Stories about the Amish as victims – or perpetrators – of crime.
The shocking story of an “Amish wannabe” living in the Arthur, Illinois community who attacked and tried to kidnap a 16-year-old Amish girl has come to a conclusion of sorts. In the February 2025 incident – which happened in the early morning at a local coffee shop – Lester M. Raymind, 21, first assaulted, and then tried to carry away the girl. He was stopped by…
A man whom the Amish trusted – and paid – to drive them places was actually working against them. While he operated as an Amish taxi driver, his side occupation was allegedly helping criminals target some of those very same Amish homes for burglary. That’s according to new reports and allegations about a fourth man arrested in connection with the Geauga County, Ohio home invasion and assault case. From…
Samantha Jo Petersen’s sentence was delivered earlier today. Samantha pleaded guilty in July for her role in a September 2023 crash which killed two Amish girls in Fillmore County, Minnesota. Samantha was driving an SUV which rear-ended the buggy the girls were traveling in along with two other siblings. Irma Miller (11) and Wilma Miller (7) lost their lives that morning, while on their daily…
Looks like they got the rest of them. At yesterday’s press conference on the brutal home invasion and assault of an Amish man and his eight-year-old son, we learned that one of three suspects – a man named Bradford James Hosler – had been arrested. Geauga County, Ohio Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand stated then that “I feel very confident that within the next couple days the…
In a crime described as “appalling”, an Amish man and his son were assaulted by three assailants last Thursday, and the home robbed. The perpetrators threatened to kill the victims, and even attempted to abduct the eight-year-old boy. This happened in Middlefield Township in the Geauga County, Ohio Amish settlement. A blurb on this incident was released earlier today. The Geauga County Sheriff’s Department just…
This is one of the more gut-wrenching incidents you’ll come across leading to a young Amish person’s death. It happened last December. A 29-year-old Vicksburg, Michigan man drove his pickup into a group of Amish children who were headed to the local schoolhouse. It was said he “didn’t see the children.” From WZZM 13: Investigators say a group of four kids were riding their bikes…
This was not really reported on much at the time, but Samuel Hochstetler – charged with the murder of Amish woman Rosanna Kinsinger, who was found dead in her Ohio home in March – was back in court in late September. And apparently his legal team argued for his confession of the killing to be ruled inadmissible in the trial. This is being reported on…
Amish mother Ruth Miller, charged with aggravated murder in the death of her four-year-old son Vincen Miller along with related charges, had a bail hearing today at Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court in New Philadelphia, Ohio. I had a chance to listen to parts of the hearing, which lasted nearly four hours. You can view the proceedings in full at the linked video at bottom….
This stomach-turning story is just appearing on news feeds. Yesterday, a young Amish boy apparently escaped an abduction attempt in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. The alleged abductor is still at large. More from ABC 27: JUNIATA COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A boy in Juniata County was able to get away from a man who forced him into a vehicle on Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police say. State…
It’s looking like Amish and Mennonite investors are once again victims in a big investment fraud case. It was reported last week that Lancaster County, PA businessman Daryl Heller is being charged by the US Department of Justice with multiple counts of fraud – for his role in an ATM investment operation being described as a Ponzi scheme. From the report at Reuters: A Pennsylvania man…