Detroit Police have reportedly released a suspect who had been held for three days over the killing of Jewish community leader Samantha Woll.
The man’s attorneys, Allison Kriger and Mark Kriger, confirmed their client’s release to the Detroit News, which cited four law enforcement sources as saying police were examining “an ambiguous statement the suspect made to police” about Woll’s killing on Oct. 21.
The man, who police have refused to name, was detained on Tuesday night in Kalamazoo, Michigan, about 140 miles from Detroit.
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Woll’s death captured national headlines last month amid the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas. She had served as president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit.
However, Detroit Police Chief James E. White said in a statement Sunday that “no evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by antisemitism.”
Officers arrived at Woll’s home to conduct a welfare check on the morning of Oct. 21 to find her lying dead in her front yard from stab wounds and a trail of blood leading to her front door. She had been out the previous night celebrating a wedding.
The work of Detroit Police has been called into question following the release in May of a person of interest in the high-profile killing of 53-year-old neurosurgeon Dr. Devon Hoover, who was found shot to death in his home in late April.
However, in that case, White said last week investigators “expect to have an announcement” by the end of the year.
“We are confident that we should be able to bring some closure to this family very, very soon,” he said.
