Trailer | Spiral: Murder in Detroit

Honestly with Bari Weiss

The Free Press

News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 7.8K Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2025

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On October 21, 2023, beloved Detroit community leader Samantha Woll was found brutally stabbed to death outside her home—two weeks to the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel. It looked like an open-and-shut case—a hate crime. But swiftly the police ruled that out. Instead they eventually found themselves with two unrelated suspects. When they charged one with murder, the case took a turn that raised questions about antisemitism, race, and justice in America. Hosted by The Free Press’s Frannie Block, this podcast features exclusive interviews and explores the remarkable, too-short life of Woll and the impact she had. And ⁠Spiral⁠ tells the bizarre twists and turns of one of Detroit’s most haunting recent crimes. Become a paid subscriber to The Free Press to binge the full series today, and with reduced ads. Click ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ to subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Two years ago today, Detroit was shaken by a brutal killing.
0:04.6	Samantha Wool, the president of the city's last synagogue, was murdered, stabbed eight times outside of her home.
0:12.6	The headlines came, and they went, but the questions didn't.
0:17.3	For a year, our reporters have been searching for the truth, and what they found is more complicated and more haunting than anyone imagine.
0:26.9	Spiral murder in Detroit is out now.
0:30.1	Here's the trailer.
0:31.7	When Samantha Wall, the beloved president of the only remaining synagogue in downtown Detroit was murdered in October 23.
0:40.4	Shockwaves ripped through a grieving city in a polarized world.
0:44.6	We didn't know how it happened, who did it, we didn't know any of that.
0:49.2	And the thing is, no one has ever been convicted of her murder.
0:53.3	I can't say for sure who did it,
0:55.9	but I can for sure tell you who didn't do it.
0:58.8	It doesn't add up.
1:01.3	It keeps this lingering doubt.
1:03.8	It doesn't put the period on the end of the sentence.
1:06.2	We're sitting here with an ellipsis.
1:11.0	It's pretty surreal that she is effectively the subject of a murder mystery saga.
1:18.3	It's just heart-wrenching, and all of the details of this are extremely bizarre.
1:23.2	And nothing is as it seems.
1:30.3	This is a new podcast that investigates Samantha's murder.
1:34.3	We sit down for the first time with every person involved in the case and the subsequent trial.
1:40.3	Samantha's family, the lawyers, the jury, the ex-boyfriend, and the authorities still searching for the truth.
	...

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