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Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Chadwick Bloom
One big question in the Samantha Woll case has been: How could the suspect Michael Jackson-Bolanos possibly show up on a video about a quarter mile away from the crime scene in Detroit's Lafayette Park about three or four minutes after prosecutors theorize that the murder took place?
The prosecution on Wednesday tried to prove through jogging, walking and sprinting that it was possible.
Before we get to the prosecution's argument, a bit more background: Prosecutors say that a motion detector in Woll's townhouse, just east of I-75, was activated at 4:20 a.m. on Oct. 21, and went dormant at 4:22 a.m. That's when they theorize that the murder took place.
Both sides say Jackson-Dolanos showed up minutes later on video near Greektown on the Monroe Bridge. The prosecution said opening statements that it was 4:24 a.m. when Jackson-Bolanos showed up on a security video. The defense aruged it was 4:23 a.m.
On Wednesday, prosecutors called to the stand Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Chadwick Bloom, who had served on a homicide task force that investigated the Woll murder. He essentially testified that it was possible to get from point A to point B in that short time.
Specifically, he testified that he tried three different methods about two weeks ago; walking briskly, lightly jogging and sprinting from Woll's front door to the point that the defendant showed up on the video a quarter mile away.
He said it took him 3 minutes and 33 seconds briskly walking; 1 minute and 41 seconds jogging or lightly running and 1 minute and 10 seconds sprinting.
He said he's not a runner, but works out daily. He said he has two screws in his right knee, but can run.
Before the testimony on that issue, defense attorney Brian Brown argued, without the jury present, that the testimony was prejudicial and misleading. He said the detective could be in much different shape than his client and the times might be irrelevant. He also said traffic at the time of the crime could have been different. Judge Margaret M. Van Houten denied the defense's objection.
During cross examination, the detective said he did not record the speed at which he moved.
In opening statements, Brown initially mentioned that his client told police after being arrested that he had stumbled across Woll's body, checked it out, then ran off. The prosecution objected and the judge told the jury to disregard that comment.
He later proceeded to say that his client appeared on a video at 4:23 a.m. near Greektown, and argued that it would have made it highly improbable that he could have killed Woll, then traveled by foot so quickly. He also countered the prosecution's theory that it was a robbery attempt, saying nothing of value was taken from Woll's apartment.
The prosecution has said it found spots of blood on Jackson-Balonos's North Face jacket and backpack.
Investigators found no video of the defendant coming out of the house or any intruder's fingerprints in the home that could be positively identified.
So, it may likely come down to the jury deciding whether Jackson-Bolanos actually killed Woll or got blood in his coat and back pack after stumbling across her body outside the townhouse after she was stabbed eight times in the upper body.
