South Carolina man convicted of killing Uber rider in 2019

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Nathaniel Rowland, of South Carolina, was convicted of the 2019 kidnapping and murder of a 21-year-old college student who mistakenly believed his car was on a ride with Uber.

The victim, Samantha Josephson, was a student at the University of South Carolina originally from Robbinsville, New Jersey. Her mother, Marcy Josephson, spoke at Roland’s trial.

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“Her dreams were my dreams, and her death was my death,” said Marcy Josephson. “I close my eyes, and feel what I carried on his hands.”

Prosecutors said Samantha Josephson got into Roland’s car thinking it was an Uber ride that would take her back to her apartment. Instead, she found herself cornered because Roland had childproof locks, investigators said.

She was never seen alive again. Covered with approximately 120 stab wounds, her body was later found in a remote woodland 65 miles from the capture site. The death sheds national light on riding safety and led to some changes, including more high profile displays of driver’s license plates.

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The prosecution spent about a week presenting massive evidence and called nearly thirty witnesses. Experts testified that Josephson’s blood was found inside a Roland Chevrolet Impala as well as the suspected murder weapon.

Other evidence included cellphone tracking data locating Roland on the night of the murder. A forensic scientist testified that DNA collected from Roland’s fingernails matched the victim’s genetic material, and the DNA of both the suspect and the victim was also found on gloves also in the trash.

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The defense called no witnesses, and Roland did not testify. Roland’s defense attorneys noted that scientists weren’t entirely sure that Roland’s DNA was on the knife. His lawyers also argued that although Josephson was fighting her attacker, none of Roland’s DNA was found on her body and he had no visible signs of such a fight after his arrest.

The jury took just over an hour to convict Nathaniel Rowland of the charges.

Before the defense could rest, Roland’s lawyer requested that the charges be dropped because the prosecutors had a circumstantial case – it was never shown that Roland actually killed Josephson nor that he was driving the car when she disappeared.

Circuit Judge Clifton Newman denied the request, saying there was a torrent of direct and circumstantial evidence for a jury to consider.

Roland faces life in prison without parole upon sentencing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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