Jury Deadlocked In Detroit Synagogue Leader's Slaying; Deliberations Continue Next Week

DETROIT, MI — After two days of deliberations, jurors were still deadlocked in the slaying of Detroit Jewish leader Samantha Woll, according to news reports.

The judge ordered the jury to continue working towards a unanimous verdict, and they will reconvene on Monday morning, The Detroit Free Press reported.

Prosecutors say Samantha Woll, 40, a Detroit synagogue leader, was stabbed to death by a burglar after leaving her door unlocked in October 2023 when she returned home from a friend's wedding.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, charged with felony murder, denies killing Woll.

Prosecutors say Jackson-Bolanos had been breaking into vehicles near Woll’s home.

"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," Assistant Prosecutor Ryan 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."

Jackson-Bolanos testified in his own defense, saying he had been walking around, looking for cars that were unlocked the night of Woll's death. He claimed he stumbled upon her body outside her home, saying her blood got on his jacket when he touched her neck to see if she was alive. He also said he never went into her apartment.

Jackson-Bolanos' attorney, Brian Brown, suggested there was not enough police scrutiny of Woll's ex-boyfriend, who was initially arrested in connection with the killing but was later released without charges. Brown said Woll's violent killing was not the work of a burglar.

"She was stabbed eight times in the neck, in the back of the head, in the back of the neck," Brown said earlier in the trial. "To me, that would indicate a crime of passion. This wasn’t just some random person walking into her house trying to steal anything."

Police found Woll's body with multiple stab wounds lying a few feet from her apartment in Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood at 6:38 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2023.

Jurors were not able to reach a verdict Wednesday, and deliberations were paused for the day on Thursday due to a scheduling conflict with one of its members, the Free Press reported.

During deliberations Friday, a juror asked to see transcripts from a witness' testimony, according to CBS News.

The judge told jurors to break for the weekend and return Monday.