She Was Accused of Murdering Her Twin. Now, a Verdict

Alexandria Duval acquitted of killing her sister, Anastasia Duval, in Hawaii
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 2, 2018 6:57 AM CST
She Was Accused of Murdering Her Twin. Now, a Verdict
In this Wednesday file photo, Alexandria Duval listens to testimony during her murder trial in Wailuku, Hawaii.   (Chris Sugidono/The News via AP)

A woman accused of deliberately driving off a Hawaii cliff and killing her identical twin sister was acquitted of murder Thursday. Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill found Alexandria Duval not guilty after a trial that started Monday, the AP reports. The sisters were seen arguing on the narrow, winding Hana Highway on the island of Maui before their SUV plunged 200 feet over a cliff. The crash was a tragic accident, Alexandria Duval's defense attorney, Birney Bervar, said in his opening statement. Authorities said Alexandria was behind the wheel of a Ford Explorer when witnesses saw the sisters arguing on the perilously narrow, twisting route along a scenic stretch of coastline. A witness cleaning a family gravesite on the highway shoulder told police that he heard a woman screaming in the vehicle and that the passenger was pulling the driver's hair and the steering wheel.

Anastasia Duval was in the passenger seat and was killed; her sister was arrested. A judge later ordered Alexandria Duval released after finding no probable cause for a murder charge. She traveled to New York state and was arrested months later in Albany after a grand jury indicted her. Duval didn't testify. "I'm disappointed," Maui County Prosecuting Attorney JD Kim said after the verdict. "The facts clearly show it was at least reckless behavior." "You can't imagine losing your twin sister in that kind of catastrophic, tragic accident, then being charged with causing the death of your sister, which she didn't," Bervar told the Maui News. "She's extremely relieved." The sisters, born Alison and Ann Dadow near Utica, NY, operated popular yoga studios in Florida before they changed their names. They moved to Hawaii in 2015 from Utah.

(More Hawaii stories.)

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