A 35-year-old woman was charged Monday with trying to deceive law enforcement into believing her identical twin was actually the SUV driver who hit an Amish buggy last fall in southeastern Minnesota, killing two of the four children on the horse-drawn vehicle.
Charges: Minnesota woman wanted twin to ‘take the fall’ for crash that killed two Amish kids
Samantha Jo Petersen sent a text, according to criminal charges, revealing she concocted the swap because she feared prison.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 5, 2024 at 8:15PM
Samantha Jo Petersen, of Kellogg, Minn., was charged in Fillmore County District Court with eight counts each of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation, two gross misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and a handful of misdemeanors..
The crash involving a silver SUV and a buggy belonging to the Miller family occurred shortly before 8:30 a.m. Sept. 25 along southbound County Road 1. Killed were Wilma, 7, and Irma, 11. Hospitalized in Rochester for treatment were Allan, 9, and Rose, 13. The four children were riding to school at the time of the crash, with Rose holding the reins, a family friend said.
The data from Petersen’s cellphone put her on the road three minutes before the crash, the charges read.
A law enforcement search of phone messages between Petersen and another person soon after the crash revealed this exchange, according to the charges:
D.H: “This little girl got killed today so sad”
Petersen: “dan i don’t think you realize that i did that”
D.H.: “I’m confused”
Petersen: “confused on what i hit that amish buggy and killed two ppl”
Petersen: “made sarah come here and take the fall for it so i wouldn’t go to prison”
Samantha Petersen has a criminal history in the state that includes two convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and one for giving false information to police. Her twin, Sarah Beth Petersen, has no serious crimes on her record in Minnesota.
A test of Samantha Petersen’s blood by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found methamphetamine, amphetamine and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to the charges.
Samantha Petersen was charged by summons and is due in court March 25. Messages left for her on Monday regarding the charges were not immediately returned.
A few weeks after the crash, Samantha Petersen was asked by the Star Tribune whether she was the driver who hit the buggy. She replied, “No. That’s what they allegedly think. ... I’m going to get ahold of a lawyer.”
Sarah Petersen has not responded to several requests for comment, including on Monday. Of possible charges against Sarah Peterson, County Attorney Brett Corson said: “That’s under review. … We haven’t made a final charging decision.”
Court records show Sarah Petersen was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2017 for giving her twin’s name to a Fillmore County sheriff’s deputy who pulled her over for driving erratically. The deputy was told soon after the stop by a fellow deputy that Sarah Petersen “has given Samantha’s name in past interactions with law enforcement.”
According to Monday’s charges and other court documents:
Calls to 911 sent a sheriff’s deputy to the scene, where he saw a silver 2005 Toyota 4Runner with front-end damage on the shoulder of County Road 1 near Sumner Center Church.
The deputy also saw the 9-year-old boy and his 13-year-old sister on the road with injuries, and their 7- and 11-year-old sisters dead in the ditch. The sheriff said the horse did not survive the crash.
Both twins were at the scene when a deputy arrived. Sarah Petersen told him she was driving the silver SUV, which is registered to her twin. Parked close by was a black 2002 Toyota 4Runner, which was also registered to Samantha Petersen. That same vehicle showed up about 7:40 a.m. in Rochester, where Sarah Petersen’s children were dropped off for school, according to the school’s video surveillance.
While Sarah Petersen was left alone in a squad car, Samantha Petersen walked over and the two spoke.
Audio from a deputy’s pocket recorder captured Sarah Petersen saying, “I think one of the guys is onto me, but I don’t really care ... There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they can’t tell,” according to the charges.
Still at the scene, Sarah Petersen insisted to a deputy that she was the driver who hit the buggy.
Samantha Petersen left work at Hy-Vee in Rochester shortly before 8 a.m. on the day of the crash in the silver SUV. Internet mapping measures the southbound route to the crash scene as roughly a 24-minute drive. The crash occurred at 8:25 a.m.
Hy-Vee staff told law enforcement that Samantha Petersen admitted in a work messaging platform that she had used methamphetamine and was high at the time of the collision.
“The messages also indicate that [Samantha Petersen] was the driver and [were] sent during a time at which Sarah was not in possession of her cellphone and was otherwise occupied on scene with law enforcement officers,” a court filing disclosed.
Surveillance video also captured Samantha Petersen at some point appearing to change her shirt.
A State Patrol investigation found that the silver SUV was traveling between 61 and 71 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone at the time of the crash.
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