Nathaniel David Rowland, 27, stands trial for allegedly murdering Samantha Josephson, 21. Court is held in Richland County, South Carolina. You can watch in the player above.
#FakeUberMurderTrial – Very important trial starting Monday. #WhatsMyName. Samantha Josephson got into what she thought was her Uber after a night out. She was found dead w/30 stab wounds. Nathaniel Rowland is accused of posing as her Uber driver, kidnapping/killing her. pic.twitter.com/WNgabQ9cm0
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) July 16, 2021
Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina, got into a vehicle that she believed was her Uber in the early morning of March 29, 2019, according to police. She was found dead in Clarendon County the next day, stabbed more than 30 times.
Rowland was pulled over in his Chevy Impala, and he ran, officials have said. Josephson’s phone and blood were in the car, investigators said. There were also cleaning supplies, with the child locks engaged, according to authorities.
“I can not fathom how someone could randomly select a person, a beautiful girl and steal her life away,” Samantha’s mother Marci Josephson said in a statement to the court in 2019, according to Live 5 News. “His actions were senseless, vile and unacceptable. It sickens us to think that his face was the last thing that my baby girl saw on this earth.”
Samantha’s parents started the #WhatsMyName campaign and is working to pass “Sami’s Law” in South Carolina, which would require ride-share drivers to be clearly identified before passengers enter the vehicle.
Rowland’s family has insisted on his innocence. He was passed out at a house party the night Josephson was abducted, his cousin Trey Elmore told South Carolina newspaper The State in an April 2019 report.
Rowland’s father Henry Rowland shared the second-hand story with WACH around the same time. In this account, Nathaniel Rowland woke up to find his keys were gone, but discovered his vehicle outside. The keys–and blood–were inside. His father said that if this story were true, then it was a mistake not to call 911. It was also a mistake to run during the traffic stop.
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