Rowland trial live updates: Prosecution and defense rest after five days of testimony
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Nathaniel Rowland Trial
Former USC student Samantha Josephson thought she was getting into the Uber she booked in March of 2019. The car she got into went in the opposite direction of her apartment - and she wasn’t seen alive after. Nathaniel Rowland is on trial for her kidnapping and murder. Here are updates from the trial.
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Prosecutors continue laying out their case against Nathaniel Rowland — the 27-year-old Columbia man accused of killing University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson — on day six of his trial Monday.
Josephson’s case gained nation attention after it was reported that she was killed after mistakenly getting into a car that was not her Uber while out celebrating in Five Points, the entertainment district in Columbia most frequented by USC students. Her body was found hours later dumped in a wooded area 60 miles from Columbia.
Court lets out for the day
3:10 p.m. — With the defense also resting their case, Judge Clifton Newman announced that court would be adjourned for the day. The prosecution and defense will gather against at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to give their closing statements.
Then, the jury will receive instructions from the judge and be sent to deliberate.
Defense follows, rests its case
3:00 p.m. — Upon returning from the lunch recess, Rowland’s defense team rested its case Monday afternoon without calling any witnesses.
Prosecution rests its case
2:40 p.m. — After the defense gave a brief cross examination of a video expert witness, the prosecution rested its case against Rowland Monday afternoon.
In all, the prosecution spent about five days presenting evidence to the jury. Now, the defense will get its turn to lay out their case.
Shortly before prosecutors made their announcement, defense attorney Tracy Pinnock cross examined Justin Martin, a video analyst with the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Martin presented dozens of video clips showing the progression of the black Impala prosecutors say belongs to Rowland during the early morning hours that Josephson was kidnapped.
Pinnock asked Martin if, at any time, he was able to see Rowland driving the car. He replied that he could not.
Court breaks
1:15 p.m. — Judge Clifton Newman ordered the court to break for lunch. The trial will resume at 2:30 p.m.
Black Impala circled Five Points before kidnapping
12:40 p.m. — Justin Martin, a video analyst with the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, walked the jury through video footage of the black Impala, which prosecutors said belongs to Rowland, in the moments before Josephson was kidnapped.
The videos compiled by Martin follow the Impala from Devine Street near the former BiLo — it’s now a Food Lion — all the way to Five Points. Once in Five Points, the car makes several turns over a period of about 20 minutes, going down Saluda Avenue, Devine Street, Harden Street, Greene Street and Blossom Street.
At one point, the Impala parks momentarily in the parking lot next to Natural Vibrations. On a nearby sidewalk, Josephson waits with her phone in hand, the video showed.
A silver car stopped in front of where Josephson was standing. She approached it, but it drove away, the video showed. The Impala then pulled out of the parking lot and parked in a handicap parking space near where Josephson was standing.
In the video shown to the jury, Josephson then gets into the Impala. Josephson mistook the car for her Uber. The Impala backs up onto Harden Street and drives away.
The video was the last footage Martin could find showing Josephson, he testified.
Defense focuses on injury to Josephson’s knuckles
12:00 a.m. — After a brief break, the defense cross-examined forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Beaver, who conducted the autopsy on Josephson.
Public defender Alicia Goode focused on the wounds on Josephson’s hands, including discoloration to Josephson’s knuckles on one of her hands.
Goode asked Beaver whether the wounds could be offensive wounds. Beaver said the wounds could be indicative of a blow, like she hit something or something hit her.
Earlier during the trial, Rowland’s defense team made sure to point out that Rowland had no bruising or injuries to his body. If the victim of a crime fights back, they may leave wounds on the perpetrator’s body.
Beaver stressed that he didn’t know how Josephson got the wounds. He pointed out that the wounds were on the knuckles someone would use to knock on a door, not the knuckles someone would typically use to punch something.
“So, I don’t know exactly how those knuckles were injured,” Beaver testified. “They could have been injured in throwing blows, but I’m not going to say they’re offensive injuries.”
Josephson’s wounds indicated ‘unique’ weapon, pathologist says
10:30 a.m. — Forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Beaver testified Monday morning that during Josephson’s autopsy, he noticed a number of parallel stab wounds.
“That’s unique,” Beaver said. “It’s very difficult to put wounds exactly spaced apart and exactly parallel. It made me think that we were dealing with an odd weapon that could be easily identified.”
Beaver showed the jury multiple photos of similar parallel stab wounds on different locations on Josephson’s body. He said they were his first clues about what the possible murder weapon could be. Beaver said he looked at photos of knives for hours, but couldn’t find a typical knife with two, parallel blades.
Prosecutor Byron Gipson handed Beaver the multi-tool that the prosecution has said is the murder weapon. Beaver held it up as he sat on the stand and described it’s extended blades.
“They are relatively parallel,” Beaver said. “They are bent at the tip and they are the size appropriate for the wounds that I saw.”
“This is the weapon,” Beaver said.
Beaver later added that he declared Josephsons’ cause of death to be due to multiple stab wounds. She suffered lethal wounds to her brain, jugular and neck, he testified.
Pathologist describes Josephon’s injuries
10:15 a.m. — The forensic pathologist who performed Josephson’s autopsy testified Monday morning that the USC student was stabbed about 120 times.
Dr. Thomas Beaver, who works at the Medical University of South Carolina, detailed many of the wounds found on Josephson’s body, from wounds caused by being dragged to bruising to stab wounds.
“There were a lot of injuries,” Beaver testified.
Among the first wounds detailed by Beaver was a stab wound on the side of Josephson’s head. Beaver said that wound could have been life threatening.
What you’ve missed so far
The trial started off with a bang as defendant Nathaniel Rowland tried to fire his attorneys during jury selection Monday. His request was denied by Judge Clifton Newman.
After powering through jury selection on Monday, prosecutors and the defense team delivered their opening statements on Tuesday.
In his statement, prosecutor Byron Gipson told jurors that Samantha Josephson, a USC student killed in 2019 after getting in what she thought was an Uber, was stabbed more than 100 times. The prosecution argued Rowland was guilty because they found Josephson’s blood in his car alongside cleaning supplies, the murder weapon matched a similar tool Rowland had, Rowland tried to sell Josephson’s phone after she went missing, Josephson’s phone and keys were found in his car, and more.
Public defender Alicia Goode, on the defense team for Rowland, told jurors that Rowland was innocent and there was no DNA evidence Josephson’s body or clothes that specifically links Rowland to her killing. The added that, despite the one hundred stab wounds, there were no bruises or marks on Rowland one might expect from such a struggle.
On Tuesday, the former girlfriend of the man accused of murdering Samantha Josephson testified Wednesday afternoon she saw him cleaning a knife and blood out of his car hours after the late student’s death.
On Wednesday, prosecutors put the man who found Josephson’s body on the stand. And in the afternoon, a woman who said she was a former girlfriend of Rowland told the jury she saw blood in his car the day after Josephson’s death and saw Rowland using surgical gloves and wipes to clean a multi-tool.
That multi-tool was shown to the jury Thursday by State Law Enforcement agent Dalila Cirencione, who announced that it was the suspected murder weapon. Cirencione was one of about 20 witnesses called Thursday, most of which included investigators and law enforcement. The defense was given the opportunity to cross examine them.
On Friday, prosecutors continued to lay out their case, bringing in blood, cell phone tracking and DNA experts. Among the strongest pieces of evidence presented Friday was the fact that Josephson’s DNA was found on both the suspected murder weapon and underneath Rowland’s nails.
This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 9:14 AM with the headline "Rowland trial live updates: Prosecution and defense rest after five days of testimony."
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