VERDICT IS IN

Fake Uber Driver Found Guilty in South Carolina College Student’s Murder

A jury on Tuesday convicted Nathaniel Rowland for kidnapping and killing 21-year-old Samantha Josephson, who mistook his vehicle for her ride.

A South Carolina jury on Tuesday found Nathaniel Rowland guilty of murder and kidnapping in the March 2019 killing of University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson, local ABC affiliate WOLO reported. After an evening out in Columbia, South Carolina’s Five Points neighborhood, Josephson got into the back of Rowland’s black Chevrolet Impala after mistaking it for an Uber. Rowland, 27, then trapped Josephson, 21, in the car by turning on the child locks, which made the rear doors impossible to open from the inside. Detectives later discovered Josephson’s blood and cellphone in Rowland’s vehicle; her body was found in a wooded area 65 miles away, with some 120 stab wounds and just 20 milliliters of blood left. (A typical human body contains at least 4 liters, said the doctor who conducted the autopsy on Josephson.) A motive has never been revealed, and Rowland had no prior criminal convictions. Josephson’s death spurred South Carolina lawmakers to establish criminal penalties for predators who impersonate ride-share drivers.