40-year-old synagogue leader Samantha Woll found fatally stabbed outside Detroit home

Prominent Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home Saturday morning, according to police and reports.

The “politically connected” synagogue president, 40, was found outside her home in the city’s Lafayette Park neighborhood, east of downtown, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Detroit police responded to a 911 call of an unresponsive person around 6:30 a.m. and found a body outside a home on Joliet Place, according to multiple published reports.

Detroit police are probing the deadly mystery, but in a statement posted on social media, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she was “horrified to learn of Sam’s brutal murder.”

Woll’s body was discovered along with a “trail of blood” that led from the suspected crime scene to Woll’s home, the outlet reported.

Police believe the crime took place inside her home, according to CNN.

A motive for the killing is not yet known, the police department said.

Woll led the Isaac Agree Downtown Detroit Synagogue and previously worked for Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and on the re-election campaign of Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats, the Free Press reported.

“I was devastated today to learn of the loss of one of Detroit’s great young leaders – Samantha Woll,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan wrote on X. “Just weeks ago, I shared a day of joy with Sam at the dedication of the newly renovated Downtown Synagogue. It was a project she successfully led with great pride and enthusiasm.”

The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue wrote that it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of Woll’s “unexpected” death on its Facebook Saturday afternoon.

She had led the synagogue since 2022 and was involved in other local Jewish organizations. 

“This is a terrible tragedy. Sam had so many gifts still to contribute to the world. May her memory be a blessing,” wrote Mitchel Blum-Alexander, one of many who commented on the Facebook post.