By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-04-01 19:26:41 | Updated at 2025-04-02 22:42:09
1 day ago
An identical twin who covered for her sister by lying about driving a car that killed two Amish children has been sentenced to three months in jail.
Sarah Beth Petersen, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal vehicular operation connected with the 2023 Minnesota crash.
The horror smash killed sisters Wilma Miller, seven, and Irma Miller, 11, while older sister Rose, then 13, and their brother Allan, then nine, survived their injuries.
Samantha was high behind the wheel at the time of the crash, so the twins schemed to make it look like Sarah was driving to reduce a possible jail sentence, local police said.
When the cops arrived at the scene, both sisters were present along with two vehicles both in Samantha's name including the silver SUV which struck the kids.
Sarah gave a statement to the police, who soon became suspicious after noting that her clothing did not match the description given by eyewitnesses.
She was then unwittingly caught on a deputy's pocket recorder openly bragging about the plot as she sat in the back of the squad car.
'I think one of the guys is onto me, but I don't really care,' she was recorded as saying according to the charges obtained by the Star Tribune.
Sarah Beth Petersen (left) , an identical twin who covered for her sister by lying about driving a car that killed two Amish children, has been sentenced to three months in jail
Wilma, 7, (second from right) and Irma, 11 (right) were killed in the collision in September 2023 which also injured their brother Allan, 9, (back left) and older sister Rose, 13 (not pictured)
'There's no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they can't tell.'
The crash took place on September 25, 2023, along southbound County Road 1 as Samantha was leaving work at Hy-Vee.
Investigators said her silver SUV was travelling at up to 71mph in a 55mph zone when it slammed into the children.
One witness also told police he saw one blonde woman at the crash site, then shortly later another woman who liked similar arrive, and embrace the first woman.
Hy-vee staff told the cops that she had used the company's work messaging platform and said she was high on methamphetamines at the time of the crash.
A blood test revealed she had methamphetamine, amphetamine and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana in her system.
Sarah was sentenced Monday to jail time and four months of supervised probation.
In court, Sarah's defense attorney Daniel McIntosh offered his 'apologies and condolences' to the Miller family on behalf of his client.
Sarah Petersen (pictured) agreed to confess to the accident to save her sister potential prison time
Samantha Petersen (pictured) allegedly hit a horse drawn buggy on a road outside the small town of Spring Valley on September 25 2023 while under the influence of meth
'She still has such a heavy heart for the Millers' loss,' McIntosh said. Samantha is due to stand trial on July 14.
Both sisters have a colorful rap sheet, including two DWI convictions for Samantha, one for alcohol and one for a controlled substance.
Sarah was convicted in January 2022 on a federal charge of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is currently on parole.
While Sarah was in prison on the drug charge, Samantha cared for her two children, a potential motive for Sarah offering to cover for her in return, according to the criminal complaint.
It is also not the first time the twins have attempted to change places to evade law enforcement.
Sarah was convicted of giving law-enforcement her sister's name in 2017 and giving a false name earlier that same year, according to court records.
Samantha was convicted of giving a false name in 2007.
One witness also told police he saw one blonde woman at the crash site, then shortly later another woman who liked similar arrive, and embrace the first woman
Menno Miller, the heartbroken father of the two girls who died, Wilma, 7, and Irma, 11 told the Wall Street Journal his community does not believe in the criminal-justice system.
'It was not a good scene, I'll tell you that, when you see your kids scattered along the road,' he said.
'They were thinking about themselves,' he said of the twins, and said he has accepted the authorities decision to bring charges.
