Updates on Samantha Wool’s murder: Synagogue head’s final text revealed

According to a 2017 article by The Detroit Jewish NewsWoll “helped found the Detroit Muslim-Jewish Forum,” an alliance that helps build ties between Jewish and Muslim youth.

“By reaching out and creating space for connection between Muslims and Jews, she has exemplified the values ​​of healing the world,” the article said.

Dawud Walid, president of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called Woll's death a “tragic loss” and praised her efforts to unite the Jewish and Muslim communities in Detroit.

“We are troubled by the apparent homicide of Samantha Woll, a beloved leader of her faith community in Metro Detroit,” Mr. Walid said in a statement. “We also send our sincere condolences to her family and friends and to the Detroit Jewish community as a whole for their tragic loss.”

Wool was a well-known figure in Michigan politics, working for Democratic Congresswoman Elisha Slotkin and the re-election campaign of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, also a Democrat.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer paid tribute to Wool.

“My heart breaks for her family, her friends, her synagogue and everyone who was lucky enough to know her. She was a source of light, a beacon in her community who worked hard to make Michigan a better place,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Slotkin paid tribute in a statement to X: “She did for our team as Deputy Regional Director what came so naturally to her: helping others and serving constituents. Separately, in politics and in the Jewish community, she devoted her short life to building understanding between faiths, bringing light in the face of darkness.”

Nessel said she was “shocked, saddened and horrified.”

The last text message Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll sent before she was found murdered outside her home on Saturday has been released.

Speaking at her funeral on Sunday, Woll's family said she sent a heart emoji to a friend “just because”.

A short time later, around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, the 40-year-old leader of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue was found stabbed to death in her home.

Just a mile from the Michigan synagogue she had been leading since last year, Samantha Woll's lifeless body was found in the early hours of Saturday morning. Outside her home in the Lafayette Park neighborhood, Detroit police officers followed a trail of blood to the disturbing scene.

The beloved president's brutal stabbing at the Isaac Agree Downtown synagogue has shocked the local community and city officials, who remember her as a beacon of light in the community who tried to build bridges between Jews and Muslims.

Few details about the killing will be released to protect the investigation, Chief James White said during a news conference Monday, but evidence suggests the killing was not motivated by anti-Semitic sentiment.

Detroit Police Chief James E. White said police know Wool — who led the downtown Isaac Agree Synagogue — attended a wedding Friday night and left the celebration around 12:30 p.m. .m.

“By all accounts, she was not in any discomfort, she was her normal pleasant self,” Chief White told reporters.

A funeral has been held for the synagogue president who was found stabbed to death in her Detroit home.

Samantha Woll, 40, was discovered at 6.30am on Saturday morning by emergency personnel who pronounced her dead at the scene.

The FBI is aware of the incident and “will assist the Detroit Police Department as requested,” the agency said in a statement to CNN.

Detroit Police Chief James E. White urged the public not to jump to conclusions until more evidence is gathered.

“It is understandable that this crime leaves many unanswered questions. This matter is under investigation and I ask everyone to remain patient while investigators carefully review every aspect of the available evidence,” he said in a statement.

Woll has led the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue since 2022.

She is remembered by her loved ones as a leader who worked to bring people together through her interfaith work. Dawud Walid, president of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called Woll's death a “tragic loss” and praised her efforts to unite the Jewish and Muslim communities in Detroit.

“We are troubled by the apparent homicide of Samantha Woll, a beloved leader of her faith community in Metro Detroit,” Mr. Walid said in a statement. “We also send our sincere condolences to her family and friends and to the Detroit Jewish community as a whole for their tragic loss.”