alleged murderer on Tuesday.
Josephson, 21, of Robbinsville, NJ, was in the Five Points district of Columbia when he got into Nathaniel Rowland's black Chevrolet Impala, confident that it was the vehicle he had ordered through his mobile app.
AP
South Carolina Fifth Circuit Prosecutor Byron Gipson told jurors they would be shown the security video, cell phone trace data, murder weapon, and other incriminating evidence that would lead to a deposition. of guilt.
"It is those willful, deliberate, heinous, cruel and malicious acts for which Nathaniel David Rowland has been accused of kidnapping Samantha Josephson and murdering her," Gipson reiterated.
"When the time comes, we will ask them to confirm the guilty verdicts," Gipson added.
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The prosecutor sinisterly reconstructed events: Josephson was celebrating the end of college and his killer was on the prowl.
Gipson said of the victim and her friends "they had their eyes firmly fixed on their future and their eyes firmly fixed on their love for each other."
"But what they didn't realize, what they never could realize, is that the defendant, Nathaniel David Rowland, had his eyes firmly fixed on Samantha Josephson. He had his eyes on her as he walked alone in front of the Bird. Dog Lounge at Five Points, while I had asked for an Uber ride, alone, "she said.
When the young woman got into the car, she had no way out because the child locks were activated and the doors could only be opened from the outside, Gipson said.
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Josephson's blood and cell phone were found in Rowland's vehicle after his body was discovered in the woods on a dirt road in Clarendon County, about 40 miles away, authorities said.
He had injuries to his head, neck, face, upper body, leg, and foot.
Defense attorney Tracy Pinnock on Tuesday urged jurors to keep an open mind and vowed to show that crime scene investigators found no DNA evidence linking Rowland to the murder.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to listen to this number again, and it is zero," Pinnock said.
"That is the amount of DNA in the body of Samantha Josephson that matches that of Nathaniel Rowland. Zero. It is not on her clothes. It is not under her ripped and torn nails. It is not on her ankles," she said in the session.
Josephson was scheduled to graduate in May 2019 before beginning law studies.
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If convicted, Rowland could face life in prison without parole.
He has been held in the Richland County Jail since his arrest in 2019.
Josephson's death brought national attention to ride-sharing safety and sparked changes in the industry, including increased display of driver's license plates and the requirement that drivers confirm the names of their passengers before commencing the trip. .