Michael Jackson-Bolanos, charged with the murder of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll, denies involvement, claiming he found her body outdoors but did not enter her home.
Detroit, Bollywood Fever: Michael Jackson-Bolanos, charged with the murder of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll, vehemently denied any involvement during his trial on Wednesday. Jackson-Bolanos insisted that he never entered Woll’s home but discovered her bloody body outside.
Woll’s murder initially sparked speculation about antisemitic motives amid the Israel-Hamas war, but police quickly dismissed this theory.
On the stand, Jackson-Bolanos acknowledged not calling the police after finding Woll. “When I realized she was dead I wanted nothing to do with the entire situation,” he explained. “I’m a Black guy in the middle of the night breaking into cars and I found myself standing in front of a dead white woman. That doesn’t look good at all.”
This testimony was pivotal in a trial heavily reliant on circumstantial evidence. Police linked Jackson-Bolanos to the crime through spots of Woll’s blood on his jacket. Surveillance footage showed him in the area, though no evidence placed him inside Woll’s home.
Woll, 40, was discovered outside her home, east of downtown Detroit, hours after attending a wedding. Investigators believe she was attacked inside but managed to reach outside before collapsing. She suffered multiple stab wounds and head injuries. Jurors saw images of her blood-smeared townhouse floor.
Jackson-Bolanos recounted that he was attempting to break into cars at 4 a.m. when he stumbled upon Woll’s body. He suggested this was how her blood ended up on his coat. “I didn’t shake the body,” he said. “I just checked the neck — no air, no breath or nothing. Once I realized I just touched a dead person I just grabbed the bag and I left.”
With a history of criminal convictions, Jackson-Bolanos expressed his fear of calling the police, worried about explaining his presence at the scene.
Initially, police arrested a former boyfriend of Woll, who had made a hysterical 911 call, expressing uncertainty about his involvement in her death due to memory lapses. However, he testified, attributing his confusion to an adverse reaction to medication.
Woll’s sister, Monica Rosen, told police of another man stalking Woll but later testified that she had no factual basis for that claim, describing her sister as “the epitome of good” with no known enemies.
Samantha Woll was the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and active in Democratic politics, working for U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and state Attorney General Dana Nessel. Governor Gretchen Whitmer described Woll as a “beacon in her community.”
The trial, which started on June 11, is set to continue on Monday.
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