One of Minnesota’s identical twins is accused of switching places after speeding down a rural highway and rear-ending an Amish horse-drawn carriage, killing two children.
Police spent months preparing the case before announcing charges. But one expert says the damning evidence may not be as strong as it seems.
Prosecutors now allege Samantha Jo Petersen was behind the wheel when a car collided with a horse-drawn carriage on September 25, 2023, killing two children and injuring two siblings. Prosecutors said she was not driving her identical twin sister, Sarah Beth Petersen, who was responsible at the scene.
Twins allegedly tried to take responsibility for their sister after Amish buggy crash in Minnesota
Sarah Beth Petersen’s 2016 headshot. She is the identical twin of Samantha Jo Petersen. (Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office)
Authorities said 7-year-old Wilma Miller and 11-year-old Irma Miller were killed and two siblings, ages 9 and 13, were taken to the hospital.
Samantha Petersen’s driver’s license was expired and her silver Toyota 4Runner was uninsured at the time of the crash, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
sheriff john degeorge told local media Dozens of charges were filed against the sisters in February after a “long investigation” uncovered suspicious “inconsistencies” that later led to the unraveling of the alleged conspiracy.
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2015 Samantha Jo Petersen Mugshot (Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office)
“Sarah was on scene shortly before our first deputy arrived,” he said in televised remarks. “That allowed them to come up with a story where Sarah was responsible for the crash and misled the investigation from that very point on.”
when When police arrived, she told them she was the driver and that she had hit the ATV.
Irma Miller, 11, and her sister Wilma, 7, were killed in the accident. An ambulance took the two surviving brothers to the hospital. (FOX9)
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Court documents say the sisters removed the switcheroo because Samantha Petersen was high at the time of the accident and feared going to prison.
Sara, who had also recently been to prison, may have felt indebted to her sister for caring for her children while she was locked up, according to the filing.
read the criminal complaint
Responding officers allegedly found “several charred marijuana blunts” and a tin can of marijuana inside the crashed vehicle, and investigators later found evidence that she had also been using methamphetamines. .
The officers left with their recorders running during the investigation, and one of them, Samantha Petersen, told her sister, “I think one of the guys is mad at me, but I don’t really care about them…” There’s no way you’ll understand,” he was said to have been recorded. They cannot tell the difference between us. ”
According to court documents, detectives concluded that the driver had clear vision 452 feet ahead and no obstructions before the crash. (FOX9)
Detectives said a text exchange between Samantha Petersen and a person whom investigators identified as “DH” said, in part, “I don’t think you realize that I did that…I’m that Amish… They are said to have discovered horrifying evidence that he killed two people by running over their buggy. So that I wouldn’t go to jail, I had Sarah come there and take on her crime. ”
Detectives also allegedly found evidence that the suspect had searched for phrases on his cell phone, such as “What would happen if two people died in an accident with an Amish buggy?”
A temporary memorial on the side of the road near where prosecutors say the Petersen sisters were replaced after a DWI accident killed two Amish children and injured two brothers in the back of a horse-drawn carriage. . (FOX9)
She has at least two previous DWI arrests and charges including providing a false name to law enforcement, according to court records.
She currently faces 21 charges, including vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident. She is scheduled to appear in court on March 25th.
Sarah Petersen is scheduled to appear in court on April 1st on 16 felonies, including aiding and abetting a crime and attempting to assume responsibility.
David Gelman, a former prosecutor and current defense attorney, said the suspect driver “has a very egregious case involving impaired driving ability.”
Authorities have provided numerous mugshots of Samantha Petersen, including one from 2016. Her criminal history includes multiple DWIs. (Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office)
But he said it could be a hindrance for prosecutors at trial because it wasn’t a particularly high-speed crash. However, he said the “negligence” standard under Minnesota law is easier to prove than the “recklessness” required in some other states.
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“I think it’s a difficult case for the state from a vehicular homicide standpoint; [the suspects] “Certainly it didn’t help me much to sort out the shenanigans of trying to change drivers at the scene myself. I think jurors can get really, really angry and upset when they see that kind of shenanigans.” There is,” he said.
Horse-drawn carriages in Amish country in Ohio are fitted with reflective panels on the back to warn drivers. (St. Petersburg)
The case against her sober sister Sarah Petersen could be even more difficult to prosecute as charged, but authorities are trying to pressure her into a plea deal to secure her testimony against Samantha Petersen. He said there may be.
“We can’t actually prove that she did anything more than obstruct the investigation,” he said. “She was not the driver. She may have made a false statement, which is also interference.”
He also pointed to several other items that he said defense attorneys might refer to. The affidavit states one of the suspects moved the vehicle during the initial investigation.
In this October 18, 2016 photo, Amish members wear traditional costumes and ride bicycles and drive horse-drawn carriages through the streets of Millersburg, Ohio. Many similar vehicles have bright markings on the rear as a safety measure. (St. Petersburg)
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“The scene quickly became contaminated as the women moved around the scene and moved around like Willy Billy,” he said. “As a defense attorney, I’m going to slam them hard. … They failed to protect that crime scene.
“At the end of the day, innocent people are dying and juries don’t like that,” he said. “But the defense has a good buzz here.”
FOX News’ Stephanie Price contributed to this report.
