True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 2: College Killing - Night Out Ends In MURDER | Samantha Josephson - Deep Dive

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

The search for answers begins as investigators piece together the chilling details surrounding Samantha Josephson’s disappearance. In Part 2 of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha dives deeper into the evidence, the investigation, and the shocking discoveries that revealed what happened after Samantha’s final moments were captured on camera. With empathy and careful analysis, this episode uncovers the unanswered questions, heart breaking timeline, and the pursuit of justice for a young woman whose future was tragically stolen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm trying to give you information from all directions, everything that's going on. So while this is going on, Officer Justin Nasea had hurried that way when he heard the call, and he was the one that intercepted the driver on foot. He was able to catch up to him and arrest the driver around 2.36 a.m. Running from the police is an arrestable offense. So he frisked the driver for weapons and none were found. The officers were evaluating the situation and trying to gain info about why this man ran. The driver did state he was sick, that he had the flu, and that he was having trouble breathing,

so they did have to call the EMTs to come check him out. That's protocol. Safety first. It's a big priority. So the officers let the driver sit down so that he could catch his breath and he could breathe better while they were waiting for the EMTs to get there. And this is the point where they also read him his Miranda rights, but the driver refused to answer any questions, even a yes or no about whether he understood the Miranda rights, but he would

not answer but that's something he did need to answer but after that not speaking is his fifth amendment right but he didn't even respond to the emt's questions when they were trying to check him out and his vitals were being taken at one point the driver is just laying on the ground looking like he's having issues breathing the officer just think yeah he's he just has some issues because he was just running so the officers start to rub his sternum per protocol sit him up so he can breathe better like i said but the driver would still not speak to EMS workers. And it didn't really seem like there was anything wrong with him. They take him to the ambulance to get him fully checked out,

but they were thinking this must be some kind of act, that he wasn't really hurt, especially because he's not talking. Then he finally says he wants to speak to an investigator. So investigator leave Blackman was summoned to the Five Points area. Blackman explained to this man that is now handcuffed in the back of a police vehicle that he was there to speak to him. The man asked the officer why he was being detained, and he told him he ran away from the police during a traffic stop.

The man nodded and said he knew that. Investigator Blackman also told him that marijuana was found inside the car, which was enough to keep him in custody. Things that were confiscated were his phone and bandanas were taken from his head at this time. The driver of the Impala refused to give law enforcement his name. So officers started taking pictures of him. They were trying to do facial recognition, scanning his fingerprints, to determine who he was. And ultimately, they find out that Nathaniel Rowland was his name and he was 24 years old. So while waiting in five points for Nathaniel to be brought to the station,

Investigator Blackman asked him where he was the night before. Nathaniel told the investigator he had been at a party at an apartment near the university and slept in the Stadium Suit's Hotel. He explains the investigator that he found his car in the hotel parking lot when he woke that morning. When Nathaniel opened the door, he said that his car was blood-stained, so someone must have borrowed it. Investigator Blackman walked over to the vehicle to inspect it, and he saw just how much blood had to have been in that car. His first thought was, this is where Samantha died. During Nathaniel's interrogation, Investigator Blackman asked him if he had traveled to the Five Points area the night before,

and he told the investigator he was at a house party and he would not provide specific information about who he was with or where. Nathaniel also denied ever visiting New Zion where Samantha's body was found. New Zion, as I explained, was a small town. It was not a place someone would consider dumping a body unless they were familiar with it. At this point, Blackman explained to Nathaniel that a young woman was abducted from five points around 2 a.m. on Friday. Nathaniel refused to answer any further questions. They did collect a swab of suspected blood off of a shoe as well as scrapings from under his fingernails. But before the investigator left the room, he told Nathaniel to reflect on the past two days and to tell the truth. Nathaniel asked the investigator what he was talking about before

shaking his head and saying that he was just going to go to sleep. The investigator was determined not to get tunnel vision and to think we have our man. Instead, law enforcement had to investigate and find out where Nathaniel was and to do their due diligence to ensure that Samantha was given the justice that she deserved. That's when they located the Uber driver who had been requested to pick Samantha up at five points the night she went missing. His name is Marcus Williams. Marcus told investigators he was 49 years old, married from Columbia, South Carolina, went to school there, worked for the city for 10 years until he was injured. That's when he began driving for Uber. All he said he had to do to get started was to send his driver's license, registration, and a copy of his

insurance. He told them he had a charcoal gray Dodge Charger at the time. Then they do a background check and either approve or deny you and he was approved and he began working. He drove his 2011 Dodge charger. He had been driving for three or four months of the time that Samantha requested a ride. He accepted that ride and he drove out to five points to pick up Samantha. He had a five star rating. His car was always clean, he always got good tips, and he was a good driver. And in case you're not familiar with Uber, don't be ashamed if you've never heard of it or you haven't taken one. I realize there are viewers who watch my videos from all over the world. Uber is a ride share app.

Anyone can sign up for free and begin requesting a ride. The only thing I think you need to provide is your legal name or your Facebook account. Last time I checked. Then all you do is open the app, put in the address of the destination you want to go to. and once the app connects with an authorized and approved driver that works for them, they get an alert and you get an alert with the driver's information. You usually get their name, the color of the vehicle, the model of their car, their rating, and you can even cancel if you want for whatever reason.

