She Killed Her Sister And Tried To Assume Her Identity

Born on 12th April 1945, Stevie Viola Allman was one of ten siblings raised in Oakland, California. After their father abandoned the family during her childhood, Stevie—alongside her sister Sarah—helped shoulder the responsibility of caring for their younger brothers and sisters.

Despite being five years older, Stevie and Sarah shared an unusually close bond, so strong that they were often mistaken for twins.

As the years passed, the children gradually grew up and left the family home. Stevie, however, chose to remain, continuing to live with and care for their mother.

Sarah took a different path. She married in her twenties and had three children, but by her thirties she was divorced and raising them alone. In the years that followed, her life became increasingly unsettled—moving in with various partners, only to return to the stability of Stevie and their mother’s home when those relationships broke down. Without steady employment, Sarah relied heavily on Stevie, who supported both her sister and her children financially through her position at the accounts office.

In 1994, Stevie and Sarah’s mother passed away. By then, Sarah’s children had grown up and left home, leaving the two sisters living together once more.

By 1997, Stevie was 52 and Sarah 47. Although still relatively young, Stevie had retired and was supporting them both with her savings. With more time on her hands, she became increasingly active in her community, taking a stand against local drug activity. For over a year, she had been filming suspected dealers and passing the footage to the police, urging them to intervene.

Her vigilance was widely known in the neighbourhood, and it wasn’t long before it drew the attention—and resentment—of those she was reporting. Tensions escalated, and her home was targeted on several occasions, including repeated firebomb attacks.

Then, on 1 July 1997, a neighbour, Monica Boyette, heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, she immediately recognised one of the Allman sisters standing outside. Monica later recalled:

The woman’s face, arms, and legs were badly burned. Firefighters were called and rushed to the scene, where the house was already engulfed in flames. When police arrived, the injured woman identified herself as Stevie Allman.

She told officers that she believed local drug dealers were responsible, the same individuals who had targeted her home on previous occasions. Through the pain, she managed to tell police:

News of the arson quickly spread throughout the community, and residents rallied to support Stevie, raising $3,000 to help cover her hospital bills. The state’s governor also announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification of those responsible.

The outpouring of support was overwhelming. When word of Stevie’s anti-drug efforts reached the White House, she even received a call commending her courage and determination.

Meanwhile, police began questioning known drug dealers in the area, but each denied any involvement. To investigators’ surprise, many seemed genuinely confused when asked about Stevie’s recordings, claiming they had no idea she had been filming them. Their reactions prompted police to reconsider whether the footage itself had truly been the motive.

Then the investigation took a dramatic turn.

Police received a phone call from one of Stevie and Sarah’s siblings, Leotta. She told them there had been two people in the house at the time of the fire—and asked a simple but urgent question: where was Sarah?

Police questioned Stevie about her sister’s whereabouts, and she claimed Sarah had gone to live with a boyfriend in Nevada. However, when asked for contact details, she said her address book had been destroyed in the fire.

Knowing her sister was recovering in hospital, Leotta went to visit and offer support. But when she came face to face with her, she was stunned—this was not Stevie at all, but Sarah.

Leotta confronted her, and Sarah attempted to justify the deception. She claimed she had been impersonating Stevie because her sister had medical insurance, and she needed it to cover the cost of her treatment.

When pressed on Stevie’s whereabouts, Sarah gave conflicting and evasive answers. Alarmed by the inconsistencies, Leotta grew increasingly concerned and ultimately decided to report everything to the police.

Leotta told police about the growing tension between the sisters, describing Stevie’s increasing resentment toward what she called her “lazy” sibling—someone who, in her words, “expected to be taken care of.”

When officers brought Sarah in for questioning, she continued to insist that she was Stevie. Faced with Leotta’s accusations, she dismissed her as “hysterical.” Asked to provide identification, Sarah produced a wallet containing multiple IDs—some in her own name, others in Stevie’s.

Determined to establish the truth, investigators turned to fingerprint analysis. Once her prints were taken, they matched a prior arrest under Sarah’s name for sex work, confirming her true identity.

With that established, police shifted their focus to locating Stevie. A review of her bank records revealed that her accounts had been completely drained. Surveillance footage from the bank showed Sarah—clearly identifiable—making the withdrawals herself.

At that point, officers had enough evidence. Sarah was arrested on the spot for forgery and for providing a false identity to law enforcement.

Investigators were under a lot of pressure to solve the case; their first instinct was to search the burnt-out home once again, this time with the help of a sniffer dog.

When they arrived at the home, investigators observed broken glass scattered outside the window, suggesting it had been shattered from the inside rather than by something thrown in from outside.

Inside the home, the dog led them to a burnt-out freezer close to where the fire had begun. When investigators opened up the freezer, they would made a heart-breaking find - the dismembered body of Stevie Allman.

Sarah Mitchell was charged with the murder of her sister. The motive was believed to be an attempt to steal Stevie's money and identity.

During the trial, the events of that night were told in detail - investigators believe that Sarah had gone into Stevie's room whilst she slept before killing her and dismembering her body before stuffing her in the freezer and setting fire to the home.

In 2000, Sarah Mitchell was found guilty of 1st degree murder. Family members spoke out in court to condemn Sarah but ask that she be relieved from the death penalty as they couldn't bare to see another sibling killed.

Sarah Mitchell was ultimately sentenced to life without parole.