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Peter Miller, age 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal negligent homicide, and Pamela Miller, age 55, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in Suffolk County Court on Monday, Aug. 26.
It came two years after sisters Lindsay Wiener, age 19, and Jillian Wiener, age 21, both of Potomac, Maryland, died in a fire at the couple’s Noyac rental home in August 2022.
According to prosecutors, the victims were vacationing with their 23-year-old brother and parents, Lewis and Alisa Wiener, on the night of Aug. 3, 2022, when the family attempted to use a charcoal grill located in an outdoor kitchen that was attached to the main house.
When the food did not cook properly, the family removed the food from the grill, closed the lid, and cooked their meal in the indoor kitchen.
Several hours later, at around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2022, Mr. and Mrs. Wiener woke up to the sound of glass shattering. They saw fire in the kitchen and screamed for their children to get out of the house.
The couple escaped but Mr. Wiener went back into the house to find his children. He was then forced out by the heat and suffered burns on his feet.
Their son became trapped in his bedroom by fire and had to jump from a second story window to escape. He told his parents he had heard his sisters screaming from their bedroom.
When firefighters arrived, they found the home’s kitchen on fire and encountered thick black smoke. Upstairs, they located Jillian on the bedroom floor and Lindsay on the floor of the second story bathroom.
Both women were taken to Southampton Hospital where they died from their injuries.
An investigation found that the fire began in the outdoor kitchen, which the Millers built on their own without a permit and without an electrical inspection.
It featured low hanging wood ceilings that sat above the charcoal grill and gas stove. The bottom grill vents of the charcoal grill were completely blocked by an attached counter, and the electrical circuits that the outdoor kitchen shared with the indoor kitchen were overloaded and improperly wired.
Despite their rental listing indicating the home had smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, investigators determined that they were not properly installed.
The smoke detectors in the upstairs bedrooms were de-energized by the fire due to overloaded electrical circuits, and they had no battery backups.
The Millers were charged with 29 code violations, including failing to obtain a rental permit, failing to have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and constructing an outdoor kitchen without a permit.
“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,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
“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.”
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