Jurors deadlocked in Samantha Woll murder trial, will resume deliberations on Monday
(CBS DETROIT) - Jurors are deadlocked on Friday during deliberations in the murder trial of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll.
The judge said the jurors will return on Monday to resume deliberations. During deliberations, a juror asked to see transcripts from a witness, and the judge told the jury to take the weekend and return next week.
Closing arguments were given Tuesday and the jury began deliberations.
Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 29, is charged with felony murder, first-degree murder, home invasion and lying to law enforcement in connection to Woll's death. He is accused of killing Woll, who was found stabbed to death outside her home in Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood in October 2023.
Jackson-Bolanso testified that he found Woll's body
Jackson-Bolanso testified in his defense and said that on the night of Woll's death, he was walking around checking to see if cars were unlocked when he came across her body on the ground. He said he touched her neck to see if she was OK and left the area once he realized she was dead.
"I'm a Black guy in the middle of the night breaking into cars and I found myself standing in front of a dead white woman. That doesn't look good at all," he told jurors.
Jackson-Bolanos testified that he didn't call the police after seeing the body and 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.
When asked whether he went into Woll's home or killed her, he said "absolutely not" in response to each question.
Defense attorney argues Woll's ex-boyfriend should be further investigated
During closing arguments, Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey honed in on Jackson-Bolanos' tendency to lie.
"Once he's (Jackson-Bolanos) caught, he has nothing but lies to offer. Nothing but lie, after lie, after lie, after lie, after lie, after lie. But now that it's trial, he's got everything on the line. Ignore the other 50 times he lied, but believe him now. Don't believe him," Elsey said to the jury. "This is the common sense case for a conviction right here."
Elsey said that the defendant's motive to lie was the same motive that he had to kill Woll. He discussed how Jackson-Bolanos made the decisions he did because he claimed he would "go down for a long time" if he was caught.
"I can look at the evidence. I can use my common sense and come to the conclusion I know for a fact that Mr. Michael Jackson-Bolanos has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the death of Samantha Woll," Brown said.
Brown also argued that there were other suspects in Woll's murder and that the prosecution used half of the case to defend Woll's ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Herbstman, who confessed that he thought he had killed Woll but couldn't remember. Herbstman later claimed he had been suffering from delusions.
