Twin killing? Identical sisters hatched plot to switch places in deadly crash that killed two Amish children, aged seven and 11, leaving Minnesota cops stumped at who was behind wheel in fatal wreck
- Samantha Peterson, 35, allegedly hit a horse-drawn buggy on a road outside the small town of Spring Valley on September 25 last year, killing two children
- Peterson was high on meth, and to avoid jail time, her identical twin sister Sara Peterson agreed to confess to the accident.
- Both sisters have been arrested on misdemeanor charges and face jail time
Identical twins from Minnesota have been accused of plotting to switch places after one of them killed two Amish children in an accident while high on methamphetamine.
Samantha Peterson, 35, allegedly hit a horse-drawn buggy on a road outside the small town of Spring Valley on September 25 last year. The crash killed two children, 7 and 11.
Peterson was high on meth, and to avoid jail time, her identical twin sister Sara Peterson agreed to confess to the accident, local police said.
Police took Sarah’s statement and initially found that she matched the description of a blonde woman given by witnesses to the crash.
However, they quickly became suspicious because she was wearing a black top instead of a red and black Hy-Vee shirt.
Samantha Peterson, 35, allegedly hit a horse-drawn buggy on a road outside the small town of Spring Valley on September 25 last year
Sara Peterson agreed to confess to the accident to spare her sister possible jail time
Wilma, 7, (second from right) and Irma, 11 (right) were killed in the September collision
A witness also told police that he saw a blonde woman at the crash site, and shortly afterwards another woman arrived who liked the same and hugged the first woman.
Dashcam footage from the car of the first deputy to arrive on the scene showed two blonde women in the roadway.
A short time later, it appeared that one of the women entered a vehicle wearing a Hy-Vee shirt and emerged wearing a black tank top.
On the recording from the device left in the deputy’s truck, Sarah is heard telling Samantha, “I think one of the guys is on to me, but… there’s no way they could ever tell the difference between the two of us.” will know.’
When police searched the twins’ shared apartment in the city, Samantha’s internet search history revealed damning data.
“What happens if you have an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people,” she searched, as well as “how to lock an iPhone that the police have.”
Samantha has now been charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and fleeing the scene.
Sarah has also been accused of falsely taking responsibility for the deaths.
Both sisters have colorful criminal records, including two DWI convictions for Samantha, one for alcohol and one for a controlled substance.
Sarah was convicted in January 2022 on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is currently on parole.
While Sarah was in jail on the drug charges, Samantha cared for her two children, a possible motive for Sarah offering to cover for her in return, the complaint said.
This also isn’t the first time the twins have tried to switch places to evade law enforcement.
Sarah was convicted of giving her sister’s name to police in 2017 and providing a false name earlier that same year, court records show.
Samantha was convicted in 2007 of giving a false name.
Menno Miller, the heartbroken father of the two girls who died, Wilma, 7, and Irma, 11, told the Wall Street Journal that his community does not believe in the criminal justice system.
“It wasn’t 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, saying he accepted authorities’ decision to press charges.