Rowland ‘had his eyes firmly transfixed’ on Josephson before her death, prosecutor says

The man accused of killing Samantha Josephson watched and waited for her, circling the block several times before picking her up, a prosecutor said in the opening statement of a murder trial for Nathaniel Rowland.

On the night of Josephson’s disappearance, Rowland was prowling around Five Points in his 2017 black Chevrolet Impala, circling the block several times and even going the wrong way down Saluda Avenue on several cases, said Byron Gipson, the solicitor of the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Once a parking spot opened up near where Josephson was standing on Harden Street, Rowland drove into the parking spot and abducted her, Gipson said.

“He had his eyes firmly transfixed on her,” Gipson said.

Josephson, was a senior at USC who was visiting the popular student neighborhood Five Points late at night in March 2019 when she got into a car she mistakenly believed was her Uber, according to media reports. The next day, hunters found Josephson’s body in a rural part of Clarendon County. An autopsy determined Josephson died of “multiple sharp force injuries” to her upper body, face, neck and more, The State reported previously.

Once found, Josephson’s body had “100 different stab wounds and abrasions across her body,” said Gipson during opening statements Tuesday. Some in the courtroom gasped at the extent of her injuries, which had only been described vaguely before the trial.

Gipson also previewed evidence he said would be backed up by video footage, phone tracking data and more. For one, Josephson’s body was also found just two miles from where Rowland grew up, Gipson said. Two, the stab marks on Josephson’s body matched those of a tool a witness saw Rowland cleaning after Josephson’s body was found.

Earlier Tuesday, a jury of seven women and five men was chosen shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday in the trial.

While an exact demographic breakdown was not immediately available, the jury appears to be diverse. Of the 12 jurors, at least five are Black, six appeared to be white, and one Hispanic. Apparent ages ranged from early 20s to 60s.

Tuesday is the second day of the murder trial, which is being overseen by Judge Clifton Newman. On Monday, Newman and attorneys chipped away at a pool of 1,000 potential jurors. By Tuesday morning, roughly 100 remained. When Newman asked potential jurors who had heard about the case, which made international news in 2019, since yesterday, roughly 20 jurors stood.

Also on Monday, Rowland had initially sought to fire the three public defenders he had for the last two years, but eventually reversed his decision by the end of the day.

This story will be updated.