DETROIT – We got our first glimpse of the strategies both sides will use in the Samantha Woll murder trial during Tuesday’s opening statements.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Ryan Elsey and defense attorney Brian Brown spoke in front of the jury for the first time as the trial for Michael Jackson-Bolanos gets underway.

Jackson-Bolanos is accused of stabbing Woll to death at her Detroit home. He’s charged with felony murder, first-degree home invasion, lying to the police, and first-degree murder.

Prosecution’s opening statement

Here’s what we heard during the opening statement from the prosecution:

Door left open

Data from an alarm system suggests Samantha Woll left her door open after she returned home from a wedding early the morning of Oct. 21, 2023.

“At her home, at a place she was supposed to be safe, she was stabbed to death,” Elsey said.

Blood on jacket

Elsey said the evidence will show that Jackson-Bolanos is the person responsible for Woll’s murder. The key piece of evidence is a North Face jacket.

When Jackson-Bolanos was arrested about six weeks after the murder, Woll’s blood was still on a jacket and backpack that he wore that night, the prosecution said.

Woll found outside home

Woll was found right outside her home, bloody, barefoot, and cold to the touch.

Police said there was a trail of blood from her body to her townhome.

Blood inside apartment building

Police said there was blood found all over Woll’s apartment: on the floor, in the living room, and smeared on the walls.

Woll had gone to bed

Elsey said the evidence suggests Woll had already gone to bed well before the expected time of her murder.

A pillow, blanket, and her contact lens were on the floor.

The last outgoing text she sent was a heart emoji. She sent that to a friend at 1:02 a.m.

Her phone was last unlocked between 1:29 and 1:35 a.m. Elsey said that was the last time someone interacted with her phone, because it was passcode locked.

Murder timeline

Due to the phone analysis and when Woll’s body was discovered, prosecutors said they can narrow down the time of the murder.

Elsey specifically pointed to the time between when her phone was last used (so around 1:30 a.m.) to 6:20 a.m.

Alarm system

Woll had an alarm system at her home, and there were sensors at the front door and the back door.

There was also a sensor at the basement door, which led to a common hallway.

A motion sensor in her living room was referenced several times by both the defense and prosecution.

Even though the security system wasn’t armed at the time of the murder, it was collecting data, according to experts.

Living room motion

The motion sensor in the living room stopped detecting motion for awhile after 1:24 a.m., the prosecution said.

The next time it detected motion in the living room was at 4:20 a.m. It went idle again at 4:22 a.m., prosecutors said.

For that reason, 4:20 a.m. will be a focal point for prosecutors.

Testing alarm system

Since it’s such a key part of the prosecution’s argument, police went back and tested the system in Woll’s home to see if it was working properly.

Officials said the times were accurate within about 12 seconds of real time.

Stab wounds

Woll was stabbed eight times, officials said.

The stab wounds were concentrated from her shoulders and above -- primarily at her neck and head.

Neighbor heard woman’s voice?

Elsey said a neighbor will testify during the trial that he heard a woman’s voice around 1:24 a.m.

He said it was a woman’s voice and it didn’t sound violent.

Fingerprints and footprints

Bloody fingerprints were found on the wall, but there were many that weren’t sufficient enough to identify someone.

Those that were sufficient belonged to Woll, prosecutors said.

There were footprints on the ground, but police believe they were Woll’s footprints.

Nothing suspicious at wedding

Police spoke to “dozens and dozens” of people and found that nothing suspicious happened at the wedding.

Elsey said there was nothing “alarming or actionable.”

Ex-boyfriend’s confession

Elsey said the first major break in this case happened on Nov. 7, 2023.

Elsey said an ex-boyfriend of Woll’s spoke to police the day after the murder and was cooperative. He told them that he hadn’t seen Woll since Oct. 7, 2023, at the synagogue. He said they had an amicable break-up.

But on Nov. 7, while he was in Kalamazoo for work, the ex-boyfriend called police while in a “frantic state,” according to Elsey. The ex-boyfriend told police that he had convinced himself that he killed Woll, but he couldn’t remember or articulate why he felt that way.

