Detroit synagogue president stabbed to death but police say no apparent motive for the murder

Samantha Woll, 40, was politically active and well liked as a patron of theater, opera and music and a keen hiker of mountain trails
Samantha Woll was stabbed to death near her home
AP
Tom Davidson23 October 2023

A funeral was held on Sunday for the president of a Detroit synagogue who was killed over the weekend as police searched for a motive.

Samantha Woll, an adviser to Democratic politicians and president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside her home in the Lafayette Park neighborhood of Detroit on Saturday.

The murder comes amid rising cases of anti-Semitism and community tensions linked to the conflict in Gaza.

However on Sunday afternoon, Detroit Police Chief James E. White said in a statement that "no evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by anti-Semitism."

Police were investigating with the FBI, but the statement did not say whether a suspect had been identified.

In an obituary published on the website of the Hebrew Memorial Chapel, where the funeral was held, Woll, 40, was remembered as a patron of theater, opera and music and a keen hiker of mountain trails.

US-CRIME-HOMICIDE-RELIGION-TENSIONS
Police near the scene of the murder
AFP via Getty Images

The Detroit Police Department said Woll's body was found in the 1300 block of Joliet Place, where a trail of blood led to her home.

Woll's death sparked an outpouring of grief in Jewish and Democratic circles.

U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin, on whose election campaign Woll worked, said in a statement she "dedicated her short life to building understanding across faiths, bringing light in the face of darkness."

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel remembered Woll as being driven by "her sincere love of her community, state and country."

"Sam was as kind a person as I've ever known," Nessel wrote on X, formerly called Twitter.

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