This is what I "collected" this past weekend - and will shorten it up after this post.
Monday, July 19th:
*Trial set to begin (@ am ET) - SC - Samantha "Sami" Josephson (21) (last seen on video March 29, 2019 @ ~1:30am, Columbia, found Friday (3/29/21) afternoon in a rural area by turkey hunters in a field near a wooded area about 40 feet off a dirt road along Black Bottom Road close to the town of New Zion in Clarendon County) - *Nathaniel David Rowland (24/now 27) arrested & charged (3/30/19) & indicted (4/18/19) with murder, kidnapping, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, refusal to stop for police command, & possession of 28g or less of marijuana. Plead not guilty. Bond denied.
Trial set to begin 7/19/21 with jury selection.
Josephson was last seen by friends between 1:30am & 2am this morning, 3/29/21 on the 700 block of Harden Street. Shortly after 2am, Josephson was seen on surveillance video getting into a dark (black) vehicle, possibly a newer model (2017) Chevy Impala. Friends said to have gotten into a car shortly after 2am. EDT but “then her Uber was cancelled.” Her phone was tracked to a house in the Rosewood (neighborhood) but she wasn’t there when (her) friends checked in,” the friend told us. When she didn’t show up at her downtown residence & didn’t answer repeated phone calls, her friends became concerned & notified CPD,” police said in a statement.
3/30/19: At a press conference Saturday evening, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said that 25-year-old Nathaniel David Rowland had been charged after a joint investigation by the Clarendon County Sheriff's Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and Columbia police. Just before 4 p.m. Friday, Clarendon County sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a body found in a rural area. Turkey hunters found the body in field near a wooded area about 40 feet off a dirt road. Josephson’s blood was found in the back seat & trunk of the Impala as well as her cell phone found in the passenger compartment.
3/31/19 Update: At a hearing on March 31 at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, Rowland exercised his right not to be present & the judge said his bond hearing would take place at a later date (4/22/19) in General Sessions Court. Rowland is still being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center & has not been offered bond.
4/22/19 Update: Rowland had been scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court at 9am at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia. It was pushed back indefinitely. A preliminary hearing on 5/9/19.
4/18/19 Update: Richland County Grand jury indicted Rowland for murder, kidnapping, refusal to stop for police command, possession of 28g or less of marijuana, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
6/11/20 Update: Video conference. Richland County Judge DeAndrea G. Benjamin said she denied Nathaniel Rowland’s request for bond because he could be considered a danger to society. Tracy Pinnock, the public defender represents Rowland. The prosecution presented a pile of evidence stacked up against Rowland, including: Samantha’s blood and hair found in his car. Rowland seen on video using Samantha’s debit card and attempting to sell her phone in the hours after her death. Samantha’s blood found on his clothes that he was seen wearing on the night of her murder. The murder weapon was found at a home Rowland had visited that evening. Cleaning products and rubber gloves found at his home. Child safety lock was on in the car he was driving. Video showed Samantha getting into Rowland’s black Chevy Impala. Cell phone evidence tracked Rowland and Josephson’s phones in the same locations, including where the body was located. Detectives also found a footprint in the car on the window belonging to Samantha — evidence showing she fought for her life in her last moments.
4/20/21 Update: On Thursday, 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson told the State that Rowland’s trial is tentatively scheduled to start in a Richland County courtroom on July 19. The trial is expected to last a week or more. State Judge Clifton Newman, a trial judge with 21 years on the bench, will preside. Prosecutors include Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, Dan Goldberg, April Sampson & Amanda Gaston. Attorneys from the Richland County Public Defender’s office will represent Rowland. They are Tracy Pinnock, Alicia Goode & Robert Pillinger. Jury selection will begin Monday, 7/19/21.
