MI - Samantha Woll, a Detroit synagogue president, fatally stabbed *Arrest*

[Dotta]

"Brown and Elsey both said there was a witness who heard a woman speaking loudly around 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21.

Elsey said the man thought it was an older woman’s voice he heard.

But Brown said the witness
'tried to convince himself he did not hear Samantha Woll scream or make a statement'.

He said the witness changed his statement
and said it couldn’t have been around 1:30 a.m. and thought it was earlier based on when he let his dogs out and went back to sleep."

Samantha Woll killed in 'crime of passion,' defense claims at start of murder trial

Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 29, is charged with stabbing Samantha Woll eight times and killing her in October 2023 during a home invasion.

eu.detroitnews.com

 

[PalmerPark]

"Brown and Elsey both said there was a witness who heard a woman speaking loudly around 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21.

Elsey said the man thought it was an older woman’s voice he heard.

But Brown said the witness
'tried to convince himself he did not hear Samantha Woll scream or make a statement'.

He said the witness changed his statement
and said it couldn’t have been around 1:30 a.m. and thought it was earlier based on when he let his dogs out and went back to sleep."

Samantha Woll killed in 'crime of passion,' defense claims at start of murder trial

Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 29, is charged with stabbing Samantha Woll eight times and killing her in October 2023 during a home invasion.

eu.detroitnews.com

First of all, the neighbor's watch data showed that he walked outside (3 buildings away from Samantha's --something like 300+ yards away) -- from 1:22 to 1:26 a.m. We also know that Samantha was INSIDE her home using the phone from 1:29 to 1:36a.m. (during which time no motion was detected on her security system). The neighbor also testified that he later recognized the sound he heard on the night of Sam's death as coming from protestors at Greektown chanting over a megaphone. So there's that.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Though I understand why this would anger people, I just look at it objectively.

The defense attorney is duty bound to present a plausible alternative theory that he or she thinks a jury might accept. This defendant might not have given him or her much to work with in regards to plausible alternative theories.

So, the plausible alterative theory defaults to: Another male from the victim's dating history could have committed the crime.... . In the end, if this is the best plausible alternative theory, the defense attorney would not be fulfilling their oath if they did not present it.

Excellent post! Unlike the policy here on Websleuths, courts are not necessarily "victim-friendly".

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Herbstman has since said he was at his home when Samantha Woll was killed and his cellphone was with him.

Brown: "You stated that some suspects leave their cellular devices at home when they go out to commit a crime."

"That is a possibility, yes," Martinez said.

Brown continued to try to create reasonable doubt - questioning the detective about another ex-boyfriend.

Brown: "Aaron Pergament had a key to Samantha Woll's residence - isn't that correct?"

"Yes," Martinez said.

Brown: "Aaron Pergament was being deceitful when asked about that key to Samantha Woll's house by Officer Crenshaw - correct?"

"Yes," Martinez said.

Brown: "That particular key was never returned back to Samantha Woll - correct?"

"Yes," he said.

Samantha Woll murder: Defense deflects attention toward search of her ex-boyfriend's home

On Thursday in court, body camera video of police at the Detroit home of Samantha Woll's ex-boyfriend on November 8th was shown in court.

www.fox2detroit.com

 

[PalmerPark]

Herbstman has since said he was at his home when Samantha Woll was killed and his cellphone was with him.

Brown: "You stated that some suspects leave their cellular devices at home when they go out to commit a crime."

"That is a possibility, yes," Martinez said.

Brown continued to try to create reasonable doubt - questioning the detective about another ex-boyfriend.

Brown: "Aaron Pergament had a key to Samantha Woll's residence - isn't that correct?"

"Yes," Martinez said.

Brown: "Aaron Pergament was being deceitful when asked about that key to Samantha Woll's house by Officer Crenshaw - correct?"

"Yes," Martinez said.

Brown: "That particular key was never returned back to Samantha Woll - correct?"

"Yes," he said.

