Identical twins who 'swapped places' charged with death of two Amish children

05 March 2024 , 00:19

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Prosecutors are alleging that Samantha Jo Petersen was behind the wheel when a car rear-ended the carriage - even though her twin Sarah Petersen claimed she was driving (Image: Olmsted County Sheriffs Office)

Identical twins from Minnesota are accused of swapping places after one of them, who was allegedly driving while high, crashed into an Amish horse-drawn carriage and killed two children.

Wilma Miller, 7, and Imra Miller, 11 were killed while two of their siblings aged nine and 13 were rushed to hospital with injuries. Prosecutors are alleging that Samantha Jo Petersen was behind the wheel on 25 September 2023 when a car rear-ended the carriage.

But at the scene at the time of the crash, Samantha's twin sister, Sarah Beth Petersen said she was the one behind the wheel. Prosecutors now say this wasn't the case.

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Wilma Miller, 7, and Imra Miller, 11 were killed while two of their siblings aged nine and 13 were rushed to hospital with injuries

Samantha Petersen's driving licence had expired and she had no insurance for her silver Toyota 4Runner when the crash happened, according to court documents which Fox News Digital obtained.

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A "lengthy investigation" found "inconsistencies" in the twins' stories, and what they were saying was starting not to add up. Dozens of charges were then filed against the twins, Sheriff John DeGeorge told local media outlets in February.

Speaking on TV, Sheriff John said: “Sarah was on scene a short time before our first deputy arrived. That allowed them to come up with this story where Sarah would take responsibility for the crash and start to mislead the investigation from that very point.”

Samantha Petersen's driving license had expired and she had no insurance for her silver Toyota 4Runner when the crash happened (Olmsted County Sheriffs Office)

Officers on the scene allegedly found “a couple of burnt marijuana blunts” and a tin can of pot in the crashed vehicle (Olmsted County Sheriffs Office)

When police arrived at the scene of the crash, Sarah Petersen allegedly told them she had been driving and had hit into the back of the carriage. The twins allegedly decided to make the switch because Samantha had been high on drugs when the crash happened and she was scared she would be sent to prison, court documents say.

Sarah had also recently been in prison, according to court documents. Officers on the scene allegedly found “a couple of burnt marijuana blunts” and a tin can of pot in the crashed vehicle.

The car crashed into the back of a horse-drawn carriage and two children died (Getty Images)

Investigators also later found evidence that Samantha Petersen was also using methamphetamine. Court documents also detail how a police officer allegedly left his recorder running and walked away during the investigation.

It recorded Samantha Petersen telling her sister: "I think one of the guys is onto me, but I really don’t care … there’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they can’t tell."

Lucy Skoulding