OCEAN CITY, Md. - Benjamin Sifrit, convicted of second-degree murder in the 2002 killing of a Virginia couple in Ocean City, has withdrawn his request for a reduced sentence under Maryland’s Second Look Act.
Sifrit withdrew the pending motion in a filing dated Nov. 3, according to court documents acquired by WBOC.
As WBOC previously reported, Sifrit sought a sentence reduction in September of 2025. At an Aug. 11 hearing, his defense requested a sentence that prosecutors described as effectively time served.
Sifrit was sentenced to 38 years following the killings of Joshua Ford and Martha “Genie” Crutchley over Memorial Day weekend in 2002. He was denied parole in 2022. His then-wife, Erika Sifrit, was sentenced to life plus 20 years.
The couples met during a night out in Ocean City before returning to the Sifrits’ condo, where Ford and Crutchley were killed. Their bodies were dismembered and their remains discarded in a dumpster in Rehoboth Beach.
Sifrit argued that he had rehabilitated himself in prison. Worcester County prosecutors opposed his request, citing the brutality of the crimes and arguing that he remained dangerous.
“These murders stand out for their cruelty and brutality and for the disturbing way in which the victims were dismembered and disposed,” Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser wrote in opposition to Sifrit’s petition.
Maryland’s Second Look Act allows certain people who committed offenses before turning 25 and have served more than 20 years to seek reduced sentences. Sifrit was 24 at the time of the killings.
The reason behind Sifrit’s withdrawal is currently unclear. WBOC reached out to his legal counsel Friday morning but we have not received an immediate response.
