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New York Post
Owner of $1.8 million Hamptons summer rental pleads guilty to homicide after fire kills Maryland sisters —but won’t serve jail time
By Natalie O'Neill,
6 hours ago
The owner of a luxury $1.8 million Hamptons vacation rental where two Maryland sisters died in a fire sparked by a shoddy electrical job has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide — in a deal allowing him to escape jail time.
Peter Miller, 56, admitted to building an illegal outdoor kitchen that overloaded the electrical system of his $8,000-per-week pad in Sag Harbor — killing Jillian Wiener, 21, and her 19-year-old sister, Lindsay, as they vacationed with their terminally ill father in August 2022, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
There were no working smoke detectors in the $1.8 million poolside abode, and its kitchen vents were blocked by a wooden frame — creating a fire trap that stranded the sisters in an upstairs bedroom as the blaze broke out, Miller admitted.
Jillian, 21, and Lindsay Wiener, 19, were killed in a Hamptons house fire while on a trip with their family. Alisa Lichtman Wiener/Facebook Peter Miller, 56, admitted to building an illegal outdoor kitchen that overloaded home’s electrical system. Suffolk County District Attorney
He admitted guilt in a plea deal that left him facing no jail time, his lawyer Eadward Burke told The Post on Wednesday. He was instead sentenced to three years probation and 200 hours of community service.
His wife, Pamela, who managed the popular summer rental, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
During brief testimony before his plea on Monday, Peter Miller copped to doing the dangerous wiring himself — and said it had never been inspected for safety.
“You are aware that you overloaded the electrical system?” prosecuting attorney Sheetal Shetty asked Miller, according to the Daily Mail.
Biting his lip to fight off tears, he answered, “Yes.”
His wife, meanwhile, was asked if she was aware that the kitchen, including a grill, was wired illegally.
“I am now aware. Yes. Yes. Yes,” Pamela Miller told the prosecutor.
Pamela Miller pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment. Suffolk County District Attorney Jillian and Lindsay Wiener were on a summer trip with their father. jillywiener/VSCO
Jillian and Lindsay Wiener, of Potomac, were on a summer trip with their father, Lewis — a then-59-year-old federal prosecutor dying of pancreatic cancer — along with their mom, Alisa, 56, and brother Zachary, 23, when the fire erupted on Aug. 3.
Lewis was awakened by the sound of breaking glass and rushed to get his family out of the house as the fire raged.
He and his wife managed to escape from the first floor and Zachary reportedly crawled onto the roof and jumped.
The terrified father tried to re-enter the house to save his daughters but could not penetrate the flames — and the sisters never made it out, leaving their parents “broken” and their brother “haunted,” they later said.
The sisters became trapped in an upstairs bedroom as the fire broke out. jillywiener/VSCO
“First and foremost, our hearts go out to the Wiener family, who lost these young women in this tragic fire. Such a loss is unimaginable, and our community mourns with them,” Suffolk County DA Raymond Tierney said in a statement Monday.
“We take all matters involving housing regulations very seriously, as they are crucial for public safety. If you have a rental home, you have a duty to make sure that it is safe.”
The $1.8 million home had no working smoke detectors. WUSA9 The homeowner pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. WUSA9
As part of the plea deal, the Millers don’t face jail time, a spokeswoman for the district attorney told Greater Long Island.
Their sentencing is scheduled for November 7.
Jillian was an incoming senior at the University of Michigan and Lindsay had been set to return to Tulane University for her sophomore year before tragedy struck.
The Wiener family later claimed in a lawsuit the rental home was a fire trap with no functioning smoke or carbon monoxide alarms.
The house also had multiple building code violations from the town of Southampton, according to court papers.
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