DETROIT — The man accused of killing Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll again denied killing her but testified Monday that he lied to police about seeing Woll's body on the sidewalk in her Lafayette Park neighborhood because he worried about her murder being pinned on him.

Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 29, took the stand for several hours Monday, testifying that he did not kill Woll, but he came across her lying on the ground on Oct. 21, 2023 and he touched her neck to see if she was alive. He said he didn't panic when he saw her body but was "shocked" and "in disbelief."

“It was a terrible thing but it had nothing to do with me,” said Jackson-Bolanos, who acknowledged that he did not call 911. “I did not kill her.”

Jackson-Bolanos is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, home invasion and lying to a police officer. His trial began June 10 and started its fifth week Monday. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

"I may have lied in the past but today I’m telling the truth. Last week I told the truth," Jackson-Bolanos said.

Prosecutors say Jackson-Bolanos went into Woll's home through her open front door at about 4:20 a.m. and stabbed her to death. She was found dead outside her Lafayette Park townhouse early on Oct. 21, 2023, by a neighbor walking their dog.

The prosecutors' key evidence is phone GPS data and surveillance footage that puts Jackson-Bolanos in the area of Woll's apartment around the time her security system sent out an alert that there was movement in her living room at 4:20 a.m., before going went idle at 4:22 a.m. There also was a small amount of Woll's blood on Jackson-Bolanos' jacket and backpack.

But Jackson-Bolanos' attorney, Brian Brown, said it would have been "virtually impossible" for his client to allegedly commit the murder in the two-minute window between 4:20 a.m. and 4:22 a.m. Brown said during opening statements that Woll’s death also appeared to be more of a crime of passion than a killing by a stranger, though Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten barred testimony from a defense witness about the emotionally charged nature of the killing.

Lying to police

Prosecutors accused Jackson-Bolanos of lying dozens of times during at least two interviews with police, one on Nov. 30 and another on Dec. 10. Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Dominic Degrazia pointed out that defendant lied to police more than 40 times during the Nov. 30 meeting.

"You try being accused of killing someone," testified Jackson-Bolanos at one point.

Degrazia asked Jackson-Bolanos if the number of times he lied to police during the Nov. 30 interview surprised him, and he said “I’m not sure.”

“(I lied) a lot about going into the cars at first because I had a history with cars and did not want to be in trouble,” Jackson-Bolanos said. “But a lot, no.”

Degrazia said Jackson-Bolanos lied to police multiple times during a Nov. 30 interview when he said he didn't see anyone out by Woll’s townhouse.

"When (the officer) stated I went into somebody's house that I did not go into and they told me a woman was dead, that I killed her and I didn't," Jackson-Bolanos said. “I couldn’t tell them the truth that I had seen her outside and touched her.”

Degrazia said when Jackson-Bolanos was again interviewed Dec. 10, after police got the DNA results back from his jacket and backpack, showing Woll's blood was on it, he lied another dozen times about not seeing Woll's body.

"He was the same officer saying I killed this woman I did not kill, that I went into her house when I did not go into anybody's house," Jackson-Bolanos said.

Jackson-Bolanos testified that he told Detroit Police Officer Chad Ossman that he saw Woll’s body while Ossman was taking him to the lockup at the Detroit Detention Center Dec. 10 after he was interviewed by other officers.

But Ossman initially testified that he did not recall Jackson-Bolanos telling him about seeing Woll's body. Brown, Jackson-Bolanos's attorney, pressed Ossman on what he remembered and a few minutes later he admitted he did remember the comments.

Upon cross-examination, Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey asked Ossman if he would have noted the comment in the police report, and Ossman said he would have.

When Elsey asked him about his conflicting statements about Jackson-Bolanos’ statement – “Yes or no, do you remember the defendant making this statement?” – Ossman said he “barely” did.

“I mean it was so long ago, there’s so much going on from me getting him from the Q-Line (where Jackson-Bolanos was arrested) to the DDC (Detroit Detention Center),” Ossman said. “Somewhat I do remember, somewhat I don’t.”

Ossman said when he had reviewed his body camera footage, and any conversation he may have had with Jackson-Bolanos about seeing Woll's body was not on it. All interactions with Jackson-Bolanos were recorded, except when Ossman took him from the booking area to his cell, Elsey said.

Stealing from cars

During direct examination Monday, Jackson-Bolanos said stealing from cars was different from stealing from a person because it wasn’t directly hurting someone or scaring them. But when Assistant Prosecutor Dominic Degrazia questioned him on that, Jackson-Bolanos admitted that he had lived in his car at times and said someone breaking in would be invading his space.

Jackson-Bolanos said he didn’t go into people’s houses because “I don’t know what’s behind waiting for me if I do go in someone’s house.”

Closing arguments begin Tuesday morning in Wayne Circuit Court.

_____

©2024 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.