What we know about the killing of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll
Samantha Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home on 21 October. Two months on, Detroit police have made an arrest in the case. Andrea Blanco reports
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Your support makes all the difference.Just a mile from the Michigan synagogue that she had led since last year, Samantha Woll’s lifeless body was found in the early morning hours of 21 October. Outside her home in the Lafayette Park neighbourhood, Detroit police officers followed a trail of blood to the disturbing scene.
The brutal stabbing of the beloved president at Isaac Agree Downtown synagogue shocked the local community and city officials, who remembered her as a beacon of light in the community who sought to build bridges between Jews and Muslims.
Police Chief James White announced early into the investigation that few details would be shared publicly to protect the probe. But just two weeks later, the department announced the arrest of a suspect who was eventually released without charge as the case appeared to become stagnant again.
A major breakthrough came on 10 December after a different man, identified as 28-year-old Michael Manuel Jackson-Bolanos, was arrested.
Jackson-Bolanos, who has entered a not-guilty plea, is accused of brutally stabbing Woll at least eight times as he carried out car robberies in her neighbourhood.
Here’s everything we know about the case so far:
What do we know about the stabbing?
Law enforcement said that police received a 911 call reporting a person lying on the ground unresponsive around 6.30am on 21 October.
When officers arrived at the scene, they followed a trail of blood that led them to Woll’s residence.
Woll was stabbed multiple times inside her home. It is believed she then stumbled outside the house and eventually collapsed on the sidewalk.
Prosecutors alleged during Jackson-Bolanos’ court hearing on 13 December that the suspect used a “straight edge cutting instrument” to stab Woll more than eight times in the head and neck, The Detroit News reports.
A coat found in the apartment of Jackson-Bolanos’ girlfriend had Woll’s blood on it, said Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey.
“[It appeared to] be consistent with the very same jacket he was wearing that night when she was killed,” Ms Elsey told the court.
Investigators believe the suspect acted alone and did not know the victim.
Woll was last seen attending a wedding on the evening of 20 October, which she left at around 12.30am.
“By all accounts, she was not in any discomfort, she was her normal pleasant self,” Chief White initially told reporters.
Surveillance footage in the neighbourhood does not point directly at residences, making it difficult for investigators to determine who was in the vicinity of Woll’s home around the time she was killed.
Chief White said on 13 December that investigators had reviewed countless hours of video and other evidence before a second arrest was made on 10 December.
“We were able to link him to a number of larcenies,” Chief White said. “And then when we brought him for questioning, some concerns came up. We released him but we knew his whereabouts, we knew his movements. At no time was anyone in our community in danger.”
Michael Jackson-Bolanos charged with Woll’s murder
On 10 December, the Detroit Police Department announced a second arrest in the case. Three days later, the name of the suspect was revealed during a press conference in which officials said that Jackson-Bolanos first came on their radar three weeks before he was apprehended on murder charges.
Jackson-Bolanos is facing charges of felony murder, home invasion and one count of lying to law enforcement. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L Worthy said that Jackson-Bolanos was suspected of carrying out vehicular thefts near Woll’s residence on the day she was killed.
The prosecutor also addressed an arrest made in November, noting that the initial suspect had been cleared from the investigation.
That first person of interest was taken into custody in Kalamazoo, Michigan on 8 November. The man – who has never been identified by authorities – was released three days later without charge, as the 72-hour charging window closed.
“Investigations don’t usually happen in the 44-minute [timeframe of a] TV show,” Ms Worthy said. “They take time, they take effort, they take passion, they take experience. We look at everything. police look at every angle. There was an incredible amount of work that was done.”
Chief White said that the suspect first came on his department’s radar while detectives investigated several larcenies.
He was arrested on suspicion of larcenies and released before the police department submitted a warrant to the prosecution’s office requesting murder charges against Jackson-Bolanos. Chief White said that investigators had reviewed countless hours of video and other evidence before the arrest was made.
“We were able to link him to a number of larcenies,” Chief White said. “And then when we brought him for questioning, some concerns came up. We released him but we knew his whereabouts, we knew his movements. At no time was anyone in our community in danger.”
The chief said that once his department obtained the information needed to make an arrest in Woll’s murder, Jackson-Bolanos was taken into custody within an hour.
Jackson-Bolanos entered a not-guilty plea during his arraignment on 13 December. His attorney told reporters that his client was innocent and the victim of circumstantial evidence, also noting the previous arrest made in the case.
