Man jailed for killing a 21-year girl who mistook his car for Uber

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a 21-year-old girl who mistook his car for her Uber ride.

Samantha Josephson had entered the convict Nathaniel Rowland’s car in March 2019 mistaking it to be the Uber ride she had booked for herself to take her from Columbia's Five Points entertainment district back to her apartment.

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Rowland had circled around the block a few times while observing Josephson standing alone waiting for her ride. Once she entered the vehicle, Rowland knowingly turned on the child lock which trapped the girl in the car.

Later, her dead body was found with 120 stab wounds and several cuts and injuries. It was dumped in woodland nearly 65 miles away from the city.

Rowland, however, had argued that he is innocent in this matter but the Circuit Judge Clifton Newman said, "She obviously put up an amazing fight against you and left a sufficient trail for the jury to see what you did", and added that he was not convinced with Rowland’s argument.

Evidence-wise, prosecution experts had been successful in linking Josephson’s blood to the interior of Rowland's car and to the suspected murder weapon (a knife with two blades). Her blood was also found on cleaning supplies that were found in the dustbins behind Rowland’s girlfriend, convict's sock, and bandana.

Video evidence was also shown in which Rowland was captured trying to use the victim’s debit card to sell her mobile phone after committing the crime