Thirty women were murdered in Israel last year, marking one of the deadliest years in recent memory. Now, less than halfway into 2025, the death toll has already reached 15, most killed in gender-based violence, many by family members. Three women were murdered in the span of a single week. One of them was 73-year-old Sarah Richardson.
Richardson, born in the United States, was raised in a family targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. She immigrated to Israel following her father, converted to Judaism, and eventually settled in Ma’ale Levona, a settlement in the West Bank. But the place that had become her home is also where her life ended.
Her son, Yoel Richardson, has been arrested on suspicion of her murder. He confessed to trying to bury her body in the garden, but his lawyer insists it was a false confession. This is the story of a remarkable family—and a tragedy.
Richardson’s father, Vendyl Jones, was a pastor, theologian and archaeologist who led the World Noahide Community. He devoted his life to locating the hidden treasures of the First and Second Temples, including the Ark of the Covenant and the elusive red heifer. Jones lived in Mitzpe Jericho and was repeatedly rumored to be the inspiration behind the cinematic character Indiana Jones. Some even claimed that Raiders of the Lost Ark was based on events from his life, though director Steven Spielberg denied this.
Jones died in 2010 at the age of 80. Two years earlier, his daughter Sarah was interviewed by Eretz Binyamin, a newspaper published by the Binyamin Regional Council, which includes Ma’ale Levona. She spoke about her childhood, her immigration to Israel, and her father’s lifelong search for Temple artifacts.
'My father’s motive: The redemption of the world'
In that interview, Richardson recalled how her father, born in Texas, had served as a Baptist pastor in a North Carolina town dominated by the Ku Klux Klan. “He spoke of the Jewish people as the chosen people. They were furious. They came to our house at night, smashed windows and car windshields, and sometimes even fired shots,” she said.
In 1966, after fundraising, the family set out for Israel by ship. “We stood on the deck and saw Haifa from a distance. We cried. It looked like a city of gold,” she said.
Jones enrolled in Jewish studies at the Hebrew University and became a well-known archaeologist. He was especially interested in the Copper Scroll, and claimed that in a 1989 excavation he had discovered the biblical anointing oil. His children, including Sarah, converted to Judaism and stayed in Israel.
“Unlike grave robbers motivated by greed or atheist archaeologists who see Temple vessels as nothing more than historical relics, my father had a very different motivation,” she said. “To him, these items are essential for the redemption of the world. He wasn’t interested in wealth—only in the possibility that the discovery of the Temple vessels could help bring about salvation.”
Release, re-arrest and a confession
In recent decades, Richardson had lived quietly in Ma’ale Levona, a small settlement in the Shiloh bloc in southeastern Samaria. But last Tuesday, her life was cut short, allegedly by her son.
The 37-year-old son, who has a documented psychiatric history, initially claimed he had found his mother unconscious and tried to revive her. He refused to allow Magen David Adom medics to examine her, and police who arrived at the scene found a shovel—believed to be the one he intended to use to bury her. A preliminary autopsy was inconclusive, though signs of a struggle were found on her body, raising suspicions of foul play. The son was released shortly afterward under restrictive conditions.
On Saturday, the father of the suspect called police, reporting that his son had threatened him with a knife and was expressing suicidal thoughts. Officers from the Shai District arrived and, in a conversation with them, the son admitted to murdering his mother. He was taken to the apartment where her body was found and reenacted the killing in full detail.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
According to police, the evidence at the scene—including injuries on the suspect and photographic documentation—supported his account.
Investigators also discovered that two days before the confession, the suspect had attended his mother’s funeral armed with a large knife. Witnesses at the funeral described his behavior as erratic and said he pulled the knife from his pocket. About two weeks ago, he was convicted of illegal possession of a knife and claimed that he had a collection of knives at home.
His detention has been extended, but his legal team has filed an appeal to the district court requesting his release. Attorney Anat Kirshenberg, representing him on behalf of the Public Defender’s Office, said in a statement that: “It is unacceptable for the police to trample on the basic rights of a suspect, especially one with a disability. Officers took a man in psychological distress directly from psychiatric hospitalization, even after the court had already acknowledged his fragile state and the fact that he attempted suicide at the police station."
“Despite this, they interrogated him without letting him consult a lawyer or sleep. They took him at 4:30 a.m. to his mother’s apartment for a reenactment. All signs point to a false confession. The investigators’ conduct is further proof of the need for a law mandating the presence of legal counsel during interrogations of people with disabilities or minors.”