Minnesota law enforcement officials believe a woman who claimed she was driving an SUV that hit an Amish family’s horse-drawn buggy, killing two of the four children inside, lied to authorities to cover for her twin.
Suspicions that the 35-year-old identical sisters swapped spots, clothing, and stories came to light this week in search warrant affidavits filed with the court that highlight what authorities think may have really happened in the moments leading up to and following the September crash.
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Sarah Beth Peterson of Spring Valley, Minnesota, claimed she was the one behind the wheel when it hit the black buggy, but authorities believe the real culprit was her sister, Samantha Jo Peterson.
Both sisters were at the deadly crash site when deputies arrived. Sarah Beth Peterson told the police she was driving the silver SUV that was registered in her twin sister’s name, adding that she was in a hurry and traveling to Spring Valley from Rochester to pay her utility bill and to get her children to school on time. There was another car, a black Toyota SUV, at the site also registered to Samantha Jo Peterson.
The crash involving the silver SUV and the Miller family’s buggy took place before 8:30 a.m. Wilma Miller, 7, and Irma Miller, 11, were killed. Their 9-year-old brother, Allan, and 13-year-old sister, Rose, were injured and taken to the hospital. The four children were on their way to school, with Rose Miller holding the reins of the carriage. The horse also died.
Within days of the crash, authorities claimed the twins’ stories started to lose credibility based on investigator interviews, a noticeable change of clothing, and incriminating text messages. As part of the investigation, law enforcement collected forensic evidence at the site and is still waiting for those results to return.
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“Once that’s done, we will send our case for review to the County Attorney’s Office for charges,” Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
When asked by the newspaper if she was the driver, Samantha Jo Peterson gave an emphatic “No.”
“That’s what they allegedly think,” she said. “I’m going to get a hold of a lawyer .”
Her sister could not be reached for comment.
A review of Kingsland Public Schools surveillance footage seemed to show Sarah Beth Peterson dropping her children off at their school at 7:41 a.m. the day of the accident and paying her utility bill in cash. It could not be determined which sister actually paid the bill, though phone records showed it was Sarah Beth Peterson who called the utility company that morning to confirm the payment had been credited to her account.
Documents also show that Samantha Jo Peterson punched out of work at 7:47 a.m. before the crash and was seen getting into a silver SUV. Both sisters worked at Hy-Vee, a supermarket chain in the Midwest. According to other court records, Samantha Jo Peterson admitted to using methamphetamine and being high at the time of the crash, KTTC reported.
Samantha Jo Peterson purportedly told a co-worker, “I f***ed up. I just killed two Amish people. They were kids.”
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The 911 call reporting the accident came from a phone that belonged to Samantha Jo Peterson, who told the operator she drove over a hill and hit the buggy. But it was Sarah Beth Peterson who was taken through field sobriety tests and had her blood drawn to test for drugs.
Surveillance video also seemed to show the sisters appearing to swap clothing, and the two were caught joking on an audio recording that law enforcement officials couldn’t tell them apart.