Elsey said the ex-boyfriend will testify during the trial with “use immunity,” which means he can’t be forced to acknowledge that he made an incriminating statement while in the witness chair.

The ex-boyfriend later said he had nothing to do with the murder. He told officials that he had just received an increased dose of an antidepressant and was also under the influence of marijuana.

Police said they found no evidence linking the ex-boyfriend to Woll’s murder. They said there’s no evidence that he left his home that night.

The ex-boyfriend was released and cleared as a suspect on Nov. 11, 2023.

Internet search

Prosecutors said that there was a media report on Nov. 12, 2023, that a suspect in the Woll murder had been released.

Elsey said that day, forensic evidence will show that Jackson-Bolanos was searching how to get out of town.

Tampering with cars

Elsey said Chrysler Elementary School is near Woll’s home and has a camera that points down the road and shows the parking lot into which it dead ends.

When police “scoured” that video, they saw a figure in the parking lot at 3:52 a.m. and 4 a.m. the morning of the murder. That person appeared to be tampering with cars.

Investigators said that caught their attention because someone was “engaged in criminal activity in the area of Woll’s murder on the night of the murder.”

That same night, one of the cars that wasn’t quite visible in the camera’s view had its tire slashed, Elsey said.

Retracing steps

Police went through a massive effort to retrace the steps of the person who was seen tampering with cars in the parking lot, prosecutors said.

They think they have a “pretty good sense” of that person’s trajectory on the night of the murder.

Cellphone data

After they put together what they believed was an accurate timeline of where the person seen on camera footage went throughout the night, police went to T-Mobile and asked if any phones matched that location data.

“They found that there was one device that matched that trajectory, and it was the defendant’s phone,” Elsey said.

Jackson-Bolanos timeline, per prosecution

Prosecutors will break down the route taken by Jackson-Bolanos that night, they said.

Elsey said at 12:42 a.m., when Woll was going to bed, Jackson-Bolanos “was just getting started.

Prosecutors said he left his girlfriend’s apartment in Midtown wearing a black North Face jacket. Officials traced him going into Downtown Detroit and then across the city into the Lafayette Park neighborhood, which is where Woll lives.

At 1:44 a.m., Jackson-Bolanos was in Woll’s neighborhood, about a block away from her home, prosecutors said. He stayed there for about 18 minutes, they said.

He went into a parked car at 3:05 a.m. and emerged with a white bag, prosecutors said. He can be seen crossing over Jefferson Avenue toward Lafayette Park at 3:24 a.m. with that bag and surgical gloves.

Gap in video

Prosecutors said there’s a gap in the video between 4 a.m. and 4:20 a.m.

An FBI agent said during that time, Jackson-Bolanos was in the area of Woll’s home, per forensic data.

Leaving the area

At 4:24 a.m., Jackson-Bolanos was seen on the other side of the freeway, moving away from Woll’s home, according to the prosecution.

He was wearing a gray backpack, which is “something he acquired along the way,” Elsey said.

He went back to his girlfriend’s Midtown apartment around 4:55 a.m., still wearing the North Face jacket and the gray backpack.

Blood on jacket

Elsey said Jackson-Bolanos was arrested Nov. 30, 2023, and police had a warrant to search his girlfriend’s apartment.

Officials found the North Face jacket and sent it to a Michigan State Police crime lab for forensic analysis.

Lab technicians found two spots of blood still on the jacket, so they swabbed the blood and tested it compared to Woll’s DNA.

Elsey said forensic scientists don’t deal in absolutes, but they found that the scientific probability that it was Woll’s blood was “astronomically high.”

He said one spot of blood was 2.2 trillion times more likely to be her DNA, and the other was 32 quintillion times more likely.

“That is 32 followed by 18 zeroes,” Elsey said.

Jail phone call

Elsey said while Jackson-Bolanos was in custody, he called his girlfriend and they discussed the North Face jacket.

Elsey said Jackson-Bolanos’ girlfriend told him that she had washed the jacket while they were discussing why there wasn’t a lot of blood on it.

The call “suddenly ended,” and Jackson-Bolanos called her back and lashed out at her, saying, “I don’t want to hear what you’ve got to say about that s---,” Elsey said.

