In the quiet town of Jeffersonville, Indiana, the life of 35-year-old Josephine Amon was brought to a tragic and violent end on January 21, 2018. A woman who had sought a new beginning for herself and her four children, she had moved to an apartment on Viking Court to escape a volatile relationship with her estranged husband. Originally from South Sudan, Josephine was building a life for her family, working at Legacy Supply Co. and was known by friends and family as a kind and generous person.
The night of her death, Josephine and her 13-year-old daughter had just returned from a funeral in Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after they arrived home, her estranged husband, Marial Wel, appeared. An argument erupted between the couple in the kitchen. Despite Josephine's pleas for him to leave, Wel shot her multiple times with a. 380 caliber revolver. The horrific act was witnessed by their teenage daughter.
After the shooting, Wel forced his daughter to accompany him to Louisville. There, he disposed of the murder weapon and bullets in a trash can near the Hall of Justice. During this time, the young girl bravely attempted to contact family members for help, but Wel intercepted her calls and threatened to harm her relatives. Eventually, Wel turned himself in to the Louisville Metro Police and confessed to the murder.
In April 2019, Marial Wel, then 38, pleaded guilty to the murder of his estranged wife, Josephine Amon. The motive for the killing was believed to be jealousy stemming from their separation. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. The sentence was later upheld by the Indiana Court of Appeals after Wel appealed, claiming it was too harsh. The tragic death of Josephine Amon was the first homicide in Jeffersonville since 2015, leaving a community in shock and a family, particularly a young daughter who witnessed the event, to grapple with an immeasurable loss.
