Owners of Noyac rental in which sisters were killed in fire sentenced to probation, community service

The couple who owned a Noyac vacation rental that caught fire in 2022, killing a pair of sisters from Maryland vacationing with their family, was sentenced to probation and community service in Suffolk County Court this week in a proceeding the defendants' attorney described as "gutted out entirely by grief and anguish, despair and anger." 

Peter Miller, 56, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of criminally negligent homicide, and Pamela Miller, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless endangerment in connection with the fire that killed Lindsay Wiener, 19, and Jillian Wiener, 21, of Potomac, Maryland.

Peter Miller was sentenced to 3 years' probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office confirmed.

Pamela Miller was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, which she was to have completed by Nov. 7; both the spokeswoman and Miller's attorney, Edward Burke Jr., confirmed that she had. As a result, she was given a conditional discharge, meaning she must stay out of legal trouble for a year, the spokeswoman said.

The couple was sentenced by Acting State Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz.

Burke, who represented the Millers, described an emotional scene in the courtroom.

"Pam addressed the court and the [Wiener] family, along with Peter as well," Burke said in an interview Friday. "What was clear to me was the word sorry was not nearly significant enough. Pam indicated that word seemed insignificant to an immense tragedy, and how incredibly horrific this situation is and continues to be for Mrs. Wiener and her son."

"It was a courtroom that was gutted out entirely by grief and anguish, despair and anger. A place where you could actually hear tear drops fall," Burke said.

Newsday has previously reported that the origin of the Aug. 3, 2022, fire was an outdoor kitchen, which the Millers constructed on their own without a permit and without an electrical inspection, prosecutors have said.

According to Newsday's report, prosecutors said the 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, and the electrical circuits that the outdoor kitchen shared with the indoor kitchen were overloaded and improperly wired."

The mother and father awoke to the sound of glass shattering at about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 3, prosecutors said. "When they left their bedroom to investigate, they saw fire in the kitchen and screamed for their children to get out of the house. The couple escaped, but the father reentered the home to locate his children. The heat conditions forced him out of the house and left him with burns on his feet.

"The couple’s son opened his bedroom door and heard his sisters screaming but was overwhelmed by the heat and smoke conditions and could not locate them. After realizing the fire had trapped him in his bedroom, the son jumped from a second-story window to escape," prosecutors said.

Burke said in addition to the criminal case, there were Southampton town code violations the Millers faced, as well as a lawsuit filed by the Wiener family.

"We had the Southampton town court with multiple town code violations against Peter and Pam. Those were settled with pleas and fines," Burke said. He said the couple had to pay fines totaling $12,500 each. 

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie