Judge dismisses murder charge in Detroit synagogue leader’s killing

A man is now free of charges of killing a Detroit synagogue president after a jury cleared him of one murder count and deadlocked on another, forcing a judge to dismiss much of the case.

Michigan 3rd Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten on Friday dropped one count apiece of felony murder and home invasion against Michael Jackson-Bolanos, who was charged in the killing in December.

That leaves the unanswered question of who killed Samantha Woll.

Detroit’s Jewish community was shocked into mourning Oct. 21, when the 40-year-old Woll was found stabbed to death on her driveway. Federal officials said antisemitic and anti-Muslim attacks spiked in October – the same month that Hamas’ attack on Israel led to war in Gaza – but Detroit Police Chief James E. White has said from the start there’s no evidence of her religion being the motive.

Woll led the board of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. She had also worked for years in Democratic politics, according to her LinkedIn page, including time as a deputy district director for Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

Early on the morning of Oct. 21, Jackson-Bolanos was looking for cars to break into, he told investigators, when he came upon Woll’s body. He testified last month that he checked for her breath but found none and that he got blood on his hand when he touched her neck. He then fled the scene to avoid drawing attention to what he was doing in the neighborhood.

Two weeks after the killing, Woll’s ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Herbstman called 911, saying he may have killed Woll but didn’t remember, the Detroit Free Press reported. At trial, Herbstman said his distraught call was an “adverse reaction” to doubling his dose of a new antidepressant and being high on marijuana. He was detained for questioning and released.

Prosecutors announced the charges against Jackson-Bolanos on Dec. 13, less than two months after Woll was found dead. There was no evidence that Jackson-Bolanos knew Woll, said Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy at a news conference to announce the charges.

Jackson-Bolanos went to trial facing four charges: premeditated murder, felony murder, home invasion and lying to a peace officer.

He initially told investigators that he had not come into contact with Woll, according to his testimony last month, and later admitted to having touched her body after encountering a “dark figure” on the ground.

The trial ended July 18, with the jury acquitting Jackson-Bolanos, 29, of the premeditated murder and finding him guilty of lying but unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the other two charges.

Van Houten dismissed the other charges Friday, citing a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case that centers on partial verdicts. Yeager v. United States found that if a jury can’t reach a unanimous decision, then a defendant cannot be retried on deadlocked charges that share the same legal basis as the main charge.

Wayne County prosecutors will ask an appeals court to consider the case, Worthy’s office’s spokeswoman Maria Miller told The Washington Post on Saturday.

Van Houten did sentence him to a minimum of 18 months and a maximum of 15 years for lying to police.

Brian Brown, the attorney representing Jackson-Bolanos, told The Post that they will appeal what he called an unfair sentence.

“In this case, she went far beyond,” Brown said.

Van Houten said during sentencing that Jackson-Bolanos lied early and often.

“If lying was an Olympic sport, you would get the gold medal, sir, because you told lie after lie after lie throughout those interviews and interrogations,” she said.

The judge cited Jackson-Bolanos’ prior convictions in justifying the sentence, saying he had become a “habitual” offender.

Jackson-Bolanos will get credit for his 243 days already served, Van Houten ruled Friday.

No one else has been charged in the killing.

Woll’s synagogue did not respond to a request for comment Saturday, which is a sabbath day of rest when observant Jews step away from electronics and other technology.

But the synagogue has previously posted the text of Rabbi Ariana Silverman’s eulogy for Woll, in which she said: “Many people think of her as someone with whom they had a particularly close or important relationship, and each of them is right.”

Woll ran a mile a day no matter the weather, loved opera and classical music, helped start an interfaith forum and spent four summers working at a rape crisis center in Israel, Hour Detroit reported.

About 1,000 people attended Woll’s funeral, according to the magazine. People waited to heap dirt onto her grave. As is Jewish custom, mourners used the back of the shovel – to reinforce how hard it is to bury someone they love.