One of the twins involved in a deadly Amish buggy crash in Minnesota has admitted that she tried to dupe law enforcement into thinking she was the one driving at the time, not her identical sister.
The devastating collision unfolded the morning of Sept. 25, 2023, when an SUV plowed into a horse-drawn buggy on southbound County Road 1 in rural Stewartville, FOX 9 reported. The buggy was carrying four children to school at the time, including 7-year-old Wilma Miller and 11-year-old Irma Miller, who were both killed in the crash.
Sarah Beth Peterson was still on the scene when officers arrived around 8:30 a.m., and she did her best to convince them she’d been behind the wheel of the SUV, which belonged to her twin sister, Samantha Jo Peterson.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by KSTP, the women at one point were caught on a deputy’s digital recorder, seemingly discussing their efforts to trick police, and their scheme quickly unraveled from there.
“I think that one of the guys is on to me, but I don’t really care,” Sarah allegedly said. She later added there was “no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell,” per the complaint.
Police have since said Samantha was on her way home from work and that she was high on meth when the crash occurred. In its aftermath, she also allegedly used her phone to search phrases including “What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people,” “how to lock an iPhone cops have,” and “if you hit a buggy and kill two people are you going to prison?”
What’s more, a witness described the driver as wearing a T-shirt Samantha had been wearing.
Her sister, Sarah, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting criminal vehicular operation. She was initially facing 16 charges — all of them suggesting she tried to conceal or take responsibility for her twin’s criminal acts — but copped to just two of them as part of a plea agreement. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend that she spend no more 6 than months behind bars and get four years probation.
The deal does not however, require her to testify against Samantha, who is still facing 17 felonies, including criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation, driving under the influence, failure to provide proof of insurance, careless driving and speeding. She‘a due in court on June 10 for a pretrial conference and her trial is scheduled to start July 14.
Sarah, meanwhile, is due to be sentenced next month.