Samantha Woll, president of the board at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue poses for a photo in Detroit, Oct. 13, 2022. Samantha Woll, a Detroit synagogue president was found stabbed to death outside her home Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 police said. The motive wasn’t known. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)
In a stunning turn of events, reports say the suspect arrested in the brutal killing of a well-respected synagogue board president in Detroit has been released without charges.
The death of Samantha Woll, 40, initially drew nationwide attention because of concerns that her death could be a hate crime in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East, however Detroit Police Chief James E. White assured the public that was apparently not the case. Still, the viciousness of the crime — Woll was found dead outside her Lafayette Park home Oct. 21 with multiple stab wounds and a blood trail leading to the home where there was evidence of a struggle — gave investigators an urgency to solve the crime.
It appeared Detroit police took a big step in achieving justice on Wednesday when White made a somewhat-cryptic announcement of an arrest.
“As part of my continuing commitment to transparency in this matter, I am sharing with the community that a suspect has been taken into custody for the murder of Samantha Woll,” White wrote on X, the company formerly known as Twitter. “While this is an encouraging development in our desire to bring closure for Ms. Woll’s family, it does not represent the conclusion of our work in this case. The details of the investigation will remain confidential at this time to ensure the integrity of the important steps that remain. Investigators will be continuing their work with the Wayne County Prosecutors Office until the conclusion of this investigation.”
But Detroit police late Friday released the suspect without charges, the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News reported.
The Free Press, citing sources, reported the man was close to Woll, the board president at Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, and he attended her funeral. The Detroit Police Department executed a search warrant at the man’s home last week, the source told the Free Press. Allison Kriger and Mark Kriger, the suspect’s lawyers, told the Detroit News that he was arrested after making an “ambiguous statement” to police. Detroit police sources told The News they didn’t think the statement alone would be enough to bring charges. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office relayed to the outlets it had not received a warrant request as of Friday.
Police can only hold someone for 72 hours without charges until the person has to be released.
White previously said at an Oct 23 press conference that Woll, the board president at Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, attended a wedding the night of Oct. 20 and returned home early Oct 21. While she was inside there was a struggle, she was stabbed several times and she stumbled outside where she collapsed, according to White. She was outside for “quite some time” before she was discovered, White said. The chief said that detectives had identified persons of interest and were “just short” of naming one of them a suspect.
Woll’s stabbing death comes amid rising concerns over antisemitic and anti-Palestinian attacks as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on in the Middle East. But White repeatedly said the slaying is not a hate crime.
Mourners gathered at her Oct. 22 funeral to remember Woll, who went by Sam.
“You so deeply wanted peace for this world. You fought for everyone regardless of who they were or where they came from,” her sister Monica Woll Rosen said during the service, according to WDIV. “You were the definition of a leader. Our world is shattered without you.”
About 1,000 people attended the funeral at the Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park. Among those in attendance was Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel who gave a eulogy. Woll had worked on Nessel’s campaign.
“She was at every campaign event, every political protest, every religious service, every ribbon cutting. I think I saw her in a picture of the moon landing,” Nessel joked. “I don’t know how she could be so many places at the same time.”
Her obituary said she was born and raised in Metro Detroit and attended the University of Michigan. She was described as a “ray of sunshine” to those who knew her.
“While Sam was a traveler and loved to explore the world, she spent her life in and around the Detroit area. There was no one who loved the city of Detroit more,” the obituary said.
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