But it's important not to do that frequently because it can reflect badly on your rating. Marcus heard that the five points area was a very busy location for college kids, so he frequently worked there. He was actually just ending a ride from another person in the five points area when he got another alert that Samantha needed a ride. Marcus said he was diligent. He always called the person right when he got the alert to let them know he was on the way. So he called Samantha when he was on Hardin and Devine right here. And she did not answer. So Marcus circled around. He usually gave people five to 10 minutes as a grace period because, you know, they're at bars, they're maybe

cashing out, maybe they're talking, maybe they're walking slower, you know, they've maybe had a few drinks. After the app realizes that you were at the destination and you've not picked up the rider, it will send an alert to cancel the ride. So as he circled again and again a couple times, he had to cancel. He said he never picked her up. Never to his knowledge had he ever seen her or had she ever been in his car. Marcus did give them a DNA sample and they let him go and they told him they would call him back in if they needed him. So using the information that Samantha's parents gave them investigators searched her bank records. That was the next thing they wanted to do.

And they realized that there were several attempts where someone was trying to use her ATM card at a couple banks. One was 45 miles away from Columbia and twice at another bank in Sumter County. This was very early in the morning on Friday, 5.45 a.m. Sumter and 6.48 a.m. in Columbia. With a search warrant,

the investigators obtained CCTV footage from the ATMs and they showed a man wearing dark clothing, gloves. He was clearly trying to conceal his identity. His hoodie was so tight around his face. Look at this. And his face was hidden by a mask. This is what they saw.

And this man was unable to withdraw any money from the ATMs because he did not have the correct pin. They zoomed in and they can tell he's wearing a bandana with a money design on it. He's wearing a black jacket, gloves, a beige shirt underneath, and a black hoodie underneath this black jacket with a white drawstring. and black Nike slides. Crime scene investigators began searching the Chevy and Paula and processing all of the evidence. Investigators were able to search the vehicle much more closely after they obtained that warrant and first they do notice the child locks were engaged, indicating that Samantha

couldn't have escaped once she stepped into that car. Samantha would not have been able to open the doors or roll down the windows. The entire interior of this car was covered in. in blood. It had permeated the seats. Lieutenant Kristen Grant said that she had never in her life seen so much blood in the 25 years of being an officer, never. In Nathaniel's car, investigators found a footprint on a window and it appeared as though whoever left it there was trying to kick it open. So they lifted those prints for analysis. Lab workers with SLED arrived early that morning to test the evidence they found in the Chevy Impala and obtain a DNA profile. The results confirmed what the investigators had suspected the blood inside the Impala belonged to Samantha Josephson.

And that footprint, that was hers as well. Clearly, she was fighting for her life. Meanwhile, investigators tried to access Samantha and Nathaniel's cell phones. They wanted to find out where they were that night. And it turned out, Nathaniel and Samantha's phones traveled the same route out of Columbia up Highway 378 toward where the hunters found Samantha's body in New Zion. The Columbia Police Chief gave Samantha's family an update, telling them they believed they had captured the suspect. And even though Seymour and Marcy were relieved, Marcy still felt like it wasn't real. She was waiting for Samantha to come home. Sydney's Samantha's sister flew to South Carolina to attend a vigil that was held by the University of South Carolina in memory of Samantha.

Their dad said, I can't tell you how painful this is. Samantha was alone. She had no chance. None. He urged the students at this memorial to be vigilant when they were out late and to always travel in pairs. And I have to agree. I know it's hard. I've definitely taken rides alone.

But I would say the same. Travel in pairs at the very least. Marcy told the crowd she would never come to terms with this. There was no time to sit and say goodbye or to hold Samantha's hand. Nevertheless, Marcy said she was choosing. to remember Samantha as a beautiful girl instead of what happened to her in her final moments. When Samantha walked into a room, her friend said that everyone felt happier. Samantha's sorority sisters described her as the next Amal Clooney because they knew that she would excel in the field of

international law. And Greg talked about how his girlfriend had impacted so many people with her positive attitude and her energy during her short stay on this planet. Investigators reviewed Samantha's autopsy results when the medical examiner was finished and that report revealed just how much poor Samantha had been through that fateful night. She suffered over 100 stab wounds. The interesting and equally confusing thing about these wounds is that the medical examiner knew that they were from some sort of sharp object with a single blade but others were made with something else. An unknown sharp weapon. It seemed to have parallel blades of some kind and And he thought, were there two weapons?

The medical examiner was stumped. The wounds were small. They were about two inches deep. So two inch blades in length. But the double stab wounds were very close together and the exact distance from one another in every double wound of its kind. He scoured the internet searching through thousands

of photos on Google to try to find a knife with two blades. He knew that if they could find this unique looking weapon and they could match it to Samantha Stad wounds and locate it, they could find the killer. She had wounds everywhere. On her head, her neck, shoulders, arms, legs, even her feet. There were defensive wounds to her hands.

The one in the palm of her right hand went all the way through to the other side. And this is most likely because she instinctively put her hand up to shield her face as this killer swung the weapon at her. Notably, one of the wounds was through her ear and it went into her neck. Those wounds in her neck were most likely

cause of her death. She did have a defect on the hyoid bone on the right side, but they believed it was from a stab wound, not strangulation. The neck wounds impacted the carotid artery and the jugular vein, and wounds of that nature would have caused a significant amount of blood loss, and this coincided with the amount of blood that was left behind in the black Impala. There was only an eighth of a cup of blood left in her body at the time. I want to show you how much this is on the screen. The human body usually holds four to five liters of blood, so about a gallon of blood. The medical examiner had a hard time getting enough blood for a toxicology test. This poor woman bled out. That is how Samantha spent her last moments on earth with a stranger who kidnapped her, locked her in a car, trapped her in this

