Sarah Mitchell's crime - A detailed case overview

Sarah Mitchell was the subject of Oxygen's Snapped episode, which was originally aired on January 2, 2022, and is set to be reaired on July 24, 2025. The episode will delve into the details of the firebomb attack that destroyed Sarah and her sister Stevie Allman's home in Oakland, California, in July 1997.

Oxygen reported that when one of Sarah and Stevie's neighbors heard a knock on her door on July 1, 1997, she opened the door and found one of the Allman sisters asking for help. She said that the woman was badly burned and told her that someone had thrown a firebomb in her window.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, the woman, who had asked for help, identified herself as 52-year-old Stevie Allman, the owner of the house. The New York Times reported that police found a body inside a charred fridge.

The Snapped episode will take a look at the case of how an arson investigation turned into a homicide case after details of a crime were discovered. Sarah was caught impersonating her sister Stevie to withdraw money from her account. She was found guilty of impersonating and killing her sister, and was given a life sentence for the same.

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Stevie Allman reached out for help after her house was set on fire

Monica Joy Boyette, a neighbor of Stevie Allman and Sarah Mitchell, reported that a badly burnt woman knocked on her door on July 1, 1997. The woman asked for Boyette's help as her house was set on fire, and Boyette identified her as one of the Allman sisters who lived nearby.

By the time firefighters arrived, Stevie's house was fully ablaze. According to Oxygen, Stevie told police that drug dealers had thrown Molotov cocktails at the house, intending to kill her. She claimed that she was an anti-drugs crusader, and she had recently embarked on a mission against drugs and crime in that area. She also said that she had been filming the crimes with the intention of turning in the criminals to the police.

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Stevie and Sarah were sisters who shared a home

Stevie Allman and Sarah Mitchell reportedly lived in the house where they grew up with seven other siblings. Their father left the family when the children were still young and Allman helped their mother take care of all the other siblings, including Sarah Mitchell.

As they grew up, the other siblings left the home, but Stevie stayed behind with their mother, who worked for a local family business. At the time, Sarah, who was a divorced single mother of three kids, was struggling. She would often live with Stevie and their mother, especially when things didn't work out with her partners.

When Sarah was there, she would cook, clean, and take care of the home while Allman worked. Eventually, her kids grew up and left, and in 1994, Sarah and Stevie's mother also died, leaving the house to Stevie.

According to the LA Times, at the time of the incident, Stevie said that she was living alone in the house. Sarah had recently moved out and fled to Nevada with her boyfriend because she was afraid of the drug dealers.

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A shocking truth is revealed about Sarah Mitchell's identity

Following the fire, Allman was hospitalised while investigations proceeded. The incident had caused widespread anger and concern in the community, and it turned into national news. This put a lot of pressure on authorities to solve the case, so they started questioning drug dealers in the area, but no headway could be made.

Without any leads, detectives turned to investigating the arson once again. According to Oxygen, this time they noted inconsistencies with the theory that the house was firebombed. One of the biggest clues was that broken glass was found outside the window, not inside. This negated the claim that something was thrown inside the house.

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The biggest clue

Stevie Allman's house was set on fire (Image via Getty)

As per the LA Times, the most crucial break in the case came when Leotta Bellville, Allman and Mitchell's sister, filed a missing person's report for Allman. However, Stevie was in the hospital at the time. Despite that, Leotta insisted that the woman in hospital was Sarah Mitchell, not Stevie Allman, because the latter was never an active crusader against drugs.

When authorities questioned Stevie in the hospital, she maintained that she was Allman. However, when authorities asked her for ID verification and she pulled open her wallet, and authorities found multiple IDs for both Mitchell and Allman.

Following this, her fingerprints were taken, which confirmed that she was actually Sarah Mitchell. She was arrested for forgery and providing a false name to the police, as per Oxygen.

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The truth about Stevie is revealed, and Sarah Mitchell is arrested

When investigators began to track down the real Stevie Allman, they found that all her bank accounts had been emptied. They also found footage revealing that Sarah had made all the bank transactions. They also went through the remains of the burnt house to look for clues, and they discovered Stevie Allman's body.

According to the LA Times, Allman had been killed and dismembered, and her body was stored in the freezer. Further investigations indicated that Allman had been killed in her bedroom and then cut up in the bathroom.

Sarah Mitchell was charged with the murder of Stevie Allman on July 23, 1997, and her trial began in November 2000. Prosecutors argued that Sarah had killed Stevie for money on June 30, 1997, while she was sleeping.

Sarah Mitchell was found guilty of first-degree murder on November 21, 2000. Her family pleaded that she be spared the death penalty, and she was sentenced to life in prison.

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Catch more about the case tonight on Snapped.