‘My sister’s murderer got away with it’: Samantha Woll’s family may never get justice

DETROIT (FOX 2) - It's been two months since the man accused of killing Samantha Woll was found not guilty on two of the four charges against him. The jury was deadlocked on the murder charge – but those not guilty verdicts have massive ramifications for a possible retrial. 

Nearly one year since the Jewish leader was found murdered just outside of her home, her family says they feel they may never see justice.

This is part two of our special on the murder of Samantha Woll. In part one, we reviewed the case that was presented at trial that ultimately led to the conviction for lying to police and the not guilty verdict for first degree pre-meditated murder. Watch part one: Why her family was convinced Michael Jackson-Bolanos would be convicted

The North Face jacket and Woll's blood: two stories of how it got there

Police Lt. Matthew Bray says the blood was the turning point of their investigation.

"(What) I think is the crux of this case – we have a gentleman who never met this woman a day in his life – he never touched her, never seen her – and he has to explain why that blood is on his jacket," Bray said.

So how did the blood get on his jacket? Jackson-Bolanos claimed he never saw Samantha that night and insisted he wasn't even in the area.

"I don't know this woman - I don't know anything about this woman," he said during his interrogation.

But his search history shows him constantly checking the status of the murder case, as well as searching for police scanner apps. He also researched a same-day passport the day that Herbstman was released from custody. He claims that wasn't related.

"That same-day passport was for a Halloween party coming up and I couldn’t get to Windsor," he said.

During his interrogation, Jackson-Bolanos lied to police over 40 times – even about stealing from cars – until surveillance video showed him in the act and in a parking lot about 150 feet from Samantha's townhouse. 

"Standing by the side of the vehicle with his arm extended," Lt. Lance Sullivan testified.

During testimony, Sullivan showed how his team tracked Jackson-Bolanos from the Lafayette lot to his Detroit apartment on West Alexandrine. Police searched that apartment and discovered a lockbox, latex gloves, and a ski mask inside. They also found his North Face jacket and a backpack.

"Both tested positive for the possible presence of blood," DPD's Ellen Czajka testified.

DNA testing later revealed the blood on his coat and backpack was Samantha's – but only trace amounts. In a jailhouse phone call, a possible reason was revealed: his girlfriend, Tiara White, washed the jacket before it was seized more than a month after the murder.

"They never even washed the jacket. It was already how it was. If the ni*** washed the jacket bro – it wouldn't have been nothing on the f***ing jacket. Like, y'all so f***ing stupid," Jackson-Bolanos said in the recorded phone call.

"It had been washed, it has, and I expressed that," White said in the jail call.

Shocked by what she said or what she did, he hung up and then called back – clearly distraught.

"They tellin' me what you say could be used against me, like bro, what you say could be used against you in the court of law," he said. "My whole f**** life on the line… do you hear me? 

"Yeah I hear ya, but I don’t know why you talking to me like this - like I f***ing did something," White responded.

"Because you shouldn’t be saying anything, bro, don’t say nothing," he said.

"But you cut me off before I could even speak," she said.

"I don’t want to hear what you have to say about that s*** bro," Jackson-Bolanos said. 

We called White about that jailhouse call. She said she washed that coat, but it wasn't the night of the murder.

"No, it was in the next couple weeks (after the murder)," she said.

Police have suspected from the start that she washed the jacket after he got home the morning of Oct. 21. White told us she didn't see any blood on the jacket or clothes in the hamper.

Bray said Jackson-Bolanos doesn't have a viable story about how it happened.

"I think the important part of the case is Mr. Bolanos had two opportunities to explain where the blood evidence came from. In those two opportunities, he said he never met her a day in his life, he has never touched her, and never saw her a day in his life," Bray said. 

He also said that there was no evidence that Jackson-Bolanos was scared of calling police if he was possibly involved.

"He had two opportunities to say something to police," Bray said. "We discovered Mr. Bolanos called police numerous times, so we know there is not a fear to speak to police."

Bray also said he didn't like that Jackson-Bolanos' story changed completely after his call with his attorney.