confined space, and attacked her with an unusual, sharp-bladed weapon hundreds of times. It's absolutely gut-wrenching to think about. I take Uber's all the time. most of you do too, to think that this poor girl innocently got into this monster's car hoping that he was taking her home safely, only to realize that she was living out her absolute worst nightmare. Seymour spoke with the prosecutors that were handling Samantha's case, and he asked for the death penalty for the killer. He said that he wanted to see him fry. But his family advised him that this wasn't the time. They had to think about Samantha. They had to plan for her funeral. That's not what Seymour wanted. He didn't want to bury his child. Samantha should have been at his funeral, not the other way

around. So in the days following Samantha's murder, the University of South Carolina offered extended counseling hours and ride chair safety tips. There was a vigil at the West Town Center Lake Gazebo in New Jersey for Samantha as well. About 500 people showed up to honor Samantha. As mourners lit white candles, one of her cousins sang, I'll never love again by Lady Gaga. Greg, Samantha's boyfriend told the crowd that he's always imagined himself coming here 10 years from now with Samantha and their friends and family. And now that would never happen. He said there were no words for what happened. Samantha's funeral was at congregation Beth Kayam, where she had her bat mitzvah. On April 5th, 2019, the Jewish community at USC honored Samantha with a Shabbat candle ceremony.

I'm doing my best to try to pronounce these Hebrew words, but about 30 people were in attendance. And a rabbi led the attendees in the traditional dinner, and a symbolic donation to the charity was made in a reading from Solb 23. Many students and organizations on campus held vigils for Samantha. But this ceremony was one that the Jewish faith lit candles every Friday evening for, in tradition to light the candles and perform good deeds in memory of those who have passed away. Samantha was very active in the Jewish community at the University of South Carolina. She attended many of these services and even larger events such as Rosh Hashanah. Uber also released a statement following Samantha's brutal murder. In an email sent to the state, a South Carolina newspaper, a spokesperson for the ride share

company said, quote, since 2017, we've been working with local law enforcement and college campuses around the country to educate the public about how to avoid fake ride share drivers. Everyone at Uber is devastated to hear about this unspeakable crime and our hearts are with Samantha's family and loved ones. We remained focused on raising public awareness about this incredibly important issue, end quote. Among the evidence found in Nathaniel's vehicle was an envelope. It looked like it had a shopping list on it. One of the items on the list, duct tape.

And it said, tape, whole body. Next was gloves, all black, flip phone, gasoline, matches, and then there's also a crossed out line where you can't decipher what. was being written there. An eviction notice was also found in the glove compartment. It was written from someone named Maria Howard and a Wendy's receipt from 6992 Garner's Ferry Road from March 29th at 1238 was found. So Investigator Fisher goes to that location to retrieve video and the video shows Nathaniel Rowland in his car wearing a head covering and there's a white sheet covering the headrest and the backseat of his vehicle.

However, they can't see Samantha in the car. On April 3rd, while Nathaniel Roland was still in jail on the unrelated traffic charges, investigators wanted to quickly obtain an arrest warrant for Samantha's murder. So Sled investigator Lee Blackman and an officer from Columbia PD drove to the address listed on that eviction notice,

Maria Howard's. When they arrive at Marias, they knock on Unit C, Maria comes to the door, and she's completely cooperative with police. They told her they found the eviction notice in Nathano Rollins Black Impala. They want to know if she knew him and if so, how. She tells the investigators that Nate is her boyfriend

and she agrees to go down to the police station. However, Maria does inform them. She has not slept in a couple days. She pulled all nighters that work at McDonald's and she was pretty delirious. She told them that she would do her very best to provide them with as much information as she could in regard to a lot of her.

what she knew about Nate. She was questioned for hours, but she was too tired to recall details. She needed sleep. So they agreed to let her come back in in a couple days to re-interview her. And good thing they did, because she had a lot to tell them, this poor girl, honestly, I feel so bad for people who get into these horrific situations on account of being a loving, caring person who gets involved with the wrong individual. There's going to be a lot to take in here. but this is what they find out. Maria Howard was 24 years old. She lived in Columbia for the past 10 years,

and she moved there in high school, and then she went to college in Denmark, South Carolina. At that point in life, it was all about partying on a regular basis, and when she came back home, she would party at five points on the weekends. She, just like Samantha and Greg, met Nate when she was at five points with her friends one weekend.

They were friends. They didn't just jump into a relationship, and they actually lost contact for a while, but they reconnected when he stopped by McDonald's when her shift had just ended back in the beginning of March. She was working on the McDonald's in Garnas Ferry across from Rosewood. And this was like I said in the beginning of March. He drove up through the drive-thru and then he pulled up next to her and he's like, hey girl, and she couldn't believe it. She hadn't seen him in a couple years. So they chitch-chatted for a bit.

They exchanged phone numbers and he asked her what she was doing that night. She explained that she had just recently moved into a new duplex and she was just waiting for a ride home from a co-worker. Well, Nate insisted that she let him give her a ride home. She didn't have a car, so she was used to getting rides from other people, and she knew Nate, so she accepted the ride. He took her back to her duplex in Mountain Brook, which was about 25 to 30 minutes away, and they hung out for a bit, and then Nate went home. But they definitely hit it off, and they were inseparable from that day forward. They started seeing each other every single day after that. They were dating at this point, and in a sexual relationship.

So Nate was there all the time, but he didn't live with her. He actually lived with his sister. However, Maria hated being home alone. So she was letting her cousin, Naisha, stay with her. But recall that eviction letter. Well, her cousin hadn't been following her role. She wasn't cleaning. She wasn't taking care of things.

