A suspect in the deadly stabbing of Detroit synagogue leader and leftwing political adviser Samantha Woll was released from custody on Friday without being booked with a crime after police had detained the man for three days.
Funeral held for Detroit synagogue president as police search for motiveRead more
The man’s attorneys, Allison Kriger and Mark Kriger, confirmed their client’s release to the Detroit News, which nonetheless cited four law enforcement sources who said investigators were continuing to examine “an ambiguous statement the suspect made to police” about Woll’s 21 October killing.
According to the News, the outlet’s police sources said the detained and subsequently released man was an acquaintance of Woll. He was detained on Tuesday night in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is about 140 miles (225km) from Detroit, after giving a declaration to police about Woll’s slaying, though investigators worried that statement alone would not be enough to obtain charges against him.
A ranking staff member of Detroit’s top state prosecutor, Kym Worthy, told the News that by 3pm on Friday police had not provided their office with a request for a warrant containing charges against the detained man in connection with Woll’s slaying. At that point, more than 48 hours had passed since the Detroit police chief, James White, announced that his officers had taken into custody a suspect in Woll’s murder, and the detained man was allowed to go.
The News said a Detroit police official declined to comment on Friday beyond the statement White had made two days earlier. That statement, which conspicuously refused to identify the man who had been detained, read: “A suspect has been taken into custody for the murder of Samantha Woll. While this is an encouraging development in our desire to bring closure for Ms Woll’s family, it does not represent the conclusion of our work in this case.
“The details of the investigation will remain confidential at this time to ensure the integrity of the important steps that remain. Investigators will be continuing their work with [prosecutors] until the conclusion of this investigation.”
Woll, 40, served as president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue when police said she was stabbed inside her home in Detroit’s Lafayette Park neighborhood. She was found dead after she stumbled out of her house and collapsed on her front lawn.
The stabbing death not only set off a frantic police search for a killer, but it also ignited a firestorm of speculation that Woll may have been targeted because of her role as a Jewish community leader amid reported spikes in antisemitism and Islamophobia since the war that Israel launched against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’s 7 October attack against Israel.
Without specifying a motive for the killing, White has maintained repeatedly that Woll’s death does not appear to have resulted from antisemitism.
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2023-11-11 10:49:57
Article from www.theguardian.com
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