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. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)
In a cryptic update, Detroit Police Chief James E. White said that authorities arrested someone for allegedly murdering Samantha Woll, the board president at Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. He did not, however, name this person or elaborate on any alleged motive, though he previously doubted it was a hate crime.
“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.”
Law&Crime asked Detroit cops for more information.
“Further updates regarding this case will be made at the appropriate time,” they wrote back.
As previously reported, Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home on the morning of Oct. 21. First responders pronounced her dead at the scene.
Police said they saw a trail of blood leading to the victim’s residence and believed that’s where she was killed, but officials released no other details at the time.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Samantha Woll, our board president,” the synagogue said in a Facebook post. “At this point, we do not have more information but will share more when it becomes available. May her memory be a blessing.”
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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on X that Woll was among the kindest people she knew.
“She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country,” she wrote. “Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for everyone.”
Woll died amid the brutal Israeli-Hamas conflict in the Middle East. The conflict is believed to have inspired several incidents of both alleged antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes. For example, a man in Florida, Alier Ojeda Salas, was recently charged with threatening to blow up a Jewish school and synagogue.
In Illinois, a landlord attacked his Muslim tenants, murdering a 6-year-old Palestinian boy, authorities said. By accounts, the defendant, Joseph M. Czuba, 71, had had a great relationship with them, but prosecutors said his attitude flipped after listening to conservative talk radio.
Police have yet to spell out why the killer took Woll’s life. White has pumped the brakes on this being a hate crime.
“We believe the motivation is very different than a hate crime,” he said at a press conference broadcast on the police department’s Facebook page on Oct. 23.
Jason Kandel and David Harris contributed to this report.
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