“It’s pretty significant that they originally arrested an individual prior to arresting my client, I’m going to be looking at the circumstances around that,” Jackson-Bolanos’ attorney Brian Brown said, The Detroit Free Press. “Truthfully, I think it was a lot of publicity this case was receiving, a lot of pressure on the Detroit Police Department to hopefully come up with somebody and my client maintains his innocence — and I think he was just a victim of circumstance and not an individual who perpetrated this crime.”
According to the Department of Corrections, Jackson-Bolanos was convicted of receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle in 2019, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He spent two years on probation and went on to serve four years in prison over a similar offence, the Free Press reports.
Who was Samantha Woll?
Woll led the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue since 2022.
She has been remembered by loved ones as a leader who worked to unite people through her interfaith work. Dawud Walid, president of the Council on American Islamic Relations’s Michigan chapter, called Woll’s death a “tragic loss” and praised her efforts to unite the Jewish and Muslim communities in Detroit.
“We are troubled by the apparent homicide of Samantha Woll, a beloved leader within her faith community in Metro Detroit,” Mr Walid said in a statement. “We also send our sincere condolences to her family and friends and to the Detroit Jewish community as a whole for the tragic loss.”
According to a 2017 article by The Detroit Jewish News, Woll was “instrumental in the founding of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit,” an alliance that helps build bonds between Jewish and Muslim youth.
“By extending her hand and creating space for connection between Muslims and Jews, she has exemplified the values of healing the world,” the article read.
More than 1,000 people attended Woll’s funeral, the Detroit Free Press reports. Senator Stephanie Chang and AG Nessell were among the attendees who delivered heartfelt eulogies during the service.
“Sam did more for our community, our state, our world, our lives in her short time here on Earth than most will ever accomplish in 1,000 lifetimes,” Ms Nessel said in her eulogy, according to The New York Times.
Sen Chang also said that Woll had devoted her time to listening to Muslim and Jewish members of her community following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. Meanwhile, Woll’s sister Monica Woll Rosen shared with mourners how the slain synagogue president “fought for everyone.”
“You sent hearts to cheer people up and let them know you’re thinking of them — because you cared,” Ms Woll Rosen said, revealing that a friend of her late sister had received flowers from her on the day of her death, according to The New York Post.
“That was you, Sam,” Ms Woll Rosen added. “You didn’t even ask. You just sent flowers and signed 10 other people’s names because you knew it would make the receiver happy — and the others would have wanted to say happy birthday if they knew it was your birthday.”
After prosecutors identified the suspect, Woll’s family issued a statement thanking law enforcement for their work in the investigation.
“Our family is sincerely grateful to the hard-working women and men of the DPD Homicide Task Force who worked around the clock for weeks to thoroughly investigate this tragic crime,” Brian Legghio, the family’s attorney, said on their behalf. “Through their dedication and tireless efforts we firmly believe that they have successfully solved this senseless crime. We cannot thank them enough.”
In the immediate aftermath of the killing, Chief White had said that there were no signs of forced entry. However, the chief of police has since said that Woll’s door was found “ajar and unlocked, and a significant amount of blood was inside.”
Unanswered questions in the probe
A motive in Woll’s murder has yet to be established.
DPD has ruled out an antisemitic attack, previously saying that an Israel flag at Woll’s home was left untouched. A source had initially told CNN that the murder was thought to have arisen from a domestic dispute, but the source did not elaborate on what led them to that belief.
However, during the press conference on 13 December, authorities seemed to walk back from that characterisation, saying that they believed there were no connections between the suspect and Woll previous to the killing. Chief White declined questions from reporters on whether the killing had been circumstantial or targeted, and if Woll had tried to defend herself.
He also did not elaborate on earlier remarks that there were no signs of forced entry. Authorities had initially described the main crime scene as the sidewalk where Woll’s body was found, noting that it was believed she was attacked inside her home but a larger amount of blood was found outside.
The chief of police has since said that Woll’s door was found “ajar and unlocked, and a significant amount of blood was inside.”
Ms Worthy declined to speak on potential motives behind the killing, saying that she didn’t want to jeopardise the future criminal trial.
The prosecutor also pushed back against suggestions that the previous unsuccessful arrest could impact the ongoing criminal process, but did not answer why that person of interest, who has since been exonerated, was arrested in the first place,
“We have to investigate every avenue even though we may think that we have the right person in custody — we know that we do today — we have to investigate any and all suspects or persons of interest that may come forward,” Ms Worthy said. “We don’t want to leave any stone unturned. And that means we may have to look at other people, even if it’s believed at the time that they’re not the right one for this case.”
Authorities have asked anyone with information to reach investigators at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
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