Samantha Woll murder: Prosecutors charge man for killing Detroit synagogue leader

The man accused of killing Detroit synagogue board president Samantha Woll has been charged with her murder, the authorities announced on Wednesday (Dec 13). The indictment comes nearly two months after the accused, identified as Michael Jackson-Bolanos, broke into Woll's house and inflicted multiple stab wounds upon her.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy cleared that it was not a hate crime and that the accused did not know the victim. Earlier reports had stated that Jackson-Bolanos attempted the murder as he was motivated by antisemitism in the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war.

"There's not a shred of evidence to suggest this was a hate crime," Worthy said at a news conference, adding: “There are no facts to suggest this defendant knew Ms Woll."

“This was an extraordinarily sad and tragic case. This takes time. We never want to rush to judgment."

Apart from the murder charge, Jackson-Bolanos faces additional charges of breaking in and entering without permission and lying to a peace officer.

Attorney Brian Brown, representing Jackson-Bolanos filed a non-guilty plea as the authorities sent the accused to jail without bond.

“I don’t necessarily agree with the charges. We’ll wait for the evidence," Brown was quoted as saying byAssociated Press.

Murder of Samantha Woll

Samantha Woll, 40, was the president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. On Saturday (Oct 21), Samantha was found dead outside her Detroit home a few hours after returning from the wedding. However, authorities believe the attack happened inside the house.

Samantha lived at Lafayette Park, a neighbourhood east of downtown, in Detroit, Michigan. The police found her dead at her house after they responded to a 911 call about a person who was unresponsive early in the morning.

They were informed that she attended a wedding the night before her murder and left around 12:30 am GMT. The investigators believe Samantha was stabbed inside the house, following which she stumbled outside.

Notably, before Jackson-Bolanos, the police had arrested another suspect who was released 72 hours after being in custody.

She had also worked for Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. Woll also participated in the re-election campaign of Attorney General Dana Nessel.

(With inputs from agencies)