‘Avalanche’ of evidence presented in Rowland case, prosecutor says in closing statement

Prosecutors are making one last push for the jury to convict Nathaniel Rowland of murder in the death of Samantha Josephson.

Josephson, a former University of South Carolina student, was killed after getting into a car she mistakenly believed was her Uber in the Five Points area of Columbia.

“21-year-old Samantha Josephson did not deserve this. She was a daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, future law student; she was someone who had her whole life in front of her,” prosecutor Dan Goldberg told the jury in his closing statement. “Despite being all of those things, she was literally taken and cut down in the prime of her life.”

Prosecutors emphasized the evidence they presented, which includes DNA evidence showing a virtual certainty that the blood in Rowland’s car was from Josephson; Rowland’s phone traveled from Five Points to where Josephson’s body was found on March 29, 2019; the “unique” weapon used to stab Josephson matches a weapon found in Rowland’s ex-girlfriend’s trash; surveillance video shows Josephson getting into a car that matched the description of Rowland’s; someone wearing the same hoodie as Rowland when he was arrested tried to use Josephson’s debit card at two ATMs, and the testimony of a phone repair company owner saying Rowland tried to sell Josephson’s phone just hours after she was killed.

Goldberg noted the prosecution is charged with finding the burden of proof.

“This case, more than perhaps any other, the state has met that burden,” Goldberg said. Echoing Judge Clifton Newman’s comments on Monday, Goldberg cited the “avalanche of direct and circumstantial evidence” against Rowland.

Throughout the closing statements, Josephson’s family held hands, cried and comforted one another.

In order for somebody else to have killed Josephson, the killer would have needed to have access to Rowland’s clothes, his phone, his car and the passcode on his phone without Rowland knowing, Goldberg said. Then, that person would have had to abduct and kill Josephson, steal her ATM card and wear Rowland’s clothes while trying to access her bank account.

That person would then have to drive Rowland’s car to a remote location in New Zion just a mile from Rowland’s family home, that only locals knew about, to dump the body. After that, the person would have had to leave Josephson’s rose gold iPhone in Rowland’s car and return the Impala, soaked in blood, to Rowland without him knowing.

“Is it reasonable to believe any of that?” Goldberg said.