And now that Nate was around, Maria wanted her out. She felt like her cousin had to go. So she typed up that eviction letter, and she was planning to get it notarized. Maria also had a four-year-old daughter that lived in the duplex. her but she spent a lot of time with her grandma who was a school teacher they would share responsibilities like taking her and picking her up from preschool now that nate was in the picture Maria would have him drive her to the preschool so she could go get her daughter and to run other errands in addition to taking her to work at mcdonalds and picking her up and he would always do that for her

as well as just be there for her at night or in the morning because like i said she didn't like to be alone however they did just start dating so Nate did still go out with his friends from time to time, especially to five points. He referred to it as being lit. This was one of his favorite places to party. He would go out maybe a couple times a week, but Maria couldn't. She had to work a lot and frequently

she would pull double shifts. And she just wasn't interested in that life anymore. Instead, they would just hang out all day, watch TV, eat, but she wouldn't go out with him two bars together. The first couple weeks they were dating, she explained to investigators that Nate slept downstairs on the couch.

Maria wasn't keen on letting him stay bed with her but as they got more serious she finally began letting him sleep with her around the third week they were together which was around that third week of March. Maria told investigator Blackman that on Wednesday March 27th 2019 Maria had reminded Nate she had to go to work at 7 a.m. the next day and all of her work shirts were dirty she didn't have a washer and dryer so she needed to drive to her mom's house to use the washer but her mom wasn't home. It was getting later and Maria had other things to do that night. She didn't know how

she was going to get her work shirt cleaned. And Nate said, don't worry about it, that he'd take it to a sister's house that night and have it for her in the morning. She and Nate spent the evening at her house watching TV until she went to bed around 12 or 1 that morning. At that time, Nate was downstairs watching TV and investigators asked her what he was wearing. She says he was wearing a gray Nike hoodie shirt and navy blue sweatpants that were the windbreaker type. She expected him to come to bed when he was finished watching TV. But when she woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, she could tell he wasn't there. He had gone out.

She didn't know where. Maria gets up early for work around 5 a.m. She notices Nate did not come home the night before. She knew because the bed was the same exact way she left it. He never got into it. And he wasn't in the house and his car wasn't outside. So she texted him at 531 saying, where he at? and there was no answer.

She was pretty upset as time went on because he had promised to come pick her up and had he not done that, she would have found another ride. She did not like to be late and she didn't appreciate his inconsiderate behavior. She was stressing over the eviction with her cousin, not having enough money for rent, and she needed to get that shift. She was even texting a friend telling them that she was crying, thinking about how she was going to come up with her rent money in just a couple days. So seven o'clock rolls around.

Maria's now late for work. It's at least a 25 to 30 minute drive and Nate hadn't shown up yet. So she text him again at 7-0-1 saying, Bay, I'm late as F for work. Still no response. And she's pissed. She calls her mom, letting her know that she may need a ride and that she was mad. And that's when she sees Nate's car pull in around 7.45 or so.

She runs out there, upset, asking him, where have you been? Where's my shirt? And he doesn't even answer. Instead, he drives off, saying, I got to go to my sisters to take my nephew to school. I'll be right back. But Maria's confused because at this point, she's upset. She knows his sister's house is like 30 minutes away. And then he would need to bring the nephew to school and then come all the way back to her.

It made no sense. Then about 10 minutes later, not enough time for him to do what he said he needed to get done. He pulls back into Maria's driveway with her shirt and it's still wet. Almost like it doesn't even seem clean. Almost like it was rinsed. What the hell is going on? She doesn't know. She doesn't care.

She just wants to get to work. So she gets in this car. She puts the envelope containing the eviction letter into his glove compartment for safekeeping until he could take her to the bank ticket notarized. Maria then text her mom with an update. It's at 803 in the morning. She says, baby tried, L.O.L. My shirt's still wet A.F.

He will not be washing clothes ever. Have a good day, ma. Love you. To which her mom responds at 821, LOL girl, you could have done that at home. Why didn't you go to laundromat? and Maria responds at 8.48 a.m. saying that Nate didn't want to. Maria had also put her McDonald's uniform visor in the back window of the car the day before so that she could just grab it and put it on as they drove to work,

but she looks back there and she doesn't see it. So she asked Nate, where's my visor? And this is when things got weird. He tells her that it's in the country and she said, why? And he said it had blood on it. And when she asked him, why would my visor have blood on it? He told her to mind her business. She again asked him the same question.

And again, he told her to mind her business. Now, luckily, Maria calls her boss, told her she's going to be late due to her outfit. And the boss said, you know what? I can provide you with another hat. So then they stopped to get gas. And that's when Maria was actually able to get a minute to look at the car. She hadn't really been paying much attention to it.

But she turns around and looks at the back seat. and it was odd. There was a white fitted sheet with like a blue design on it that was hanging over the driver's headrest and then draped across the back seat. Her daughter's baby seat was sitting on top of the sheet kind of holding it down on the right passenger's back seat side. But what was even more shocking was that she saw what she thought looked like blood on the sheet, that it was actually seeping through from underneath and she looked around and saw what appear to be dry blood on the dashed. board on the side of the seats of the car. And as she's taken a better look and back, she realizes

that despite the sheet being there, she sees a ton of dried blood on the seats that were not covered with the sheet. She's so confused and she's worried. But maybe there's an explanation. And then when Nate gets back in the car, she immediately confronts him asking, why is there blood all over your car? Did you hit a dog or something? And again, he tells her to mind her business. Okay, this is odd. It did not make sense, but Maria's main goal was to get to work and he finally drops her off and promises that he will be back to pick her up later. He said that he needed to go clean his car and take a nap. So Maria had noticed that he did look really tired, so she gives him her keys and she tells him to go to sleep and come get me later. But he never showed back

up after shift ended around 4 p.m. When the investigators asked her why she didn't call 911, Maria told them she was scared. She was fearful of what might happen to her or her child if she didn't mind her business. And she didn't exactly know what was going on. It wasn't uncommon to hit dears in that area. As a matter of fact, Nate's car had just been serviced for the exact reason just a few weeks before he started dating Maria. His ex-Destiny actually hit a deer while she was driving Nate around in his car and it

destroyed the front bumper, which needed to be replaced. A co-worker ends up bringing Maria home that Thursday evening. And once again, she's mad. She banged on the door of her own house hard like it was the police. And Nate comes down, he opens the door and he looked like he just saw a ghost. He definitely had been sleeping. She could tell. So she goes inside.

