Detroit Jewish Leader's Killing Was 'Crime Of Passion,' Defense Says
Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial for a man accused of killing a well-known leader in Detroit's Jewish community. Samantha Woll, a Detroit synagogue leader, was stabbed to death by a burglar who broke into her home after she left her door unlocked in October 2023. Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, is charged with felony murder, home invasion, and lying to police officers in connection to the killing. His lawyer, Brian Brown, claimed that Jackson-bolanos did not commit murder and that the killing was more of a crime of passion than a random killing. Woll's body was found in a pool of blood a few feet from her apartment in Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood. Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey stated that Woll had been stabbed eight times in the head, neck and back inside her apartment after she forgot to lock her door earlier that morning. The trial is expected to resume Wednesday.
发表 : 10 个月前 经过 Dylan Siwicki 在 Politics
Prosecutors said Samantha Woll, a Detroit synagogue leader, was brutally stabbed to death by a burglar who broke into her Detroit home after she left her door unlocked in October 2023 when she returned home from a friend's wedding. Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, was charged with felony murder, home invasion and lying to police officers in connection to the killing. He faces life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.
His lawyer, Brian Brown, said Tuesday during opening statements that Jackson-Bolanos did not commit murder, which he said appeared to be more of a crime of passion than a random killing. Moreover, he indicated that Woll's ex-boyfriend, who was arrested in connection with the crime but was then later released, was more likely the person who killed her. "It was not Michael Jackson-Bolanos who did this," Brown said. "She was stabbed eight times in the neck, in the back of the head, in the back of the neck. To me, that would indicate a crime of passion. This wasn’t just some random person walking into her house trying to steal anything."
Prosecutors said officers found Woll's body lying in a pool of blood from multiple stab wounds from a straight edge knife a few feet from her apartment in Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood at 6:38 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2023. Prosecutors said officers who responded to Woll's home found "a lot of blood" after walking into the apartment, where the front door was left open. They also said there was a lot of blood next to the hallway leading into the living room, and a blood trail leading to Woll’s body outside.
Prosecutors said the security system at Woll's home showed the front door was opened at 1:01 a.m., with no data that it ever closed. They said there was a motion detected in the living room at 1:24 a.m. and then again at 4:20 a.m., which was when prosecutors believe the killing happened. Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey said the medical examiner’s report showed Woll had been stabbed eight times in the head, neck and back inside her apartment after she forgot to lock her door earlier that morning.
"There is a reason we lock our doors at night when we go to sleep. It is because of people who lurk in the night, people who could do us harm," Elsey said during opening statements Tuesday. "The defendant prowled through our community, looking for opportunities to go into spaces that were not his to go into and to take things that were not his to take." Elsey went on to say that Woll's blood was found on a black North Face jacket, which they believe was the same jacket that surveillance cameras caught him wearing earlier that morning on Oct. 21, 2023. Brown argued that Jackson-Bolanos was seen on surveillance camera at 4:23 a.m. walking in front of Greektown casino, suggesting that two-three minutes wasn't enough time to commit the killing inside Woll's home. Brown also said that Woll struggled with her attacker before she was stabbed eight times, something that would have left blood all over him. But video of Jackson-Bolanos doesn't show him covered in blood, Brown said. Elsey also used video and phone records showing Jackson-Bolanos' movements throughout the early morning hours when he was breaking into cars in the area near Woll’s home around the time of her death.
Elsey also noted that Woll’s ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Herbstman, was first arrested in connection with the killing, but was then later released due to a lack of evidence. Elsey said Herbstman was depressed after Woll's killing, eventually suffering a panic attack and confessing to killing Woll, though police found no evidence connecting him to the murder. After Herbstman was arrested in connection with the killing, Elsey said Jackson-Bolanos searched the internet for the phrase "Detroit same day passport," something he said was an apparent attempt to get out of town. Woll was a prominent Jewish leader in Detroit, serving as president of the board of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. Police do not believe antisemitism played a role in the killing. Police also said they don't believe any other groups or people are at risk. The trial is expected to resume Wednesday morning.
话题: Jewish