FILLMORE COUNTY, Minn. — A 35-year-old southeastern Minnesota woman is facing more than a dozen charges for allegedly trying to take the fall for her twin sister. a fatal crash involving an Amish buggy.
Sarah Peterson was charged Wednesday with 16 felonies, including vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle and aiding an offender, court records show. All sixteen charges allege that Sarah Peterson attempted to conceal or take responsibility for the criminal acts of her identical twin sister.
Earlier this week, Sarah Peterson’s sister, Samantha Peterson, was charged with 21 crimes, including vehicular homicide, criminal vehicle operation, driving under the influence, failure to provide proof of insurance, careless driving and speeding.
Samantha Peterson was reportedly high on meth when she crashed into an Amish buggy last September. There were four children in the buggy. Two of the children, aged 7 and 11, were killeda 9-year-old and 13-year-old were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Sheriff says the sisters, who are identical twins, have “made the investigation much more complicated.”
Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge DeGeorge said at a news conference Thursday afternoon that the fact that the sisters are identical twins “adds a lot of complexity” to the lengthy investigation.
“As the days continued after the first day the crash was reported, inconsistencies began to appear in both sisters’ stories and in the evidence officers uncovered,” DeGeorge said. “It was later determined through a series of search warrants, interviews and analysis of various records that Samantha Peterson, Sarah’s twin sister, was in fact driving that vehicle.”
DeGeorge says the inconsistencies include a review of an interview recording, which revealed a conversation between the two sisters that indicated “something might be going on.” He said another major part of the investigation was obtaining a search warrant for the sisters’ phones.
A search of Samantha Peterson’s cell phone revealed a text message she sent on September 25 that said, in part, “I hit that Amish buggy and killed two people.” [sic]She continued, “I made Sarah come there and take the blame so I wouldn’t go to jail.”
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“Sarah arrived on scene shortly before our first deputy arrived,” DeGeorge said. “That allowed them to come up with this story where Sarah would take responsibility for the crash and from then on start to mislead the investigation.”
Law enforcement investigates a fatal Amish buggy crash in rural Minnesota. /Credit: WCCO
DeGeorge says much that it took a “very long time” for the evidence, including analysis of cell phone data and an advanced crash reconstruction report, to be processed. According to him, that is why it took so long before a report was filed.
Both sisters have a criminal history. Samantha Peterson’s convictions include fourth- and third-degree DWI. Sarah Peterson was convicted in 2022 of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is currently on parole for that offense.
The vehicular homicide charge against Samantha Peterson is more serious than her sister’s and each carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The vehicular homicide charge against Sarah Peterson carried a maximum sentence of five years.
The sisters have yet to be taken into custody. DeGeorge says the charges did not meet the threshold for an arrest warrant to be issued by the court. They are charged by summons.
Update (December 15, 2024): A judge dropped two vehicular homicide charges and two vehicular operation charges against Samantha Peterson due to a lack of probable cause. She still faces seventeen charges in the case.
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