Michael Jackson-Bolanos pleads not guilty to Samantha Woll murder

Michael Jackson-Bolanos is thought to be a total stranger to Woll, the well-known Detroit synagogue leader

SAMANTHA WOLL UPDATE

A suspect has finally been arrested and charged with the murder of well-loved synagogue leader Samantha Woll almost two months after she was brutally stabbed to death at her home.

On Wednesday, 28-year-old Michael Jackson-Bolanos was charged with felony murder, home invasion and lying to police.

Local prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a press conference that the suspect had no prior connection to the victim and that the killing was not believed to be a hate crime.

Jackson-Bolanos maintained his innocence and entered a not-guilty plea on Wednesday.

At his arraignment, new details were revealed about Woll’s murder – and the evidence allegedly linking Mr Jackson-Bolanos to the crime scene.

Woll was stabbed eight times in the attack at her home in Lafayette Park on 21 October, prosecutors said. The attack began inside her home before she stumbled outside and collapsed in the street.

Prosecutors described her murder as a “crime of opportunity” when Mr Jackson-Bolanos was allegedly “prowling” the neighbourhood stealing from cars and came across her open front door.

Woll’s blood has allegedly been found on a jacket that the suspect was wearing on the night of the murder, the court heard.

Key points

• Michael Jackson-Bolanos charged with murder
• Detroit police find no evidence of hate crime in Jewish synagogue leader’s death
• First person of interest released without charge
• What happened to Samantha Woll?

[14 December 2023 23:00 · Andrea Blanco]

What charges is Michael Jackson-Bolanos facing?

Michael Jackson-Bolanos was charged on Wednesday over the murder of Samantha Woll. These are the charges:

- one count of committing a felony murder during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a larceny and/or a first-degree home invasion

- one count of home invasion

- one count of lying to a Peace Officer during a four-year or more crime investigation

[15 December 2023 01:00 · Andrea Blanco]

PICTURED: Michael Jackson-Bolanos is charged with murder of Samantha Woll

(Michigan DOC)

[15 December 2023 02:00 · Andrea Blanco]

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.

[15 December 2023 03:00 · Andrea Blanco]

WATCH: 28-year-old Detroit man with history of larceny charged in the murder of Samantha Woll

[15 December 2023 04:00 · Andrea Blanco]

The key piece of evidence that finally caught suspect in Samantha Woll’s murder

Chilling details have emerged around how police finally caught the suspect accused of killing Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, was charged with felony murder, home invasion and lying to police on Wednesday – almost two months after Woll was found dead from multiple stab wounds outside her home in Lafayette Park.

Mr Jackson-Bolanos – who has no connection to the victim – had been on the radar of law enforcement for some time before his arrest over the weekend.

He appeared in court for his arraignment on Wednesday, where prosecutors revealed what evidence allegedly ties him to the murder.

[15 December 2023 05:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Suspect’s attorney says he is ‘a victim of circumstances’

“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.”

[15 December 2023 06:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Man charged with murder of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll

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.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

[15 December 2023 07:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Michael Jackson-Bolanos first came on police’s radar three weeks ago

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.”

[15 December 2023 08:00 · Andrea Blanco]

WATCH: Man charged for synagogue leader murder

[15 December 2023 09:30 · Andrea Blanco]

What we know about the killing of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll

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.

Two days after the murder, Police Chief James White declared that few details about the investigation would be shared publicly to protect the probe. He said the killing was not believed to be motivated by antisemitism, and that persons of interest were being looked at.

The case then went quiet for over two weeks before police announced the arrest of a suspect on 8 November. However, that suspect was released without charge as the case appeared to go cold yet again.

A major breakthrough in the case came after a different man, identified as 28-year-old Michael Manuel Jackson-Bolanos, was arrested on 10 December.

Here’s everything we know about the case so far: