Greater East End coverage is funded in part by Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, providing world-class services to all of Eastern Suffolk County. Because an extraordinary community deserves extraordinary care.
The owners of a $1.9 million Hamptons vacation home where two Maryland sisters died in a fire during a family trip with their brother and parents in 2022 pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to the deaths, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.
Peter Miller, 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminally negligent homicide, and his wife, Pamela Miller, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless endangerment, Tierney said. The Westhampton couple’s charges stem from the deaths of Lindsay Wiener, 19, and her older sister Jillian Wiener, 21, who died in the early hours of Aug. 3, 2022, after a fire broke out in the Millers’ Noyac rental home.
The Millers do not face jail time as part of the plea agreements, a spokeswoman for the district attorney told Greater Long Island. However, if they violate the terms of the plea deal, Pamela Miller can face up to one year in jail, while Peter Miller can face up to 1 1/3 to four years in prison.
The fatal fire at 3 Spring Lane was sparked by an outdoor kitchen the Millers had constructed without proper permits or electrical inspections, authorities said. According to the district attorney, the family had attempted to use a charcoal grill in the outdoor kitchen earlier in the evening, but when the food didn’t cook, they finished their meal inside.
Hours later, the fire erupted, trapping the sisters in their second-floor bedrooms. Despite desperate attempts by their parents, Alisa and Lewis, and brother, Zachary, to save them, the two young women were overcome by the intense heat and smoke.
Sag Harbor firefighters gained access to a second-story bedroom, where they located Jillian Weiner on the floor. Lindsay was found on the floor of the second-floor bathroom. Both women were transported to Southampton Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.
The surviving family members and responding firefighters reported that no smoke alarms were heard during the blaze, authorities said. Investigators determined that the fire detection systems in the home were either improperly installed or non-functional, a factor that significantly contributed to the sisters’ deaths, the district attorney said.
The family is from Potomac, Maryland, and had in previous summers vacationed at the same home. The sprawling property at 3 Spring Lane includes a view of Noyack Bay. After a “total gut renovation,” the 1,600-square-foot home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living room with a cathedral ceiling, according to Zillow.
Lewis Weiner, a Williston Park native and former federal prosecutor at the time of the fire, had already been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. He died last April, about 18 months after filing a lawsuit against the travel company VRBO, which had facilitated the family’s $8,000-a-week rental agreement for the Millers’ property.
Tierney: Rental home owners have a ‘duty to make sure that it is safe’
“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,” Tierney said, in a statement. “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.”
Numerous other factors contributed to the fast-moving, fatal fire, Tierney reported. He said the list includes the following:
• The Millers allegedly constructed the outdoor kitchen without a permit, and without an electrical inspection.
• The outdoor kitchen was mostly made of wood with 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.
• The electrical circuits that the outdoor kitchen shared with the indoor kitchen were overloaded and improperly wired.
The Millers, restauranteurs on the East End, are scheduled to be back in court on Nov. 7 for sentencing. They are represented by Hamptons attorney Edward Burke Jr., who had not responded to calls for comment by the time this story was published.
In addition to the criminal charges, the Millers were also prosecuted by Southampton Town for numerous code violations related to the construction and rental of the home. According to authorities, these violations included:
- Failing to apply for and obtain a rental permit prior to renting.
- Having a transient rental when prohibited by law.
- Having a transient rental with tenants contrary to the certificate of occupancy in place.
- Constructing an outdoor kitchen without a building permit.
- Occupying/allowing a deck/pool without a certificate of occupancy.
- Failing to assure single/multi station smoke detectors on the wall outside of the second-floor bedrooms.
- Failing to assure the smoke alarm in the second-floor east bedroom was connected properly.
- Failing to assure that the smoke detector in the second-floor east bedroom had a battery back-up.
- Failing to assure that the smoke alarm in the hallway outside of the first-floor bedroom was connected properly.
- Failing to assure that the smoke alarm in the hallway outside of the first-floor bedroom had a battery back-up.
- Failing to assure that the smoke alarm in the garage was properly connected to a power source.
- Failing to assure a carbon monoxide detector was installed outside of the second-floor bedrooms.
- Failing to assure a carbon monoxide detector was installed outside of the first-floor bedroom.
- Installing an electrical outlet without a proper electrical box, creating an electrical shock/fire hazard as it was directly on siding.
- Installing an electrical outlet on a counter in the outdoor kitchen without a proper electrical box, creating a shock/fire hazard, as it was directly on siding.
Top photo: Sisters, Jillian and Lindsay Weiner (Lindsay Weiner obituary notice).
