A suspect has been charged with the murder of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll, almost two months after she was found brutally stabbed to death outside her home.
The charges against Michael Manuel Jackson-Bolanos, 28, come three days after Detroit Police announced that a person of interest was in custody on Sunday, marking a major breakthrough in the case that has rumbled on unsolved since October and coming after a different man was arrested and released without charge last month.
“In an effort to ensure the integrity of this ongoing investigation, no further details will be released at this time. Additional information will be released in the near future,” police said in a statement on Sunday confirming the arrest.
Mr 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 during a press conference on Wednesday that the suspect did not appear to know the victim and that nothing indicated the murder was a hate crime.
Ms Worthy added that Mr 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 last month in the case, noting that the initial suspect had been cleared from the investigation.
Samantha Woll was brutally murdered at her home in Detroit— (AP)
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.”
Detroit Police Chief James White said that the suspect first came on his department’s radar a few weeks ago while detectives investigated several larcenies.
He was arrested and released before the police department submitted a warrant to the prosecution’s office requesting murder charges against Mr 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, Mr Jackson-Bolanos was taken into custody within an hour.
Woll, 40, was found dead outside her home in the early hours of 21 October. The Jewish synagogue leader had spent the night of 20 October at a wedding, before returning to her home in the Lafayette Park neighbourhood at around 12.30am.
Her body was found outside the home at around 6.30am that morning.
A trail of blood led inside the property, prompting investigators to believe the attack began inside, before she stumbled outside and collapsed from multiple stab wounds.
There was no sign of forced entry at her home, police said.
The attack instantly sparked fears of a hate crime due to the timing of the attack, coming just days after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on 7 October – storming over the border, killing around 1,200 and taking hundreds of hostages back into Gaza.
Police tape blocks access near the scene where Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue president, Samantha Woll, was found dead in Detroit, October 21, 2023.— (AFP via Getty Images)
Woll was the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit and was well-known in the community for working to build bridges between the Jewish and Muslim communities.
Over 1,000 mourners attended her funeral including Michigan Senator Stephanie Chang and Attorney General Dana Nessell, where Woll was remembered for her work uniting the communities.
“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 the eulogy.
Despite concerns that her work may have been a motive for the killing, Detroit police insisted early on in the investigation that there was no evidence of her murder being a hate crime. Investigators pointed out that an Israeli flag hanging on the wall of her home was left untouched in the attack.
