Detroit synagogue leader stabbed to death

The 40-year-old woman was found stabbed to death outside her Detroit home.

The leader of a progressive synagogue in the northern US city of Detroit, close to local Democratic elected officials, was found stabbed to death in front of his home on Saturday, October 21, the press and police said. Without giving a motive.

Police officers and medics called to the scene in a neighborhood of this large Michigan city found a man “lying on the ground, unconscious” before he was “pronounced dead at the scene,” local police said in a press release.

“Multiple stab wounds”

The Detroit Free Press identified the victim as Samantha Wohl, 40. “On the spot, police officers noticed a trail of blood, which led them to the victim’s house, where the crime was committed,” the city’s police continued. First, “several stab wounds were found on the victim’s body, hence the investigation has been handed over to the Criminal Homicide Squad,” the police added, adding that “the motive for the murder is unknown.”

Detroit’s Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue said on its Facebook page that it was “shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of our board president, Samantha Wall.” According to the Detroit Free Press, Samantha Voll has been the president of Isaac Acree Downtown Synagogue since 2022, previously worked for Congresswoman Eliza Slatkin and was on Michigan attorney Dana Nessel’s re-election campaign. Both women are Democrats.

“The kindest person I’ve ever met”

Speaking privately on her X account (formerly Twitter), Dana Nessel said she was “shocked, saddened and horrified by Sam’s violent murder.”

“She is the kindest person I have ever met, driven by her genuine love for her community, her state and her nation.”

“Sam really believes in her faith and her activism to create a better living space for everyone,” the attorney said, without elaborating on the investigation that began. The United States, particularly New York, has been rocked by protests, tensions and some violence between Jewish and Muslim groups, fueled by the war between Hamas and Israel in the Middle East.