Blood on backpack

Prosecutors said the gray backpack was found inside the car that Jackson-Bolanos was using at the time of his arrest.

A small spot of blood on the backpack was visible to the naked eye, officials said.

Forensic tests found that it was “20 followed by 24 zeros” times more likely to be Woll’s blood.

Changing story

Elsey said when Jackson-Bolanos was arrested, he provided four different versions of what he did the night of the murder.

Prosecutors said Jackson-Bolanos first denied any criminal activity.

Then, he claimed he was just taking pictures of cars for other people to target.

Then, he said he tried a couple of car handles.

He finally acknowledged that he broke into cars and parking garages and took things that weren’t his to take, Elsey said.

Investigators said they didn’t tell him that he was under investigation for a violent crime, but Jackson-Bolanos kept telling detectives that he didn’t do anything violent or hurt anybody.

No explanation for blood

Elsey said Jackson-Bolanos had no innocent explanation for why there was blood on the jacket or backpack.

He denied seeing a body, a crime scene, or anything out of the ordinary, prosecutors claim.

Knives found

Prosecutors said there were knives found in Jackson-Bolanos’ girlfriend’s apartment and on his person when he was arrested.

He was pulled over in Roseville, and the state trooper patted him down but didn’t find his pocket knife, prosecutors said.

Elsey said Jackson-Bolanos was driven 30 minutes and didn’t tell the trooper about the knife. When it was discovered at the station, he told officials he carries it to cut a seat belt if he ever gets into a crash.

Closing

Here was Elsey’s closing point during his opening statement:

“You are going to see that on a night that the victim left her door open, that the defendant was in her neighborhood engaging in crimes of opportunity,” Elsey said. “That she was stabbed to death that night, and that her blood was still on his clothing weeks later.”

Defense attorney’s opening statement

Here’s what we heard during the opening statement from the defense:

‘Crime of passion’

Brown reiterated that Woll was stabbed eight times in the neck and the back of the head.

“To me, that would indicate a crime of passion,” Brown said.

He said it doesn’t sound like a random person walking into her house, trying to steal anything.

Nothing stolen

Brown said nothing of value was taken from Woll’s home, even though her purse, credit cards, a cellphone, and a laptop were in plain view.

If anyone went into the house to steal something and stabbed her eight times, they would have taken something, Brown said.

Struggle inside home

Brown clarified that Woll wasn’t just stabbed, but also beaten up with bruises on her face.

“She struggled,” Brown said.

He said the evidence doesn’t suggest she was killed in the type of struggle that only took one minute. He said the struggle crossed into multiple rooms.

A fruit basket in the kitchen was knocked over. Pillows fell on top of blood in the living room. A high concentration of blood was found in the hallway leading out to the front door.

Brown said the blood in the hallway suggests Woll’s body was there “for a time.”

He said the scene inside the home doesn’t point to a struggle that only took 1-2 minutes. He implied that this conflicts with the prosecution’s timeline.

Motion sensor

Brown said there was a footprint heading to the back of the apartment that should have triggered the motion sensor.

He said prosecutors want jurors to believe that his client went into the apartment, attacked Woll, tussled with her in multiple rooms, and then the motion sensor system went right into idle.

He said the system likely takes time to go into idle mode. But that question wasn’t posed until deep into the legal process, Brown said.

Witness who found body

Brown said the witness who found Woll’s body touched her to see if she was alive.

He said that person was never investigated, but there probably would have been trace amounts of blood from when he touched her to see if she was alive.

This point could be used later if the defense argues that Jackson-Bolanos saw Woll’s body while he was out and touched her to check if she was dead.

Ex-boyfriend’s call to police

Brown brought up the ex-boyfriend who called police in a “guilt-stricken situation” to admit to the murder.

Brown said police used cellphone data to suggest the ex-boyfriend wasn’t in the area of Woll’s apartment that night. But Brown said he could have left his phone at home when he went.

If he was trying to outsmart the police, wouldn’t he leave his phone at home, Brown asked.

Point stricken from record

At one point, Brown said that when Jackson-Bolanos was arrested, he told an officer that he had been in the area and seen somebody on the ground. Brown said Jackson-Bolanos told the officer that he had touched her to see if she was dead, and then he ran off.

