In a bizarre attempt to evade charges for a crash that killed two children, a Minnesota woman tried to pin the whole thing on her identical twin sister.
Samantha Jo Peterson, 35, faces 21 counts that include criminal vehicular homicide, DWI, and careless driving and speeding after the car she was driving crashed into a horse-drawn Amish buggy carrying four children last September, authorities said.
Two of the children died at the scene. Deputies identified them as 7-year-old Wilma Miller and 11-year-old Irma Miller. Their 9-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister suffered serious injuries. All four siblings were on their way to school when the Sept. 25 crash in southeastern Minnesota happened. The horse also died.
Fillmore County authorities arrived to find Peterson and her twin sister, Sarah Beth Peterson, at the scene. The criminal complaint alleges that Sarah Beth took responsibility for the crash and told deputies she was the one driving the silver SUV that hit the buggy. A separate black SUV, one authorities believe Sarah Beth actually drove to the site after the crash, was also on the scene when authorities arrived.
Investigators quickly learned that Peterson could have been the actual culprit after being contacted on the day of the crash about a set of text messages between her and another person. Those texts reportedly revealed that she admitted that she was driving the car, was high on meth, and asked her twin to shoulder the blame for the crash.
As for why Peterson’s twin would take the blame, Samantha’s co-worker told authorities that when Samantha’s sister was in jail, Samantha took care of her children, and now her twin might feel obligated to return the favor, according to charging documents obtained by ABC 6 News.
The complaint also includes evidence from the scene to corroborate the cover-up, including video evidence that suggests the twins switched clothing when authorities got to the crash scene. A witness reported that the driver was wearing a shirt that body camera and police dashcam footage showed Samantha wearing, and surveillance video shows her changing out of it a short time later.
A deputy also left a voice recorder in one car in which Samantha Peterson can be heard saying, “I think one of the guys is onto me, but I really don’t care,” and “There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell.”
Investigators also found search history on Peterson’s phone showing she typed in the question, “What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people?”
Deputies originally took Sarah Beth into custody, but they were uncertain as to which twin they arrested, so they ordered a warrant to fingerprint the detained twin and ensure they arrested the correct person.
Fillmore County search warrants say that officers found Samantha Peterson one day after the crash and tested her blood, which was positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, and THC.
Her twin is not facing any charges.
If she’s convicted, she faces up to 10 years on each criminal vehicular homicide charge plus several years for the other counts.
