Man indicted on suspicion he killed his mother

State prosecutors filed an indictment against Joel Richardson, a 37-year-old from the West Bank settlement of Maale Levona, who is accused of murdering his mother and attempting to hide the evidence.

Sarah Richardson, the daughter of the enigmatic Noahide archaeologist Vendyl Jones, was found dead in her West Bank home last month.

Police called to the scene on the morning of her death found her son digging a hole in the nearby garden. He tried to prevent officers from entering the house, where he lived with his mother, leading law enforcement to suspect he played a role in the murder.

According to the indictment, Richardson regularly abused his mother, who was dependent on him for assistance ever since she took a fall that impaired her ability to walk.

“Their relationship was marked by frequent arguments and repeated violence by the defendant towards his mother from 2019 up until her death,” the indictment reads.

Prosecutors charge Richardson with aggravated murder, obstruction of justice and assault of an elderly person, and request that the Jerusalem District Court extend his remand until the end of legal proceedings against him.