At Robbinsville vigil for student killed in S.C., father calls driver ‘monster’

ROBBINSVILLE —The father of the University of South Carolina student was was killed after getting into the wrong car called his daughter's accused killer a "monster" and a "murderer."

"I use that word because that's what he did," Seymour Josephson said Tuesday evening as this Mercer County municipality gathered to remember 21-year-old Samantha Josephson in a vigil four days after her slaying.

"It was a strong word. It eats up inside me. But I want it out there because he was a monster. I don't want anyone else to go through it as a parent," he said.

About 300 residents, relatives and friends from South Carolina gathered at the Town Center Lake Gazebo on a chilly night to remember the USC senior whose body was found in rural South Carolina. Josephson was last seen after midnight Friday getting into a Chevrolet Impala outside a nightclub in Columbia. Friends have said that she believed she was getting into an Uber car that she had hailed.

Police have charged Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, with murder. Rowland was arrested early Saturday morning as he returned to the Five Points section of Columbia. Josephson's blood and cell phone were found in Rowland's vehicle, along with bleach, germicidal wipes and window cleaner, police said.

The victim's father on Tuesday also talked about his hope that ride share companies will increase their security features.
Her boyfriend, who gave his name as Greg, recounted through tears how he had been on the phone with her moments before she got into the vehicle. He said he was tracking her to make sure she got home safely.

"I immediately knew there was something wrong. Unfortunately, I was two-and-a-half hours away. I would do anything to go back," he said.

Over a dozen friends from home and from school told stories of her love of Justin Bieber, how she had broken both wrists, the times with family and summers at a friend's home on Long Beach Island, and the creations she made with items from Trader Joe's.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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