Guilty of Murder or Wrong Place, Wrong Time?

Amy Jacobson — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:21:59 +0000

Read Time:6 Minute, 49 Second

Mich. v. Michael Jackson-Bolanos

DETROIT, Mich. – The trial of Mich. V. Michael Jackson-Bolanos, charged with the murder of Samantha Woll, began on June 11, 2024 with opening statements. The state laid out a lot of evidence in their opening statement, but the defense gave the jury a lot to think about.

Everyone Can Agree on This

Samantha Woll,
Detroit Synagogue Leader

Samantha Woll, a prominent member of her community, was found by a neighbor outside on her lawn, at 6:21 a.m. on October 21, 2023. Her body bloody, barefoot, and cold to the touch. A trail of blood lead from her body to her home, revealing a bloody scene. There was blood smeared on the walls and on the floor. The Cause of death revealed at the autopsy was from eight stab wounds above the shoulders, focusing on Woll’s head and neck. This both state and defense agree on during their opening statements.

The State’s Opening Statement

“There is a reason we lock our doors at night when we go to sleep. It is because people who lurk in the night; people who could do us harm, and this case is about one such person,” the state begins their opening statement. “A person you will see on one particular night on the prowl in our community, looking for spaces that were not his to go into and things that were not his to take. The most important thing he ended up taking in that night was the life of a woman. A woman named Samantha Woll.”

The state continues their opening with a tale of a fun night for Woll, a night spent at a wedding and returning home around 12:30 a.m. Her last outgoing text a “heart” emoji sent to a friend at 1:02 a.m. and appearing to go to bed sometime around 1:24 a.m. when her living room motion detector goes idle and the last activity on her phone between 1:29 a.m. and 1:35 a.m.

Something Woll may not have known, according to her front door sensor, it would appear that the door never closed after she returned home. A small mistake many have made in their time but, in this case, would lead to a tragic ending.

A picture of a thorough investigation by the homicide task force, which consists of the Detroit Police, Michigan State Police, ATF, and FBI. The investigation started open-ended and would take 6 weeks to narrow down. At which point, they had two suspects. Suspect 1 was an ex-boyfriend of Molly’s. Suspect 2, the defendant.

The ex-boyfriend spoke to police, willingly, the day after Woll was found dead. Then, on November 7, 2023, he called police during what is being described as a delusional panic attack. After an increased dosage in his depression meds and ingesting cannabis, he was convinced himself that he had killed Woll himself. This despite having no proof or memory of committing the act. No DNA or fingerprints belonging to the ex-boyfriend were found at the scene. Using cell phone data, investigators put him home on the night of her death.

Suspect 2 was a figure seen on camera footage from an elementary school near Woll’s building that picked up a figure in a nearby parking lot, tampering with cars. One of the cars had a slashed tire. This caught the attention of investigators and they looked for other cameras in the area. Able to track the figures motions, the FBI worked with T-Mobile to find devices following the trajectory. They were able it down to the defendant, Michael Jackson-Bolanos.

Jackson-Bolanos left his girlfriend’s home at 12:32 a.m. in Midtown Detroit the night of Woll’s death. At 1:44 a.m. he is in the location of the Lafayette Park neighborhood near Woll’s home. There he stayed about 18 minutes. He returned to his girlfriend’s home at 4:55 a.m. During the time he was out, he was wearing a North Face Jacket and a white backpack.

On November 30, 2023, the defendant was arrested and a search warrant for his girlfriend’s apartment was executed. During the search, officers found the North Face jacket worn on the night in question, with 2 spots of blood. After testing and comparing the DNA to Woll’s, it was concluded to a high probability that the DNA matched. During a search of the defendant’s car, the white backpack was also found. That too had blood on it that came back as a high probability match to the DNA of Woll. Jackson-Bolanos was unable to give an explanation for the blood found on the backpack and jacket.

The Defense’s Opening Statements

“It was not Michael Jackson-Bolanos,” defense said as they started their opening. “She was stabbed 8 times in the neck and back. That would indicate a crime of passion.” He went on to describe the scene and events of that night.

There were bruises and contusions on her face, evidence of a struggle in multiple rooms. There was a high concentration of blood in the hallway. This is indicative of a body having fallen and lying there for a period of time. All of this effort, and nothing of value was taken from the home.

The defendant admits to being in the area that night. He also told police of his having come upon the body and touching her to see if she was still alive. Would this not be a possible explanation for the spots of blood found on the jacket and backpack? The neighbor who found Woll lying outside touched the body to see if she was alive. If the investigators had collected his clothing and done a blood analysis, would they have found trace amounts of blood on him as well?

There were no footprints found in the blood from the defendant to indicate that he had walked around the scene. Given the bloody scene, wouldn’t “he have been covered in blood?” He made no attempt to discard any of the clothes he had worn that night. Yes, his girlfriend had washed the North Face jacket, but she washed it with a load of laundry as she would any other garment.

Yes, they found multiple knives both in the girlfriend’s home, and on the defendant himself, but they were all sent for analysis. None of the knives returned with evidence associating the defendant with the scene. The “only evidence” the state has connecting Jackson-Bolanos to the scene are trace spots of blood on the back of his sleeve. There was no blood on either his pants or his shoes.

Despite his body being photographed at the time of arrest, no signs of having been in a fight or struggle were visible. He made no attempt to avoid law enforcement. In fact, he contacted law enforcement himself several times in an attempt to find out when he could get his knives back.

The ex-boyfriend on the other hand, had already secured an attorney through his parents after he told them what he had done; a story, according to defense opening, he changed after speaking with his therapist. He had a camera system in his house, but law enforcement was unable to extract pictures from his camera due to either having been deleted or some other explanation. As for the cell phone placing him at home, his only alibi, would he have been smart enough to not have brought the phone with him to the scene?

This One’s for You to Decide

At first glance, this appears to be an open and closed case. That is, until the defense offered their opening statement. The statement started a little rocky, but quickly picked up and, in my opinion, was enough to make people stop and think. But that’s not for me to decide for you.

One tragic night. One murder victim. Two Suspects. One defendant, Michael Jackson-Bolanos. Is he guilty of murder or being in the wrong place at the wrong time?