Bond denied for man accused of kidnapping, killing UofSC student in 2019

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Bond has been denied for the man accused of kidnapping and killing a University of South Carolina student in 2019.

Nathaniel Rowland was arrested in March 2019 and charged with the murder and kidnapping of Samantha Josephson.

The senior from New Jersey was reported missing on March 29 of 2019, after she left a bar in Five Points awaiting an Uber she requested. However, Josephson did not enter the Uber she requested and was found dead in a wooded area in Clarendon County.

Two days after Josephson was reported missing, Rowland was arrested and charged in relation to Josephson’s death.

The attorney for Rowland appeared before a circuit court judge on June 9 at 9:30 a.m. asking for bond to be set. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hearing was conducted remotely via video conferencing.

Josephson’s parents, her sister and her boyfriend gave passionate statements pleading for the judge to deny bond for Rowland.

“He brutally kidnapped and murdered my daughter, my baby. He locked her in the car without any way to escape and tore her apart... He chose his destination the moment he took Sami. He should not get a chance to live in society because he stole her life,” Marci Josephson, Samantha’s mother, said.

“Nightmare after Nightmare. This monster kidnapped and brutally murdered the loved of my life,” Samantha’s boyfriend, Gregory Corbishley, said.

Friends and family of Rowland spoke in his behalf. Roland’s mother and oldest brother, Henry Rowland, Jr., maintained that he was innocent and asked the judge to allow him to have bond.

“The community that he has been raised in he has never caused a threat or anything to this magnitude...We stand behind him 100% because we do believe that he is innocent. We don’t believe that he is capable of doing such as what he’s being accused of," said Henry.

Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, denied bond stating that Roland was a danger to the community. The decision comes more than a year after the kidnapping and murder of Josephson.

Rowland will remain at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center until his next court appearance.

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