She starts getting ready to take a shower and she notices that Nate still had on the same clothes he did from Wednesday. And she thought that was pretty nasty. So she said, quote, why haven't you washed your ass in a couple of days? days, end quote, to which he didn't respond. And this was being playful, but she was also pretty serious because it was obvious to Maria that Nate's clothing had blood on it. So when she gets out of the shower, she sees him outside cleaning his car, scrubbing it. When she gets closer, she noticed it smells like chemicals like chlorine. But then she sees bleach. Bleach bottles are in the backseat of the car and Nate had gathered up all of her cleaning supplies and he was using them to wash the

inside of the vehicle. She tells Nate that she needs to get to an ATM because she needs to get money out for her rent and stop at her moms and she drives. She drives his car while he's in it still cleaning the car. He's wiping it down with wipes while he's wearing blue surgical gloves as she's driving and he's sitting there throwing these dirty rags into a grocery bag. She looks over and she doesn't want to but she's kind of curious about why. So she asked him, why are you cleaning? And again, he tells her to what? Mind her own business. She looks over a few minutes later, and he's cleaning a knife-like item. And she's seen this item before, but she never saw it open like that. So it kind of looks like one of those retractable knives or something like that.

As her eyes are kind of scanning everything in the car, she saw a rose gold iPhone in this little phone compartment on the center console. So she questioned them about it because it looks like a female's phone. It's in pristine condition, even though he insisted he found it somewhere on the ground. Then he says, you know what, I'm actually going to give it to you, but she didn't want it. She already had a phone and she liked Android's, not iPhone, so she goes, nah, I'm good. I don't need it. They head back to her house to pay her rent. Her mom was supposed to pick up her daughter, but she couldn't. So she tells Nate that they're going to have to go drive to go pick up her daughter. They had the booster seat in the backseat, like I had said, and Nate said he really

didn't want her daughter in the car because there was blood, but they had no choice. They pick up Maria's daughter, they take her back to the house, and when she takes her out of the car, there is blood on her shoes. So Maria takes them off, and she throws them into a closet. And that just shows you how much blood was inside this vehicle. He had already been cleaning it, and there's still blood on it. Later that evening, two of Nate's friends show up, and they're all going to go out to five points around. around 12 in the morning. As they're leaving to get into his car,

Maria literally asked him, why would you drive in a car with blood in it? He never responded. Maria told investigators she finally put it all together. After Samantha had gone missing, she did see her picture on the news. It was about a day later and then they showed a clip of the Black Impala and she was stunned. It all made sense to her now.

The blood, Samantha being missing, it was was Nate's car. She still didn't call the police. She was scared. She couldn't even go to work. She called in and pretended her daughter was ill just so that she could pull herself together. The police came to speak with her and that was the day that she pulled that devil shift over 12 hours and she told them, please, I've got to get some sleep. So that is where we are right now. This was the second interview and she told them everything. And this time, she let them know every detail she could remember and let them look at her phone and they took it for a while to have it analyzed. Finally, they gave it back to her and she gave them a sample of her DNA. But according to Maria,

because Nathaniel used tons of cleaning supplies to clean the car, Maria said she thought it would blow up if she lit a cigarette. Maria also tells them that there's a trash bin in the back of her duplex and Nathaniel had been throwing things in there from his car. The investigators were very interested in this information. So when investigator Blackman asked Maria where the garbage bin was, she said, it's still there. The sanitation workers had not picked it up yet. So Maria was informed that a search warrant had been issued for her home and a crime scene unit was going to be sent out there to gather evidence. They located dumpster in the back of the duplex that anyone can access just by walking around the building. Inside this dumpster, investigators found cleaning supplies,

bloody sheets, towels, gloves, and the worst thing is that they find a multi-purpose tool. It had blood and hair on it. We're going to talk about that in a moment. They also find clothing like a beige dress shirt in Maria's trash bin, and in one of the garbage bags was a leather jacket with marks on the arms, scratch marks. Investigators are convinced that Nathaniel had that coat on when he was stabbing Samantha in the backseat of his car and that those marks were from Samantha's fingernails. Investigators noticed that this multipurpose tool, which my boyfriend is calling a leather man, I'm going to show you what a leather man is first, and then I'm going to get into this tool. Well, this tool had a unique double blade. They believed they had just found the murder weapon,

and tests were conducted on all the items that were discovered. Samantha's DNA matched the blood found on these items. And this weapon is actually the scariest weapon I have seen in all of the cases that I've talked about, and I'm not kidding. Maybe since it's smaller, and you may disagree, but if someone were to swing that around, it's such a tiny weapon,

can you imagine how fast it could be jabbed into your skin, how many times this was used on Samantha. It terrifies me. It's so portable. It folds up. It's just this little hidden multi-use tool that can turn into a murder weapon in a second. Look at it. It just looks scary.