"At the end of the day he had to admit to himself that it's very possible that our theory – that it is possible she died earlier, got up and stumbled outside and, just like the other witness, came across her body and touched her. You may have touched her. He said that is very possible," Brown said in a recorded phone call played during the trial.

When Jackson-Bolanos took the stand during his trial, he admitted it was him near the crime scene at 4:10 a.m. but he claims he didn't kill Samantha. He told police he didn't run and hide from security that night but says he spotted something on the sidewalk and got the blood on his jacket when he checked if the person was still alive.

"I just touched the neck. I didn’t shake her and put my hand in front right here and once I realized there was no breath or nothing, that I touched a dead person I grabbed my bag and left," he testified.

However, Jackson-Bolanos testified that her body felt "cold and crusty" at that time. 

Samantha's sister, Monica, contends that his timeline doesn't match up.

"That is impossible because my sister’s motion detector went off at 4:20 and my sister wasn’t out of the house yet and that was independently verified by ADT," she said.

Legal precedent applies double jeopardy

The month-long trial was followed by five days of deliberations – with the jury ultimately finding him not guilty of first-degree murder and deadlocked on felony murder and home invasion. Here's where it gets tricky - because of legal precedent, prosecutors are now prevented from re-trying their only suspect.

"I don’t think this jury had any idea," Judge Margaret VanHouten said during sentencing. 

Apparently, nobody had any idea. During Jackson-Bolanos' court proceeding, district judge Kenneth King said, during the preliminary hearing, he considered the deliberation of the stabbing and recommended Jackson-Bolanos also be sent to trial for first-degree premeditated murder.

As Mathew Schneider says, the prosecutor's office could have stepped in right there.

"The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office could have disagreed with it," he said.

But they didn't. So when the verdict was split, Schneider said that set the stage for the defense to file a motion that nobody saw coming.

"I am bound by Yeager - I can’t ignore the precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court. I am going to have to dismiss," Van Houten said. 

She said in court she did not agree with the decision, but dismissed his felony murder and home invasion charges. The reason why is tied to a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case involving insider trading and fraud. 

The court ruled if a jury clears you of one crime, the government can’t use those same facts to try you again on charges that are similar...which means Jackson Bolanos cannot be retried for Samantha's murder.

"Double jeopardy clause - you can’t be prosecuted twice for the same offense," Schneider said. 

But Schneider says he doesn't think it was the same crime and agrees with the dissenting opinion in the Yeager case.

The Wayne County Prosecutor is appealing, but Schneider says the only way this will change is if the Supreme Court reverses its 2009 decision – which is unlikely and could take years.

If that happens, Detroit Police and prosecutors will change the way they present the case against Jackson-Bolanos.

"Obviously, we had some shortcomings on how we presented the case and if we have an opportunity in the future to do that, then I am sure we will make some changes," Bray said.

Jackson-Bolanos is serving 18 months for lying to an officer – something Judge Van Houten said he was likely to do.

"If lying was an Olympic sport you would get a gold medal…because it was lie after lie," she said.

We reached out to Jackson-Bolanos and Herbstman for comment, but both declined our requests for an interview.

Because the case is now with the Michigan Court of Appeals, Judge Van Houten and the Wayne County Prosecutor wouldn’t comment on the case. Kym Worthy’s office only saying double jeopardy doesn’t apply and shouldn't prevent Jackson Bolanos from being re-tried.

Jackson-Bolanos is due to be released from prison on June 5, 2025.

How Samantha Woll's family remembers her

Nearly a year after losing their sister and daughter, the Woll family is holding memories, photos, and videos. They said the community and city she loved turned its back on her.

"This is not someone who is a goody two shoes who should be walking the streets, this person who is going to harm someone else," Monica said. "The irony is not lost on us, but if she was here today, she would say, ‘You should still believe in Detroit – even though this happened.'"

"The irony, too, if someone robbed her she would say ‘what do you need? I’ll give it to you.’ That’s the type of person she was," her mom, Margo, said.

Her family wants Samantha remembered for her kindness and goodness – not the heinous crime and the trial without a murder conviction. Monica and the rest of the Woll family hope to get justice one day.

"We feel justice should be served. My sister’s murderer got away with it. That is unbelievable in a country like this," Monica said.

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