Samantha Woll murder trial: Jury remains deadlocked as judge asks them to continue deliberating

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The jury in the Samantha Woll murder trial returned to court deadlocked for the second time.

Tasked with deciding Michael Jackson-Bolanos' guilt, the jury told the judge Monday afternoon it could not come to a unanimous verdict. It's the second time they told Wayne Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten they were deadlocked.

Van Houten said she didn't want to retry the case again and asked the jurors to continue for one more day.

"We don't want to give up quite yet," she said.

However, it's not just a disagreement over the defendant's guilt that is becoming a problem. Jurors with doctor appointments and vacation will make deliberating another day tougher. One juror who is leaving on a trip this week will be replaced by an alternate. 

They will return to the courthouse Tuesday morning.

Jackson-Bolanos was charged with first-degree murder, home invasion, and lying to a peace officer after Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home in October 2023. 

During the trial, Jackson-Bolanos took the stand and testified that he did lie to police but insisted that he didn't kill Woll. According to his testimony, he was breaking into vehicles around Woll's neighborhood when he found her body. He said he touched the body, realized she was dead, and left instead of calling 911 because he was committing a crime and has a criminal history.

When police arrested Jackson-Bolanos and questioned him about finding the body, he lied.

"I stated that I did touch the body. I was telling the truth. I'm here today, sworn and affirmed, to tell the truth," Jackson-Bolanos said. "I may have lied in the past, but today I'm telling the truth; last week – telling the truth."

Trace amounts of Woll's blood were later found on Jackson-Bolanos's jacket.

"He's got her blood on multiple areas of his clothing and on the backpack that he's wearing that night - that is a coincidence that he cannot overcome," said Ryan Elsey, assistant prosecutor.

However, Jackson-Bolanos' defense argued that he had blood on his jacket from coming across the body, not from stabbing her. Defense attorney Brian Brown said Woll's ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Herbstman, was the killer, not his client.

"This was a deliberate act - a crime of passion," Brown said. "He's innocent. It's not just that the prosecution hasn't proved their burden - it's that there's so much other evidence that would suggest another individual committed this particular murder."

Herbstman confessed to killing Woll a few weeks after the crime, but later recanted that confession. According to testimony from Herbstman, who took the stand with immunity, he made the confession after increasing medication he was taking for depression. He was released from custody because of insufficient evidence to charge him.