Into the Night: The Ride That Wasn’t Hers
She called an Uber. What arrived was something else entirely.
Samantha Josephson, 21, was waiting for a lift home after a night out in her college town of Columbia, South Carolina around 2am on 29 March 2019. As a Chevrolet Impala pulled up to her, Samantha stepped inside, assuming it to be the Uber she had ordered to take her home.
However, all was not as it seemed, and unbeknown to Samantha, the car was owned by Nathanial Rowland. CCTV had caught Rowland earlier that night circling the area several times. Rowland was not an Uber driver, and he had no intention of delivering Samantha home safely.
The Night of Her Disappearance
Samantha had been studying political science at the University of South Carolina, and had earned a full scholarship to study international law at Drexel University. Her whole future appeared to be bright, and a life of unknown potential lay ahead.
On the night of her death, Samantha had gathered with her friends where they went to The Bird Dogbar in the Five Points district of the city. It was around 2am when she decided she wanted to leave and ordered an Uber to pick her up.
Just 9 minutes later, Rowland pulled up where Samantha was waiting, and mistakenly entered his vehicle.
Immediately, Rowland activated the internal locks, preventing Samantha from exiting the vehicle. He drove, with a now kidnapped Samantha, before a truly horrific attack took place.
Rowland attacked Samantha in a frenzy, stabbing her as many as 120 times over her entire body. The weapon, a two-bladed knife, left so many wounds that the pathologist could not give a definitive answer as to how many times Samantha was stabbed. The pathologist report would later come to show the immense blood loss Samantha suffered, with her body holding just one tablespoon of blood, compared to the typical four litres expected in the average human being.
Samantha died a brutal death, 10–20 minutes after being attacked, and Rowland drove her body to a town called New Zion, which was near his family home, and hunters discovered her body the following morning.
Who Was Samantha?
Samantha was born in Princeton, New Jersey, before growing up in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Her plan, after graduation, was to complete her law degree and she aspired to practice international law.
She was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She had studied abroad in Barcelona, and had visited other european cities like Madrid and Paris. She was a beautiful, bright young woman with a future of promise ahead.
Who is Nathaniel Rowland?
Rowland was a resident of New Zion in Clarendon County, Columbus. He had studied at East Clarendon School, and was a basketball player while there. Rowland had one felony arrest in his past, from October 2018, when he had obtained a signature or property under false pretences. His Facebook page stated that he attended South Carolina State University in 2017, but the school confirm that he was not a student at the time of Samantha’s killing.
Catching a Killer
As authorities began their search, they reviewed the CCTV from the area, and immediately discovered Samantha’s final moments. It didn’t take them long to trace the car, and Rowland was pulled over by officers at 3am on 30 March, barely 24 hours since Samantha had been killed.
Rowland attempted to flee the scene, but didn’t get very far, and the officers quickly apprehended him and took him into custody.
When they searched his car, they found Samantha’s phone, along with bleach and a variety of cleaning equipment. Forensic officers searched deeper and discovered traces of her blood in the trunk, on the passenger seat, and on the back seats of the car.
Following this discovery, the police extended their search to the home of Rowland’s girlfriend, where they found traces of Samantha’s DNA on a two-bladed knife. When Rowland himself was processed, Samantha’s DNA was found beneath his fingernails, supporting the police’s theory there had been an intense struggle between them.
Trial and Sentencing
Rowland entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him, with his defense team arguing the DNA found under his nails could not be conclusively linked to Samantha.
The prosecution presented their evidence to the jury, including testimony from more than 30 witnesses, one of which said they had seen Rowland cleaning the murder weapon following Samantha’s disappearance.
Following the trial, it didn’t take long for the jury to return their verdict, and they swiftly found Rowland guilty in just over 60 minutes of deliberation.
When sentencing occurred, he was handed a sentence of life without parole, Judge Clifton Newman called the case the “most severe murder” he had ever seen, and said of the killer:
“There’s a thousand trails, each that led to you. All of the evidence, each speck of the evidence — not simply beyond a reasonable doubt, but as the highest standard the law requires — all points to your guilt.”
At sentencing, Samantha’s mother, Marci Josephson read a six-minute victim impact statement, in which she said:
“Her dreams were my dreams, and her death was my death. I close my eyes, and I feel what she endured at his hands 120 times, over and over and over, fighting for her life locked in his car. I despise everything about him. His eyes glaring at my family through the trial told me everything I already knew about him. He is pure evil. He’s a monster, he’s evil and pathetic. The excruciating pain he put my daughter through is unimaginable. I am shattered, angry and heartbroken. His ruthless, violent act took a bright light out of my universe and changed many lives forever.”
No-one can imagine the pain Samantha’s family and friends went through as a result of Rowland’s despicable actions, and this senseless crime can never be rationalised.
As her mother told the court, “Samantha fought for her life because her life was worth fighting for.” And Samantha’s life is worth remembering, while Rowland deserves to be banished to the dark corners of history.
The Aftermath
Following Samantha’s death, her parents established the What’s My Name foundation. The foundation works to educate people about ride-share safety, along with supporting charitable foundations and giving out college scholarships.
Her parents have worked tirelessly with lawmakers to advocate for policies which work to enhance safety for ride-share passengers, with several laws having been enacted since Samantha’s death.
In June 2019, Sami’s Law was signed, which requires more identification on ride-share vehicles, including ID placards on the driver and passenger side back windows, with the driver’s name and photo, along with their licence plate number.
Hopefully, women like Samantha can avoid the innocent mistake of stepping into the wrong vehicle and lives can be saved.
Sources: The Sun, Wikipedia, Mirror, The Independent.
