Man ordered to stand trial in slaying of Detroit synagogue leader
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/01/2024 (964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
DETROIT (AP) — The man accused of slaying a Detroit synagogue leader whose body was found in October outside her home will face trial, a judge ordered Tuesday.
There’s enough evidence to bind Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, over to circuit court on murder, home invasion and lying to police charges, Judge Kenneth King of Detroit’s 36th District Court found. King also added a first-degree premeditated murder charge.
Jackson-Bolanos is accused of fatally stabbing Samantha Woll, a killing that drew attention in part because it came amid the Israel-Hamas war and some speculated it may be linked. That theory, however, has been repeatedly knocked down by authorities, even before Jackson-Bolanos’ arrest.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has said there is not a “shred of evidence” that Woll was killed as a result of antisemitism or any hate crime. She has also said the two did not know each other.
Woll, 40, was president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. She was found dead outside her home east of downtown hours after returning from a wedding. Investigators believe she was attacked inside the residence.
“She was the victim of a brutal attack,” King said Tuesday. “This place was covered with blood all over. This kind of thing should not happen anywhere, let alone in the city of Detroit.”
Police initially arrested another person, but that person was released in November. Jackson-Bolanos, of Detroit, was charged in December.
Police Chief James White has said Jackson-Bolanos came to the attention of investigators trying to solve larcenies in the area.
Testimony Tuesday focused on video surveillance collected by police investigators from downtown and near-east side security cameras before and after the slaying.
The prosecutor’s office said Jackson-Bolanos’ cellphone placed him near Woll’s home. They said a small amount of blood was found on a jacket that belonged to him and was seen on surveillance video.
But Jackspon-Bolanos’ defense attorney, Brian Brown, said prosecutors still failed to prove his client killed Woll.
“They threw a theory out there, an assumption of what happened,” he told King.
King even questioned the small amount of blood found on the jacket.
“This place is literally covered in blood,” the judge said.
Jackson-Bolanos is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 30 in Wayne County Circuit Court. He was ordered Tuesday to remain in jail.
Besides her work for the synagogue, Woll had worked for Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and on the political campaign of state Attorney General Dana Nessel.