Defendant: I touched Samantha Woll's dead body but didn't kill her

Michael Jackson-Bolanos took the stand on Wednesday, telling a Wayne County Circuit courtroom that he stumbled upon the body of slain Jewish leader and political activist Samantha Woll the night she was killed.

But when asked if he killed her: "Absolutely not."

Jackson-Bolanos, 29, testified as the trial against him entered its fourth week. He's accused of killing Samantha Woll, fatally stabbing her eight times around her face and neck during an Oct. 21, 2023 home invasion in Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood, just east of downtown.

When he came across Woll's body, Jackson-Bolanos touched her neck to see if she was okay, he testified. And when he realized she was dead, he panicked and fled.

"When I realized she was dead, I wanted nothing to do with the entire situation," he said on Wednesday.

"I’m a Black guy in the middle of the night, breaking into cars and I found myself standing in front of a dead white woman. It doesn’t look good at all."

But Jackson-Bolanos' testimony contradicts what he previously told detectives. In video shown during trial, he repeatedly told Detroit police he was taking pictures of cars and stealing from them, but did not see or encounter anyone in the area, other than a homeless man and security. And in a jail phone call with his lawyer that was played in court, Jackson-Bolanos also denied coming across her body.

Jackson-Bolanos testified that he told a jail officer he encountered Woll's dead body. That officer hasn't been called as a witness in trial as of Wednesday.

Jackson-Bolanos also said Wednesday he thought he was in custody for stealing sunglasses he sold at a pawn shop.

His testimony will resume on Monday, when prosecutors could begin their cross examination.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey has described the killing as a "crime of opportunity", pointing to blood that matched Woll's found on Jackson-Bolanos' jacket that had been washed by his girlfriend. And Elsey has cited dozens of surveillance video and cellphone tower data points that show Jackson-Bolanos in the area of Woll’s home during the timeframe of the killing and when her security system’s motion sensor last registered movement at 4:20 a.m.

Two hours later, a neighbor found Woll dead outside of her home. Inside, police observed a bloody scene and signs of a struggle.

Jackson-Bolanos' attorney, Brian Brown, has argued his client was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Brown said there wasn't enough time for his client to kill Woll based on the prosecution's time frame and there's no evidence that links his client to the physical crime scene.

The defense also pointed to other potential suspects, like Woll's ex-boyfriend who was taken into custody in Nov. 2023 after allegedly admitting to the crime during a panic attack. He testified during trial. Elsey and the ex-boyfriend said his admission was false. He was never charged and later released.

Brown also suggested police didn't look further into a love interest of Woll's, and a friend of hers who Brown said allegedly explained to someone how he would hypothetically evade police, if he were the one who killed Woll.

Monica Woll Rosen, Samantha Woll's sister, took notes inside the courtroom during Jackson-Bolanos' testimony. Their mother, Margo Woll, sat up straight as she looked right at the man accused of killing her daughter.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rosen was called to testify. She described her sister as her best friend, "the epitome of good," someone who had no enemies.

Jackson-Bolanos is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, home invasion and lying to police.

Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at asahouri@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Defendant: I touched Samantha Woll's dead body but didn't kill her