DETROIT (WWJ) — Jury deliberations are set to begin Wednesday morning in the murder trial of Michael Jackson-Bolanos, the man accused of fatally stabbing Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll last October.
After four weeks of testimony, the prosecution and defense teams delivered closing statements Tuesday morning and afternoon before the jury was read its final instructions.
Jackson-Bolanos is charged with felony murder, first-degree murder, home invasion and lying to police in connection with Woll’s death. Woll, the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside her home in Detroit’s Lafayette Park neighborhood on Oct. 21, 2023.
As he has since the trial began in early June, defense attorney Brian Brown said during his closing arguments Tuesday that Woll’s killing was “a crime of passion.” He said despite the 29-year-old Jackson-Bolanos admitting he came across her body outside her home, he is not guilty.
“Mr. Michael Jackson-Bolanos had nothing — absolutely nothing — to do with the death of Samantha Woll. This case involves the wrong person who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Brown said.
Jackson-Bolanos took the stand last week and resumed testifying on Monday. The defense admits he was out breaking into cars the night Woll was killed, but says he stumbled across her body, checked for a pulse and then fled in a state of “panic” when he discovered she was dead.
That’s why, the defense argues, Woll’s blood was found on a jacket he was wearing that night.
But in his closing argument rebuttal, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Ryan Elsey told the jury Jackson-Bolanos was indeed guilty.
“This theory is his lotto ticket. Do not cash it for him. He wants to say that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The only person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time on Oct. 21, 2023 was Samantha Woll because this man was prowling through the night and he’s the one that killed her. Make him answer for it,” Elsey said.
Over the course of four weeks the prosecution laid out evidence that shows Jackson-Bolanos had been “prowling” through the Detroit night on Oct. 21 and came across her door that had been left open.
Prosecutors argue he went inside to rob her home and at some point during the home invasion he stabbed her eight times in the head and neck. The defense, meanwhile, argued that evidence inside the home — including her purse, wallet, laptop and other items left behind — suggest it was not a robbery.
The defense has suggested three other people who may be suspects in Woll’s murder, including her ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Herbstman. He told police during what he described as a “full-on panic attack” that he thought he may have killed Woll but didn’t remember doing it.
Brown also said Aaron Pergament, a man she went on multiple dates with, is a possible suspect, as Woll’s sister said, without evidence, was stalking her. Brown also said Brett Foreman, a friend who talked with a mutual friend about how he would hypothetically get away with murder, is also a possible suspect.
“I can’t tell you what exactly happened inside of Samantha Woll’s apartment… But you don’t need to know exactly what happened to know that she was murdered and to know that the defendant is the murderer,” Elsey said.
Jury members will return to court to begin deliberations Wednesday morning.
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