Elsey interrupted at this point and asked to approach the judge. She agreed. Both sides went up to the judge, and she said Brown’s statement on this matter would be stricken from the record because it’s hearsay.

Blood spatter analysis

Brown said blood spatter analysis used by the prosecution will show how much blood there was in the home after Woll’s murder.

He said video from after the murder will show footage of Jackson-Bolanos without blood on his clothing.

Brown said if Jackson-Bolanos murdered Woll, he would have been covered in blood.

Washing the jacket

Brown said he will show evidence that it’s not unusual for Jackson-Bolanos’ girlfriend to have washed the North Face jacket.

He said it’s more of a hooded sweatshirt, and that both Jackson-Bolanos and his girlfriend wear it. Once it’s been worn, it’s placed in a dirty clothes hamper and washed as a matter of course.

Jail phone call

Brown said Jackson-Bolanos was telling his girlfriend during the jail call that if he had done what police accused him of, the jacket would have been covered in blood.

His girlfriend replied that, well, she had washed it, Brown said. But Jackson-Bolanos hadn’t told her to do so, and he didn’t necessarily know that it had been washed.

Knives

Brown said it’s true that Jackson-Bolanos owned knives. But he said those knives were analyzed, and none were linked whatsoever to Woll’s murder.

‘A trace spot on the back of the sleeve’

Brown said the only real evidence the prosecution has is a small amount of blood on the jacket.

“The only evidence that they have is a trace spot on the back of a sleeve -- the back of the sleeve,” Brown said. “Not the front. There’s no blood on the front of the jacket. There’s no blood on the pants. There’s no blood on the shoes, at all.”

Brown said prosecutors are putting a “theory” out because defendant was in the area and he was looking into cars.

No defensive injuries

When Jackson-Bolanos was arrested, there were pictures taken to see if he had defensive wounds or if there were any signs he had been involved in a struggle.

Brown said there was “no evidence whatsoever” that Jackson-Bolanos had been in a fight.

No attempt to flee

Jackson-Bolanos was arrested on Nov. 30, 2023, and at that time, officials seized his phone and his car. Brown said Jackson-Bolanos made not attempt to evade or avoid police.

Jackson-Bolanos repeatedly called detectives to see when he could get his property back, the defense argued.

He wasn’t aware that he was under police surveillance, Brown said.

Reference to violent crime

Brown said the reason Jackson-Bolanos denied being involved in any violent crime without being directly asked about it is because police were making implications.

When Jackson-Bolanos was questioned by police, officers originally referenced glasses that Jackson-Bolanos had previously pawned, Brown said. That line of questioning hinted at violent crime, so Jackson-Bolanos clarified that he didn’t rob anybody for the glasses, the defense said.

“They failed to mention that was the topic of conversation,” Brown said. “They’re already using deception tactics against my client.”

Deception during police interview

Brown said the reason Jackson-Bolanos didn’t want to be up front with interviewing officers is because they were being deception toward him.

Jackson-Bolanos was told that police had video of him going into Woll’s apartment, and Brown said since his client knew that wasn’t true, it immediately put him on guard.

“Deception begets deception,” Brown said.

That’s why he didn’t want to tell police that he had seen Woll’s body, Brown was arguing.

Brown emphasizes timeframe

The defense’s strategy will clearly rely on debunking the prosecution’s estimated timeline of the murder.

“After all the evidence is submitted, we want you to use your logic and reasoning skills to say that the timeframe they say this happened in is virtually impossible,” Brown said.

Brown said his client would have had to attack Woll in less than a minute.

Video after murder

Brown said his client was seen after the apparent murder timeframe walking around Greektown Casino.

He said someone who had just been involved in a bloody murder wouldn’t be walking calmly toward people.

What neighbor heard

Brown brought up the neighbor who said he had heard something at 1:38 a.m., perhaps a woman telling someone “don’t do (something).”

The neighbor changed his story the next time police asked him because he wanted to convince himself that he didn’t hear Woll’s murder, according to Brown.

Brown was implying that the neighbor knew it would weigh on his conscience to face the truth.