The blades, they're bent at the ends, which signified that it had been used with a great amount of force. They notice it can also be opened up like this. That's how it made the single blade wounds, and when closed, it makes double. Without a doubt, this was the murder weapon. During an analysis of Samantha's phone on March 29th, an analyst found that it was powered on at a business that bought and sold used cell phones. It's called Cellular City. Investigators drive out to Cellular City in Columbia, and they ask the manager if they could look at the CCTV footage from that day. Nathaniel's black Chevy and Paula is spotted pulling into a parking space outside around 11 a.m. on the 29th.

And as investigators watch the footage, like Maria had said, there was that white sheet. draped over the back seat and they could see bloodstains on it. The CCTV footage from inside Cellular City showed Nathaniel holding Samantha's rose gold cell phone when he's entering. The clerk then examines the phone, he plugs it in. He sees a white woman on the lock screen, suspicious to him. And let me be clear, it's because he's not a dummy. He's seeing people come in with stolen phones.

Nate doesn't seem to know much about the phone. He just says he found it or was given to him. the clerk decides, uh-uh, I'm not buying it. Upon viewing this video, investigators are able to identify Nathaniel as the same man who tried to use Samantha's bank card at those ATMs. He was wearing the same clothes. And they were the same clothing found in Maria Howard's trash can, his girlfriend's trash can. In light of all the evidence that investigators had, they were able to charge Nathaniel Roland with kidnapping and the murder of Samantha Josephson. Nathaniel denied being involved in Samantha's murder.

One of his cousins, Trey Elmore, spoke to the state and said Nathaniel passed out at a party the night before the murder. He didn't believe his cousin had anything to do with this crime. He doesn't think that his cousin was the one driving the Chevy Impala that picks Samantha up in five points. Trey felt that the police only thought it was Nathaniel because he ran from the cops when he was pulled over. Also speaking up in Nathaniel's defense was his own father. Nathaniel's father said that his son woke up without his keys, so someone else must have driven his car. In a statement to the news, his dad said that Nathaniel found the keys to his car in the parking lot and that the vehicle was covered in blood. But the assertion of Nathaniel's innocence didn't matter much because he was charged at the end of April with possessing a weapon during a violent crime.

And there were way too many connections between Samantha and Nate for this to have been anyone else in the investigator's minds. Not to mention, they found a connection between where the body was discovered and where he grew up. It turns out Samantha was left in that desolate, wooded area, and it was only two miles from Nate's parents' home and news ion. Nate's ex-Destinney told investigators that he had taken her out there at least three or four times that year to meet his family. He knew that area. And remember what the DNR worker said, the area where Samantha was found was like a needle in a haystack, only a local would know their way around there. Nate was a local. And speaking of Mr. Morris, the DNR worker that was called out by the turkey hunters, well, Mr. Morris knows the Roland family because he lived right across

the road from them on Renegade Trail, and this is in close proximity to where the body was found. Look, Mr. Morris has lived there his whole life for 60 years. And Nate's family only lives two houses away. He'd had many chances to speak with the Roland family. There are only a few houses. is nearby. It's mostly field, so make no mistake about it, Nate knew this area. Samantha's parents Seymour and Marcy attended the University of South Carolina's commencement ceremony in May of 2019. They accepted Samantha's degree on her behalf. She was honored during the graduation ceremony by the USC president Harris pastides. He said, quote, I'd like to take a moment to recognize and honor the life and the legacy of Samantha Josephson,

our cherished 21-year-old senior political science major whose life was taken tragically from us. Samantha's family is here with us today, and she'll receive her college degree directly after this ceremony. In memory of Samantha, a seat was also reserved in the first row draped in robes. And one of Samantha's favorite instructors, Danielle James, said, It's definitely very hard not to see her there with the other thousands of graduates. She should be here. Her spot is there. Following his speech, the university president counted to three and then asked, what's my name?

And everyone responded, Samantha Josephson. Samantha was not the only University of South Carolina student to receive a posthumous degree in 2019. In fact, Samantha wasn't even the only murdered student who was supposed to graduate from the University of South Carolina that year. On March 26, 2019, Evan Gaines was shot and killed, less than a number of. mile from the university upstate campus. He passed away later that evening. In November 2019, five people were charged with Evan's murder. He was a good person with a desire to work in business management and he had not been forgotten. Even though that arrest can't bring Evan back, it will help his family get justice that they deserve. Within weeks of Samantha's murder,

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin called for stronger regulation of ride sharing companies. He proposed policies such as city inspections of ride-chair vehicles, designated pickup points, and adequate lighting at those locations. Additionally, the proposal stipulated that ride-chairing cars should not use child locks unless a child was in the vehicle and the child's parents approved. Seymour and Marcy appeared on ABC's Good Morning America in April of 2019, and they endorsed a proposal passed by South Carolina House requiring Uber and lift drivers to display illuminated signs to make it easier for them to be identified. However, Seymour and Marcy said there were other safety measures that they would like to see added. Uber and Lyft provide customers with the description of the car picking them up

and their tag number, which we know they do now. However, a few states do not require front license plates, including South Carolina, so he wasn't advocating making it a law across the board, but anyone working in the ride chair industry should have a license plate on their car. On Good Morning America, Seymour said he would like to also see a QR code in the windshield of vehicles. He said the rider should be able to scan the code and confirm that it was their car. In June of 2019, the South Carolina legislature

passed a law that required all drivers for ride share services to display their license plates on the front and back of their vehicles. While waiting on their Uber in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, two tourists got into the wrong vehicle three months after Samantha's murder. After they realized the driver was heading in the wrong direction, they told him they were gonna call 911

and the driver grabbed their phone. He suddenly stopped the car and both of the tourists were able to escape. However, the driver exited the vehicle and tried to approach them. The tourist was able to grab the phone and call 911 and the driver fled in his car. In January of 2020, Uber introduced a new safety feature that enabled users on the app to give a pin to the driver before starting the ride. Seymour thought Uber's new features was a great start, but a bill named Sammy's law was passed in honor of Samantha six months later. Upon approval, the bill would ban vendors other than ride sharing companies from selling vehicle signs to prevent driver impersonation. Furthermore, the government accountability office would be required to investigate how background checks were being conducted on the ride share drivers.

