Prosecution rests, defense begins case in Samantha Woll murder trial

DETROIT — Prosecutors on Tuesday afternoon rested their case against a man accused of killing Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll after nearly 11 full days of testimony.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos is charged with killing Woll, who was found dead by a neighbor outside her Lafayette Park townhouse Oct. 21. She had been stabbed eight times in the head and neck. Jackson-Bolanos' trial began June 10.

Prosecutors put 48 witnesses on the stand, many of which were police officers, forensic technicians and crime scene analysts, but took days before Jackson-Bolanos' name mentioned. One of the longest witnesses was Woll's ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Herbstman, who told police during what he described as a full-fledged panic attack that he was worried he killed Woll and was trying to cover it up.

Wayne Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten has expressed concerns about the length of the trial, which is behind schedule. Defense attorney Brian Brown was supposed to have one of his witnesses testify Monday.

The last prosecution witness, Detroit Police Lt. Richard Sanchez, testified Tuesday morning and early afternoon. Sanchez took over as the officer in charge of the case, as the initial officer in charge is out on maternity leave.

His testimony cleared up loose ends and questions that may have been unanswered by other witnesses, including why police did not think a person seen running from the area of a parking lot at about 1:25 a.m. Oct. 21 near Woll's townhouse had killed her.

Elsey said they believe Woll was killed around 4:20 a.m., when there was an alert from her security system about movement in her living room. Brown, however, said the security system went idle at 4:22 a.m., which is not enough time to kill Woll and leave the home.

Brown suggested through questioning that the unidentified person seen running in the area at about 1:25 a.m. may have had something to do with the murder. Sanchez said police were unable to identify this person.

Sanchez said the person was not a suspect, however, because there was activity on Woll's phone through 1:35 a.m.

Jackson-Bolanos, 29, is being tried on first-degree murder and felony murder while committing a home invasion in connection with Woll's death. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

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