DETROIT – The jury in the Samantha Woll murder trial is deadlocked after two days of deliberations.
Read: Breaking down the case as jury begins deliberations in Samantha Woll murder trial
Jurors indicated Friday, July 12, that they’re struggling to reach a verdict for defendant Michael Jackson-Bolanos.
Woll was stabbed to death at her Lafayette Park condo last October. Jackson-Bolanos was arrested a month later.
He’s now on trial for first-degree murder, home invasion and lying to a peace officer. The trial included dozens of witnesses and has been going on for a month now. Closing statements were delivered Tuesday, July 9.
Related: Samantha Woll’s alleged killer on trial: Watch all witness testimony here
The judge read the instructions for a deadlocked jury, and urged them to listen to each other and to be open to changing their minds if they believe they can.
“It could be one juror who is just being inconsistent and dug in,” said Local 4 legal expert Neil Rockind. “There’s reasonable doubt all over the place. There’s another person that walked into a police department and said he was worried that he had done something and couldn’t account for himself. And that is a very, very bizarre thing to say. That, to me, is a case that’s rife with reasonable doubt.”
The jury is set to return Monday for further deliberations.
Why Wayne County prosecutors say Jackson-Bolanos is the killer:
- He was in the area of the time Woll was murdered.
- He was committing crimes, theft from autos at the time of the murder.
- He was in Woll’s parking lot before the murder.
- Video and cell data track him into Lafayette Park and out of that area back into downtown.
- He put on blue gloves on his way into Woll’s area, he came out with just one glove.
- Video shows him checking his sleeve (drops of blood) and then running instead of walking.
- Woll’s blood found on his laundered jacket.
- Defendant himself says Woll’s blood was on his hands because he found her body and touched her.
- He lied more than 40 times to police about just one issue.
- He admits he was in the area, that he lied, that he lies and admits he is a petty thief.
What assistant prosecutor Ryan Elsey could not show the jury:
- He has no evidence about what happened inside Woll’s townhome where the attack took place.
- He told the jury to use common sense that all signs point to Jackson-Bolanos, but presented no evidence about Jackson-Bolanos actually stabbing Woll.
Defense of Jackson-Bolanos presented by defense attorney Brian Brown:
- There is zero evidence Jackson-Bolanos went inside Woll’s townhome.
- Woll’s ex-boyfriend, Jeffery Herbstman, “confessed” to the murder, but was given immunity to testify after being cleared of any crimes.
- Brown says police did not investigate Herbstman or his home, drugs, bike, firepit at all, a massive failure of investigating by MSP, FBI, DPD.
- This was a crime of passion, no reason for a petty thief to slash Woll to death the way she was killed.