Unfortunately, at that time, Sammy's law failed to advance the Senate by the deadline, so it was filed again this past December. After passing the House again, the bill was sent to the Senate and just this month, on January 6, 2023, President Biden signed Sammy's law into effect. Going back to May 2021, it was announced that Nathaniel Rowland's murder trial would take place in July. The date kept getting postponed because of the pandemic. Seymour and Marcy promised to always be at the trial as a family unit to ensure that they got the justice that their daughter deserved. Marcy was nervous. She didn't know what to expect. She didn't want to hear the details about Samantha's murder. It was going to be tired of tiring and stressful for them to relive everything.

The state circuit judge Clifton Newton presided over the case. And on July 20th, 2021, solicitor Byron Gibson began the prosecution's case by stating that March 28, 2019, was supposed to be a celebration for Samantha and her friends. However, they were unaware that the defendant Nathan David Rowland had his sight set on her. According to Byron Gibson, all the evidence presented to the jury pointed to Nathaniel. Roland as a person that kidnapped and murdered Samantha. Therefore, he urged the jury to convict him. Alicia Good from the public defender's office said that there was no evidence that Nathaniel kidnapped and killed Samantha. DNA from Nathaniel was not found on Samantha's clothes or her fingernails

or her ankles and he had no marks on him at all. So how could he have done such a brutal crime? In order to secure a guilty verdict in Nathaniel's case, the prosecution knew that they needed Maria Howard's testimony. And despite her fears for her child's safety and her own, Maria chose to testify for the prosecution and against Nathaniel. She told the jury everything we know how she did not find Nathaniel the next morning and there were seven hours unaccounted for. As the prosecutor showed Maria the multipurpose tool containing Samantha's blood, as well as Nathan's DNA, Maria said she recognized it as something that he had carried before. It had been in his possession, but she had never seen it open. She explained to the jury that she did not call the police due to her fears.

However, once she spoke with investigators, she started to receive death threats, and she ultimately lost her job because of this. Later, both Seymour and Marcy thanked Maria for testifying. Video surveillance of the black Chevy and Paula recorded on the night that Samantha was abducted was shown to the jury. but the driver couldn't be identified. Oshamar Williams, the owner of Cellular City, though, he was called to the stand by the state,

and several cameras inside and outside of the store captured this man with a cell phone that entered the shop on the day that Samantha disappeared. When the prosecutor showed that footage to him and asked him if he recognized the person who tried to sell that cell phone to him, and if he was in the courtroom that day, he said yes, and he pointed to Nathaniel Rowland.

That is an eyewitness. that puts Nate in possession of Samantha's phone. Kimberly Mears, a latent fingerprint analyst, determined that Samantha's footprint was the match to the one investigators found inside the right window of Nathaniel's black, Sheving Paula in the back seat. DNA experts testified that the blood in the back seat

was also that of Samantha Josephson. And the blood that was found on the back of Nathaniel's shoes and sock was also Samantha's blood. However, on cross-examination, The defense attorney did get this blood analyst to admit that there were several items in the vehicle that contained DNA from unknown individuals, which wouldn't have been unusual considering there could have been other passengers in that vehicle over the last few months. However, did that raise reasonable doubt?

A former cell phone location expert with SLED testified that Samantha's phone traveled with Nates after 2 a.m. on March 29, 2019. He said that Samantha's phone stopped moving at some point, and Nathaniel's phone continued to the area of New Zion, the hunters found Samantha's body. What's more damning is that Nathaniel's cell phone was also traced to where the ATM cards were being used at those banks. If this isn't enough, I don't know what is. He's wearing a money bandana though in this picture, which was seen on him again 24 hours later when he was pulled over and his fingerprints were on that list. Remember that list on the envelope they found that also had Samantha's DNA on it? Her blood was on it. A handwriting analyst came in with examples of Nathan's actual handwriting,

and it matched the letters that were found on the envelope. It matched the words. Not to mention, they found a black beanie in Nathaniel's trunk with the words cold-blooded on it. He was wearing this in the video footage at the cellular store. It's like the scarlet letter or letters spelling out who the killer is, cold-blooded Nathaniel Rowland. That hat was tested, and it was positive,

for Samantha's DNA. The defense rested without calling any witnesses of their own. And as I was reading some of the comments while watching this trial, there were a lot of them that said they wanted to make sure, they wanted to check to see if the defense attorneys actually have law degrees and licenses to practice because some of their questions made them look

like they were working for the prosecution. And I have to say I did notice some very interesting tactics to say the least. Like when they cross-examined, the investigator, Todd Shank, the crime scene investigator that examined Samantha's body and testified to very graphic details about what he found, normally a defense attorney would avoid a witness retelling this graphic testimony so that the jury would soon forget it. Instead, she had him rehash it all over again.

