Petersen twin accused of killing children in CR 1 crash disputes evidence of intoxication while driving
(ABC 6 News) – Samantha Jo Petersen, of Wabasha, is accused of killing seven-year-old Wilma Miller and 11-year-old Irma Miller, and seriously injuring their two siblings, after crashing into the children’s buggy on County Road 1 around 8:30 a.m. Sept. 25, 2023.
Earlier this year, both Petersen twins’ defense attorneys filed motions to dismiss various charges in the deadly crash.
The May motion for Samantha Jo Petersen indicated that her defense planned to argue that all charges related to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated must be dismissed.
The argument against Samantha Jo Petersen’s Sept. 25 intoxication charges
In a 22-page briefing publicly filed Oct. 19, Samantha Petersen’s attorney, Carson Heefner, argues at length that law enforcement has no evidence that his client was under the influence of methamphetamine or THC at the time of the crash, because law enforcement did not take Samantha Petersen’s blood for testing until a full day-and-a-half later.
Samantha Petersen’s twin, Sarah Petersen, is accused of showing up at the fatal crash site and pretending to have hit the buggy in a bid to keep law enforcement from realizing Samantha was on methamphetamine and committed the vehicular homicides. Sarah Petersen faces associated charges of taking responsibility for the crimes of another.
RELATED: Second Petersen twin charged following fatal buggy crash – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
Sarah Petersen took various sobriety tests at the scene of the crash, as law enforcement believed she had caused the fatal crash.
Later that day, Sept. 25, law enforcement received a tip that Samantha Jo Petersen had actually caused the crash while high on methamphetamine, according to court documents.
Investigators spoke to Samantha Petersen’s coworkers a day later, Sept. 26, and heard from one that Samantha Petersen called her following the crash, saying she had been high.
According to the briefing, law enforcement applied for and received a warrant for Petersen’s blood at about 7:30 p.m. They obtained a blood sample at 9:21 p.m. — about 37 hours after the crash — which revealed evidence of methamphetamine and THC use.
Heefner argues that based on the 37-hour gap between the crash and law enforcement’s test, it’s impossible to conclude that Samantha Petersen took the drugs before the deadly crash, as current science cannot extrapolate when a person consumed THC or methamphetamine based on what remains in the bloodstream.
He further argues that law enforcement at the scene of the crash did not note any signs of Samantha Petersen seeming impaired or intoxicated in any way.
Heefner also argues that Samantha Petersen’s conversation with her Hy-Vee coworker, wherein she said she had killed two Amish people and said she was high on meth, did not actually include a statement that she was high when she killed the children in the crash.
The conversation took place about 90 minutes after the crash when, Heefner argues, Samantha Petersen may have taken various substances after leaving the scene.
“The Defendant consumed methamphetamine after the accident, and the record contains nothing to contradict this fact,” the briefing concludes.
The Oct. 19 briefing also reiterates Heefner’s argument that the warrant to obtain Samantha Petersen’s blood was “over-broad” and lacked probable cause, and that a recording of the twins discussing swapping places in the crash should be removed from evidence.
Heefner further argues that law enforcement had no real reason to obtain a nighttime warrant for Samantha Petersen’s blood and claims that her blood draw should have taken place at 8 a.m. the next morning — a full 48 hours after the crash.
What happens next?
Samantha Jo Petersen appeared in court Sept. 30 for an omnibus hearing. The prosecution has yet to submit a briefing, after which the court should schedule her next hearing.
Sarah Beth Petersen was scheduled to appear in Fillmore County Court for a settlement hearing Oct. 21. That hearing was pushed back, and a new date has not been publicly filed.