Defendant in Samantha Woll murder trial takes the stand
(CBS DETROIT) - The defendant in the murder trial of Samantha Woll, the Jewish leader who was murdered outside her home last year, took the stand for the first time Wednesday.
Michael Jackson-Bolanos is charged in connection with stabbing Woll, the president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, outside her home in the Lafayette Park neighborhood on Oct. 21, 2023.
Woll attended a wedding the night before the stabbing and returned home from the wedding sometime after midnight.
Investigators found no signs of forced entry into Woll's home and believe that she was stabbed inside her residence before making her way out to the front of her home, where she was later found.
Woll's ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Herbstman, initially confessed to killing her during a call to 911 in the weeks after her death but later recanted, claiming he was suffering from delusions as a result of increasing his antidepressants and smoking cannabis.
Herbstman was released from police custody in November 2023 after investigators could not put him at the scene of Woll's murder.
Jackson-Bolanos was arrested in January, and the trial began on Tuesday, June 11.
On Wednesday, Jackson-Bolanos testified in his defense that he was checking cars in the downtown area to see if they were unlocked, and if a car was unlocked, he searched through the vehicles.
He testified that he found a bag on Lafayette that had Chapstick and some gloves in it, which he put on since he was touching the door handles. He said on Jefferson that he took a bag from a car near the River Place Apartment. He said there was candy inside the bag, but he dropped the bag when he heard people approaching.
Surveillance footage of Jackson-Bolanos was played, which showed him walking away from that area once he heard the people. Video showed him hiding, which he testified he did so he wouldn't be caught for breaking into the vehicles.
He walked back in the direction he had come from and then stopped when he realized the people were still getting into a vehicle. When asked why he dropped the bag, Jackson-Bolanos said he wanted to avoid any interaction with the people he saw.
After that, Jackson-Bolanos was seen taking the plastic bag that had the different Halloween candies in it. Video shows him walking with the bag and turning abruptly, which was due to him hearing tires screeching, according to his testimony.
After eating some of the candy, he was caught on camera trying to climb the wall of a parking structure to see if he could access the cars parked there. He testified that he didn't take anything from any of those cars.
While at the parking structure, he saw security patrolling, so he ran away from the scene.
Jackson-Bolanos testified that he stopped running and checked over his shoulders to make sure no one was following him, according to his testimony.
Jackson-Bolanos testified that he saw someone wearing all black walking in the same area as him. That individual walked through the parking lot, and Jackson-Bolanos was seen walking through the same lot after that person.
The defendant made his way back toward Lafayette, where he had left the backpack because he wanted to go back and get it and to look at the other cars. He testified that if a car is locked, he goes onto the next vehicle.
Jackson-Bolanos said he saw a white security car, so he ran into the parking lot to wait for him to leave the area. When security left, Jackson-Bolanos checked more cars.
After that, he went back to retrieve the bag but said that was when he saw a dark figure. He said the figure looked like it was "ducked down." When the figure didn't move, Jackson-Bolanos moved toward it. Eventually, he could tell the figure was a person lying on the ground once he got close enough.
He continued to approach and said he touched the person's neck to see if they were OK. Jackson-Bolanos also said he put his hand in front of the person's face but did not shake the body. He could tell the person was a woman, due to the amount of hair, but said he couldn't tell their race.
"Once I realized that I just touched a dead person, I just, grabbed the bag and I left," said Jackson-Bolanos.
When asked if he tried to call the police, Jackson-Bolanos said, "My first reaction was to reach for my phone, but I had to consider where I was and what I was doing at the time," referring to how he was going into cars.
After that, he said that he started heading toward Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. He walked right past people in a well-lit area, and when questioned about this decision, he said he did so because he wasn't breaking into any vehicles and "wanted to be around people that were alive."
Jackson-Bolanos said as he was walking he shined the light on his hand and discovered there was blood on his hand, which caused him to panic because he had just killed a dead person.
He testified that he didn't stab Woll, didn't take anything from her, and never tried to go inside her house. He said that he had been following the case before his arrest because he had come into contact with Woll and wanted to know what had happened to her. Jackson-Bolanos testified that when came upon Woll, he did not know how she had died.
The court concluded for the weekend late Wednesday afternoon and will resume at 9 a.m. Monday with the Jackson-Bolanos on the stand. The prosecution has not yet cross-examined Jackson-Bolanos.