From Indiana Jones to Tragedy: Convert’s Son Confesses to Her Grisly Murder in Samaria

Sarah Richardson, a 73-year-old American-born Jewish convert, was found dead in her home in the small Samaria settlement of Ma’ale Levona, allegedly murdered by her son, Yoel Richardson, 37. The case has gripped Israel, where 15 women have been killed this year alone, most in gender-based or domestic violence incidents, including three within the past week.

Richardson’s story is rooted in an extraordinary family legacy. Her father, Wendell Jones, a Texas-born pastor and archaeologist, led the global Bnei Noach community and spent decades searching for Temple treasures, including the Ark of the Covenant, earning speculation, denied by Steven Spielberg, as the inspiration for Indiana Jones.

Jones, who died in 2010, faced Ku Klux Klan harassment in North Carolina for proclaiming the Jewish people as “chosen.” In 1966, he brought his family to Israel, where Sarah converted to Judaism and settled in Ma’ale Levona.

Last Tuesday, Yoel, who has a documented psychiatric history, allegedly killed his mother. Initially claiming he found her unconscious and attempted CPR, he refused to let Magen David Adom paramedics examine her. Police found a shovel at the scene, suspected to be intended for burying her body.

A post-mortem report showed signs of a struggle, but inconclusive findings led to Yoel’s brief release under restrictions. On Saturday, after threatening his father with a knife and expressing suicidal intent, Yoel confessed to the murder during police questioning. He reenacted the crime at the apartment, with evidence like marks on his body and photographs supporting his account.

Disturbingly, Yoel attended his mother’s funeral two days earlier, carrying a large knife, which witnesses noted he brandished amid erratic behavior. He had recently been convicted of illegal knife possession, citing a personal knife collection.

His detention has been extended, though his attorney, Anat Kirshenberg of the Public Defender’s Office, claims the confession was coerced. “The police took a man in severe mental distress from psychiatric hospitalization, interrogated him without legal counsel or rest, and conducted a reenactment at 4:30 a.m.,” Kirshenberg said, calling it a “false confession” and highlighting the need for legal protections for vulnerable suspects.

The tragedy casts a shadow over the Jones family’s remarkable journey. Wendell Jones, who studied Judaism at the Hebrew University and claimed to have found the biblical anointing oil in a 1989 excavation, saw his work as a mission for “world redemption” through sacred artifacts, as Sarah recounted in a 2008 interview with Eretz Binyamin. Unlike profit-driven treasure hunters, Jones believed the Temple’s lost vessels held spiritual significance for global salvation.

Sarah, inspired by her father’s devotion, embraced Judaism and built a life in Israel, only for her story to end in violence, highlighting the stark contrast between her family’s quest for redemption and the devastating personal tragedy that unfolded.