Woman Given Life Term for Killing Sister

OAKLAND — A woman who impersonated her sister after stuffing the sister’s dismembered body into a freezer was sentenced Monday to life without parole.

Sarah Mitchell, 50, of Oakland was found guilty Nov. 21 of murdering her sister, Stevie Allman, 52.

In December, an Alameda County jury recommended life without parole. Prosecutors had requested the death penalty. The judge agreed with the jury Monday and barred Mitchell from profiting from the murder.

Mitchell began posing as Allman in 1997. They shared a home, and when it burned down, Mitchell said they had been the victims of a firebombing.

Police soon discovered the impersonation, but not until Mitchell had received $3,600 in sympathy checks.

Then, on July 16, 1997, police found Allman’s body. She had been murdered, dismembered and stuffed into a freezer sealed with duct tape in the ruins of her home.