Samantha Woll murder: Defense deflects attention toward search of her ex-boyfriend's home

On Thursday in court, body camera video of police at the Detroit home of Samantha Woll's ex-boyfriend on November 8th was shown in court.

www.fox2detroit.com

So what? There is no evidence that Jeff or Aaron or anyone else was at Sam's condo when she was murdered. You know who was though? The guy who was wearing surgical gloves and had a knife on him; the guy who was breaking into cars, including one in Sam's parking lot, and stabbed the tires; the guy who was seen on surveillance footage running away from the scene of the crime 3 minutes after her security system detected motion; the guy who had Sam's blood on his jacket and backpack; the guy who got mad at his gf during a recorded jail house call when she talked about washing his jacket; the guy who was googling how to get a "same day" passport in Detroit right after police released Jeff from custody (and long before he was on police's radar). That guy is the defendant, Michael Jackson-Bolanos.

All of the other "evidence" that people are talking about as raising "reasonable doubt" as to the Defendant's guilt can be easily reconciled. The neighbor who claimed he heard a woman's voice at "1:30am" later explained that he recognized as chants coming from protestors via a megaphone near Greektown. His watch data shows that he was outside--THREE BUILDINGS and 300+ yards away--from Sam's condo from 1:22 to 1:26am. But we KNOW Sam was in her home and alive at that time because she was on her phone until 1:36am. We also know that she was home alone because she fell asleep on the couch with her cellphone and there was no motion detected in her home from 1:24 until 4:20am. In other words, she was on the couch using her phone and no motion was detected.

Jeff's confession doesn't mean anything. The police thoroughly investigated any connection and found none. It seems obvious that he had a psychotic break and his confession was false. -I will be interested to see if they have evidence from Jeff's home security cameras confirming that he was at his home all night.

The bottom line is that ALL the evidence points to Sam being killed at the very moment that ONLY the defendant was at her home with the means and opportunity to kill her. The evidence (so far) supports this conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt.

Have you ever seen video footage of a prison shanking? It can (and does) happen very quickly--a matter of seconds. I believe that this ghastly situation was no different. MJB entered the home, triggered the motion sensor when he reached the living room, was surprised/confronted by Sam, stabbed her and left her for dead. This was not a crime of "passion" -- in which case you would expect someone to have sustained more wounds than was necessary to kill them. Here, Sam may have lived for up to an hour after receiving a series of wounds that were not immediately fatal. Everyone needs to accept the fact that MJB was able to trigger the motion sensor at Sam's at 4:20am/come into contact with Sam's blood and was seen ~3 minutes later running across the Monroe Street bridge a couple blocks away. We KNOW he can (and did) do that. The only question is did he have enough time to also stab her 8 times? To me the answer is OF COURSE he did; it would've only taken him a matter of SECONDS.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Cell phone records place suspect near Samantha Woll's home around suspected murder time

Samantha Woll was killed Oct. 21 and was stabbed eight times in the head and neck.

www.detroitnews.com

Detroit — Cell phone records place the man accused of killing Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll in the area of her home around the time prosecutors say she was killed, according to testimony from an FBI agent who reviewed the data.

FBI Special Agent Bryan Toltzis went through the GPS data Tuesday morning from Michael Jackson-Bolanos’ cell phone from midnight through 7 a.m. Oct. 21, when Woll was found dead outside her Lafayette Park townhouse by a neighbor. She had been stabbed eight times in the head and neck.

At the same time as Woll’s alarm system detected motion in her living room, at 4:20 a.m. Oct. 21, Jackson-Bolanos’ phone was in the “immediate area of the crime scene,” Toltzis said...

 

[PalmerPark]

Cell phone records place suspect near Samantha Woll's home around suspected murder time

Samantha Woll was killed Oct. 21 and was stabbed eight times in the head and neck.

www.detroitnews.com

Detroit — Cell phone records place the man accused of killing Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll in the area of her home around the time prosecutors say she was killed, according to testimony from an FBI agent who reviewed the data.

FBI Special Agent Bryan Toltzis went through the GPS data Tuesday morning from Michael Jackson-Bolanos’ cell phone from midnight through 7 a.m. Oct. 21, when Woll was found dead outside her Lafayette Park townhouse by a neighbor. She had been stabbed eight times in the head and neck.

At the same time as Woll’s alarm system detected motion in her living room, at 4:20 a.m. Oct. 21, Jackson-Bolanos’ phone was in the “immediate area of the crime scene,” Toltzis said...

Importantly, we know that Sam was using her cellphone -- in her home where it was found -- at 1:36 a.m., and that her home security system did not detect motion in her house from 1:24am until 4:20am when MJB arrived. In other words, we know that Sam was not killed before 4:20am -- otherwise her security system would have detected motion (but it did not).