Michigan police investigate tire slashing near home of slain Jewish leader
DETROIT – Michigan police Tuesday examined a pair of slashed tires near the Detroit home of murdered synagogue president Samantha Woll.
Detective Alexander Martinez, with the state's major case unit, inspected the tires of a white Mercedes, as a team of forensic investigators combed through Woll's home wearing blue booties.
Authorities haven't publicly named a suspect in the shocking slaying of the beloved Detroit native.
Martinez photographed the damage, including a cluster of four one-inch slits on one tire.
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Fox News Digital was the first to report the vandalism of the neighbor's car, which occurred the same weekend that the Jewish leader and political strategist was stabbed to death.
Woll, 40, was found dead about 6:30 a.m. Saturday on her front lawn near a trail of blood that led into her townhome in the upscale neighborhood of Lafayette Park.
Detroit Police Chief James White said at a press conference Monday that investigators believe she was attacked inside her home, stumbled outside, and then collapsed. He added that they were close to identifying a suspect.
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The car owners, who asked that their names be withheld, are a couple who live in the same complex. The woman said they had left town Friday and returned Sunday afternoon to find the driver-side tires of their car, parked about 200 feet from Woll's front door, flat from puncture marks.
"We've never had a tire slashing down here that I've known about, and we've been down here 30 years," the woman previously told Fox News Digital. "I don't know if it's connected or not, but it's unnerving. It's unnerving right now because you don't know."
Martinez did not take the damaged tires as evidence and told the owners they could discard them.
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At least 10 investigators were in and out of Woll's home Tuesday removing evidence and taking photographs for nearly three hours.
After the flurry of activity, a bouquet of flowers and a blue vase with a single rose were the only outward signs that the townhome had been the scene of a grisly murder.
White told reporters that Woll's killing was not motivated by antisemitism.
The president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue had returned home from a wedding at about 12:30 a.m. According to witness accounts, she was happy and having a good time at the celebration.
There were no signs of forced entry at her home and her phone and ID were with her.
Woll has worked on the election campaigns of Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, state Sen. Stephanie Chang and Attorney General Dana Nessel, who are all Democrats.
The slain woman was an avid supporter of Israel and co-founded the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit.
Many initially speculated on social media that Woll was the victim of a hate crime amid the escalating tensions across the U.S. over the Israel-Hamas War, but police dismissed the theory.
The Detroit Police Department declined to comment on whether the slashed tires are related to the murder probe.