And nothing he said was helping Nate's defense. I can tell you that much. However, the defense did argue that these unidentified DNA samples that were taken from the car were significant. And that there were mixtures of DNA that didn't include. Nathaniel, that he didn't have any marks or cuts, nothing. However, I want to remind you that his jacket did have scratch marks on it. The defense also argued that just because Samantha's blood is in his car and he tried to sell her phone and tried to use her ATM card and that his clothing had blood on it and his phone was tracking with hers and his phone was being used near where the body was found

doesn't mean he was the killer. Huh? Please make it make sense. And they really read. They really couldn't. Jurors were sent home and asked to return the next morning for closing arguments. It took less than two hours for seven women and five men to decide Nathaniel Rowland had murdered Samantha. He was found guilty of all three charges. And during the sentencing phase, Samantha's parents and sister expressed their anguish. Sidney said that nothing could bring her sister back. Nothing she says will ease her family's pain and heartbreak. Marcy said she didn't. She said she didn't have time to tell Samantha everything she wanted to. There wasn't time to kiss her goodbye. She called Nathan pure evil and hoped that he felt Samantha's pain. In the end, the prosecution decided not to

seek the death penalty and Samantha's family reluctantly accepted their decision. Seymour definitely fought them on it up until the last month. He wanted Nathaniel Rowland to be executed. In his victim impact statement, Seymour explained that he had contemplated taking his own life several times in those 28 months that he was waiting for the trial. Seymour told his daughter's murderer that he had taken his baby and he wished that he could inflict the same pain than Nathaniel inflicted on Samantha on him. Seymour begged the judge to please give Nathaniel a life sentence. He never wanted him to see the light of day again. What was sad to me, and you might feel differently, but Nate's mom spoke on his behalf in his defense. She claimed that her son did not commit.

the crime, but the judge stopped her. He told Nathaniel's mother there would be no claims of innocence. The jury convicted Nathaniel, and that was that. But once again, his mom spoke and described her son as caring. And then Nathaniel's mother said, I know my son didn't do this. And the judge stopped her again. He said, this is not the time to express any claims of innocence. He told Nathaniel's mother that she was not a witness and he'd had enough of the claims about what Nathaniel hadn't done. Daniel's mom just looked defeated and she returned to her seat after saying her son was a good and respectful child. It pains me that parents have to go through this. I don't blame killers, family members in cases like this. It's devastating for them too. They do lose their child as well.

You don't just stop loving your child. You may hate what they did and you may despise them, but you can still love them. It's a very hard situation to go through and I feel for that poor woman. asked Nathaniel to stand in front of the court for sentencing, and he was asked if he had anything to say, and he said, quote, what I know and what I think really doesn't matter. I just wish the state would have done more in finding out who the actual person was, instead of being satisfied with detaining me and proving my guilt. If they would have done research in certain areas, and then the judge cut him off. The judge believed Nathaniel had no remorse at all for what he had done. In response to whoever asked him for leniency on behalf of the defendant, Judge Newman said,

that's not in his DNA. He sentenced Nathaniel Roland to the State Department of Corrections for the remainder of his life without the possibility of parole. Since Samantha was murdered, Seymour quit his job and now works full time at the What's My Name Foundation that they founded to commemorate Samantha's life. It's named this way because you should always ask the ride chair driver what your name is. is before getting inside. They should know and if they don't, don't get inside. I'm guilty of kind of asking as I'm getting in. Don't. Don't step foot inside a vehicle without the driver saying your full name. If that door closes, it could be too late. The mission at What's My Name is to raise awareness of ride sharing safety using the acronym Sammy. Sammy. They urge riders to stop, ask,

match, and inform. According to What's My Name, stop and plan. Before you request a ride, think about where you're headed and review the safety features in the app so you know how to use them. Ask your driver, what's my name? To confirm they have booked a trip with you through the ride sharing app. Match the car's make, model, and license plate with the one displayed in the app. Inform and share the details of your trip with a friend. Utilize the share my status function in the ride sharing app. This case, change my life.

or at the very least my actions. I just took an Uber from the airport from my trip to Florida and I remembered Sammy. I asked what's my name. It was raining and I really just wanted to get inside but I waited and I confirmed that they had the right name before I closed that door behind me.

In that moment I thought about Sammy's last night on earth. It made my ride almost unbearable especially as a mom because I kept asking why. Why was she taken the way that she was? Did Nate plan this all along? I had so many questions that will never be answered. So many things were going through my head.

I know in my heart and from all the evidence that Nate is guilty 100% without a doubt in my mind. But I can't help but wonder, was this his plan from the minute he left Maria's? Or was this his plan when he saw Samantha standing all alone at the curb? Or was it the minute that she tried to get into that other car before he pulled up? When was this murderous plan set?

in motion. Was it the minute Samantha mistakenly got into his car, then Nate began to think evil thoughts? Was his plan really to kill Samantha or was it sexual in nature at first? Because right after he dropped her at that location out in New Zion, he literally took his phone and went to an adult website, if you know what I mean, and he watched videos. So you tell me. And were the child locks already engaged due to Maria's little four-year-old that was always driven around in the back of that car? Or did Nate hit that button when Samantha closed that door. Does it even matter? No, it doesn't, but the questions still remain in my mind. When did Samantha realize Nate wasn't her Uber driver? The app shows you everything. She had to have known. Did she begin to scream or try to escape? And that's when

Nate decided to grab this weapon. How did he manage to get her phone away from her and turn it off? I imagine being in such close quarters and Nate wielding a knife and Samantha being forced to turn over her phone. It was in that moment he shut it off when they were in the Rosewood area, when it stopped tracking, and he drove to a place he knew he could go undetected, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Is that where the altercation really took place? I just can't imagine Samantha sitting there, sitting there and letting him drive for an hour without putting up a fight. What do you think? I'd really like your thoughts. Please, as usual, be kind and compassionate. We can have a mature and valuable conversation in the comments without hatred or being too judgmental.

That's always a good thing. And once again, thank you so much for giving Samantha your time today and listening to her story. And remember her anytime you're using a ride share app. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you in my next video. Bye.