According to court documents, Petersen was driving a silver SUV on a rural road in Stewartville, Minnesota, about 160km southeast of Minneapolis, on September 25, 2023, when she hit an Amish buggy, sending it into a ditch on the side of the road.
Two children, aged 7 and 11, died from their injuries, according to a complaint filed in Fillmore County District Court.
A 13-year-old and a 9-year-old survived with severe injuries, the complaint said. The horse pulling the buggy was killed.
According to the complaint, Petersen called emergency services and then called her twin sister, Sarah, after the crash.
Sarah Petersen arrived at the scene in a black coat, black leggings and sandals, while her sister was wearing a red Hy-Vee grocery store uniform.
Sarah Petersen approached a sheriff’s deputy and said that she had been driving the silver SUV involved in the crash.
During an interview in the deputy’s car, she said she had hit the buggy on her way home from work in Rochester, Minnesota.
The deputy then exited the car but left his digital pocket recorder, which taped Sarah Petersen telling her twin: “I think that one of the guys is on to me, but I don’t really care”.
The complaint said it also recorded her saying: “There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they can’t tell”.
Samantha Petersen’s plan to deceive investigators quickly unravelled.
In addition to the recorded conversation between the sisters, an eyewitness told sheriff’s deputies that the driver of the SUV was wearing a black and red Hy-Vee uniform.
An employee at Hy-Vee, where both sisters worked, also told investigators that Samantha Petersen called on the morning of the crash and said that she had killed two Amish children.
During that call, Petersen sounded “hysterical” and said that she was high on methamphetamines, the complaint said.
Petersen had also searched on her phone: “What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people?” and “If you hit a buggy and kill two people are you going to prison?”
Another Hy-Vee employee told investigators that Sarah Petersen, who had been in prison, may have felt like she owed her sister for looking after her children while she was gone.
Sarah Petersen has had previous run-ins with the law, including traffic and drug-related offences, according to public records.
It was not clear what prison sentence she had served when her sister was looking after her children.
Samantha Petersen also had several prior convictions, including driving under the influence and giving a false name to law enforcement, according to public records.
Sarah Petersen was convicted on two counts of aiding and abetting criminal vehicular operation and completed a three-month jail sentence this year for her role in the crash, according to court documents.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Hannah Ziegler
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