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Benjamin “B.J.” Sifrit is scheduled to appear at an Aug. 11 hearing in Rockville, Maryland, on his request for a reduced sentence and release with time served under Maryland’s Second Look Act.
Sifrit is serving a 38-year prison sentence after a Montgomery County jury convicted him of second-degree murder in the death of Martha Crutchley. She and her boyfriend, Joshua Ford, were Fairfax residents who were killed and dismembered during a Memorial Day weekend trip to Ocean City in 2002.
The Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office opposes reducing Sifrit’s sentence, while his defense points to the jury’s verdict and his conduct during more than two decades in prison.
Crutchley and Ford met Sifrit and his wife, Erika, on a bus in Ocean City before the four drank at Seacrets nightclub. Ford died from gunshot wounds. Prosecutors have not specified how Crutchley died.
At Sifrit’s trial, jurors acquitted him of wrongdoing in Ford’s death but found him guilty of second-degree murder in Crutchley’s death. Judge Paul Weinstein imposed the 38-year sentence on July 7, 2003.
At sentencing, Weinstein said he disagreed with the verdict and described the crimes as thrill killings committed by the Sifrits. “This was nothing more than a thrill-killing you and your wife committed. You’re a butcher,” the judge said.
Erika Sifrit was separately convicted in Frederick County of first-degree murder in Ford’s death and second-degree murder in Crutchley’s death. She was sentenced to life plus 20 years and was denied parole in April 2026. Benjamin Sifrit was denied parole in 2022.
The competing accounts of Benjamin Sifrit’s culpability remain central to his sentence-reduction request. In his petition, he acknowledged dismembering and disposing of the victims’ bodies but continued to deny killing either person.
“I have always, and still do, maintain my innocence regarding any act of murder,” Sifrit wrote.
Assistant public defender Brian Saccenti argues that the jury’s findings—not broader and more sensational accounts of the case—should govern how Sifrit’s culpability is assessed. The jury convicted Sifrit in Crutchley’s death but rejected the prosecution’s case against him in Ford’s death.
Prosecutors take a broader view of the evidence. They contend that Sifrit participated in thrill killings and in completely dismembering both victims. They argue that the nature of the crimes makes a sentence reduction unwarranted, regardless of evidence that he has matured or been rehabilitated.
“These murders stand out for their cruelty and brutality and for the disturbing way in which the victims were dismembered and disposed,” the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
The defense filing describes Sifrit’s prison conduct and employment as evidence supporting his release. According to Saccenti, Sifrit received three infractions early in his incarceration but had no infractions during the 14 years before the petition was filed.
Saccenti said Sifrit has worked as a purchasing clerk and plumber and completed corrections department training on cleaning up workplace blood-borne pathogens. The filing says he became a plumber’s apprentice in 2024 and has accompanied supervisors outside the prison fence to make repairs at other Maryland correctional facilities.
Two supervisors submitted recommendation letters describing him as dependable, trustworthy and responsible. One wrote that Sifrit “has consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic,” has never missed a workday and takes pride in doing the job correctly. Another called him “a dependable and trustworthy worker” who consistently behaved responsibly.
Those accounts of Sifrit’s record and work history come from his defense filing and supervisor letters. Prosecutors maintain that such evidence does not outweigh the killings, dismemberment and disposal of the victims.
The court is expected to consider the petition at the Aug. 11 hearing.