Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A well-known synagogue leader from Detroit who was murdered last weekend was a former staffer in Livingston County Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin’s office.

The body of 40-year-old Samantha Woll was discovered Saturday morning outside of her home east of downtown. She had attended a wedding Friday night and left the event around 12:30am. She was stabbed inside her home and got outside where she collapsed and died. Woll led the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit.

Slotkin said she was heartbroken by the news as Woll worked for her from nearly the moment she became a congresswoman. Woll helped set up the Lansing office in 2019 and helped lead it for her full first term as Slotkin’s Deputy District Director.

About 1,000 people attended Woll’s funeral on Sunday at Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park.

Slotkin’s full statement is below:
“I wanted to write to you about one of my former staffers, Samantha Woll, who was killed over the weekend. Her death has received international headlines, so it’s important to me to take time to share what she meant to Team Slotkin.

Sam worked for me from nearly the moment I became a congresswoman – helping us set up the Lansing office in 2019 and helping to lead it for my full first term as Team Slotkin’s Deputy District Director.

She did for Team Slotkin what came so naturally to her: helping others and serving constituents. Sam helped set up and implement our internship program, and was a thoughtful and inspiring mentor to the young people who joined our team. She also oversaw all of our district advisory boards, coordinated our art committee, and helped organize our very first interfaith roundtable – a result of her passion for strengthening interfaith relations.

That commitment translated to her work in Michigan politics and in the Jewish community as she dedicated her short life to building understanding across faiths, and bringing light in the face of darkness. Most recently Sam led the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit as Board President.

Her impact was felt yesterday at her funeral: Hundreds of people from all faiths, backgrounds and communities came together to honor her memory.

And like many speakers noted yesterday, we will do well to remember her example as many of us are feeling so raw and so hurt by events in the Middle East.

My heart aches knowing we lost someone so dedicated to serving others in such a senseless act. While we do not yet know the details of her death, we do know how Sam lived.

Let her memory be a blessing, and a moral compass for the weeks and months to come”.

Detroit Police Chief James White says they’ve narrowed in on several suspects and believe Woll may have had a previous connection with her attacker.

Police said investigators have identified several people of interest in the fatal stabbing but no one who can be publicly declared a prime suspect.

White said “We have to be very, very cautious as to what information we share. There are very intricate details about this case that, if revealed, could really damage what we’re trying to accomplish”.

Considering events unfolding in Israel and the Gaza Strip, White said they have explored every possible angle of her death being the result of a hate crime, and have ruled out anti-semitism as a motive.