Jury selection starts in murder trial of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll

By Alysia Burgio

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — ury selection in the trial of Michael Jackson-Bolanos began Monday morning in Detroit.

Jackson-Bolanos is the man charged with the 2023 stabbing death of Samantha Woll, the president of Detroit’s Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.

In January, Jackson-Bolanos was ordered to stand trial. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison.

The jury selection is scheduled to continue Tuesday.

Last month, Judge Margaret Van Houten ruled there was enough probable cause for him to face trial.

Some of the evidence that the judge determined to be an indication of probable cause was surveillance footage that shows Jackson-Bolanos heading in a direction away from the murder scene, which was at Woll’s home in Lafayette Park.

Woll was stabbed multiple times outside her home last October.

Initially, a person of interest was arrested in connection with her death in November but was then released three days later.

Weeks after that arrest, Jackson-Bolanos was arrested and charged with felony murder, first-degree home invasion and lying to the police in connection with Woll’s death.

Jackson-Bolanos denies all charges against him.

No surveillance footage has found Jackson-Bolanos at Woll’s home the night she was murdered.

However, cellphone data found him to be near her home around 4:20 a.m. that night.

His attorney, Brian Brown, told CBS News Detroit in January that he believes police have the wrong suspect again because the evidence against his client is circumstantial at best.

CBS News Detroit will keep you updated as this trial moves forward.

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