|
Martha Crutchley and Joshua Ford. |
ROCKVILLE, Md.--A Montgomery County jury convicted Benjamin Sifrit of second-degree murder in the death of Ocean City tourist Martha Crutchley, but cleared him yesterday of murder charges in the killing of her boyfriend.
Sifrit, who showed no emotion while the verdict was read, also was convicted of being an accessory after the fact for dismembering the bodies of Crutchley, 51, and Joshua Ford, 32, and dump-ing them in a trash bin to cover up the crimes.
During his eight-day trail, the former Navy SEAL admitted that he helped cut up the bodies, but pinned the murders on his wife, Erika Sifrit--who graduated from Mary Washington College two years ago. Jurors deliberated for 14 hours over two days before coming back with their decision.
The verdict shocked Ford's family, who sat stunned in the courtroom as Sifrit, 25, was cleared of murder and assault charges against Ford.
"I'm totally disgusted," said Mark Ford. "He took away a good brother, a very loving, trustworthy friend to everybody and this guy walks. He's walking on my brother."
The trial was the first of two in the gruesome murders that shook the resort town of Ocean City last Memorial Day weekend. Erika Sifrit, 25, who had been a history major and star basketball player at MWC, goes on trial June 2 in Frederick County for murder and other charges. Both trials were moved outside of Worcester County due to pretrial publicity.
Sifrit could have been sentenced to life in prison without parole if he had been convicted of first-degree murder. Instead, he faces a possible 30-year sentence for the murder conviction and five years for the accessory charge.
He also was convicted of first-degree assault against Crutchley, which his attorney, William Brennan, said will likely be included in the murder charge at sentencing.
Circuit Judge Paul Weinstein delayed sentencing until a trial date is set for an unrelated burglary charge against Sifrit.
Worcester County prosecutors said Crutchley and Ford, both of Fairfax, were killed as part of a twisted game that involved luring couples back to their condominium and then accusing them of theft.
The Sifrits, of Altoona, Pa., went to Ocean City Memorial Day weekend where they met Crutchley and Ford on a city bus May 25. The couples partied at Seacrets Nite Club, returning later that night to the Sifrits condominium to use the hot tub.
Worcester County prosecutors say that's when the Sifrits started to play their "game." Erika Sifrit said her purse was stolen, sending her husband into a rage against Crutchley and Ford.
The couple fled into the bathroom, but prosecutors said Benjamin Sifrit shot Ford through the door, kicked it in and shot him two more times. Prosecutors don't believe Crutchley was shot when she died.
But Sifrit testified that he was asleep in his Jeep while Crutchley and Ford were killed in the Rainbow Condominium early May 26. While he didn't directly implicate his wife, Sifrit implied that Erika Sifrit was the killer.
He said he cut the bodies into six parts each, wrapped them in plastic and dumped them in a trash bin outside a Rehoboth Beach, Del., Food Lion. Sifrit said it was "a bad decision," but that he wanted to protect his wife.
Police found only parts of the bodies, and could recover .357 Magnum bullets only from Ford's remains. They couldn't prove how Crutchley was killed and couldn't identify the shooter, linking the crime only to Erika Sifrit's .357 Magnum.
That was likely key to the jury's decision, Brennan said. Throughout the trial, Brennan tried to convince jurors that Erika Sifrit was emotionally unstable, calling her "crazy Erika." Brennan accused her of shooting the pair
"It was the Smith & Wesson .357 that killed Joshua Ford which is what explained the not guilty verdict with respect to Mr. Ford," Brennan said.
Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd did not comment after the verdict, but Ocean City Detective Scott Bernal said the split decision didn't make sense.
"How could they not find him guilty of both after finding him guilty of one?" he asked.
Prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of a woman who said Sifrit essentially confessed to her just days later.
Melissa Seling said she and a friend met the Sifrits May 29 and went back to the Rainbow Condominium like Crutchley and Ford had days earlier. Once there, Erika Sifrit again claimed her purse was missing, enraging her husband.
Seling testified Sifrit brandished a gun, took her to the bathroom door and told her he was trying "to rid the earth of bad people."
"He said if we did it, if we ripped them off, he would kill us the way he killed those other people who ripped them off," Seling said Friday.
The Sifrits became suspects in the Maryland case, police say, after they were caught breaking into the Hooters restaurant shop in Ocean City on May 31. Erika Sifrit is also a suspect in the May 11 theft of more than $300 worth of T-shirts and hats from the Hooters in Spotsylvania County.