A woman who impersonated her sister in public after stuffing her dismembered body in a freezer was sentenced Monday to life without parole, and barred from profiting from the crime.
Sarah Mitchell, 50, of Oakland, was found guilty Nov. 21 of murdering her sister, Stevie Allman, 52, an anti-drug crusader. Prosecutors said Mitchell had planned to impersonate her sister to withdraw money from her trust accounts.
In December, an Alameda County jury recommended life without parole. Prosecutors had requested the death penalty. The judge agreed with the jury and barred Mitchell from profiting from the murder.
"We're disappointed that the jury found her guilty," said Albert Wax, Mitchell's attorney, who promised to appeal.
Mitchell began posing as Allman in the summer of 1997. They shared a home, and when that burned down, Mitchell claimed they had been the victims of a firebombing.
Police soon discovered Allman was really Mitchell, but not until she had fooled others and received $3,600 in sympathy checks.<
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