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Very Scary Lovers season 1 episode 1 explores the case of Benjamin and Erika Sifrit. The couple was responsible for killing Joshua Ford and Martha Crutchley, in the Town of Ocean City, Maryland, in 2002. The Sifrits met the victim couple, at a nightclub in Ocean City, and invited them to their apartment.
This is where they fatally shot Joshua and Martha and dismembered their body parts to be dumped in a grocery store dumpster. Very Scary Lovers season 1 episode 1 documents the complete story behind the double homicides, committed by the Sifrits.
The episode titled A Killer Couple's Deadly Game, will premiere with a one-hour special episode on February 2, 2025, at 10 pm EST on Investigation Discovery. Hosted by Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg, the official synopsis of the episode reads:
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"Married couple Benjamin and Erika Sifrit lure a couple into a game with a deadly outcome."
Very Scary Lovers season 1 episode 1: What is the story of Benjamin and Erika Sifrit?
Benjamin Sifrit was born in Estherville, Iowa, and Erika was born in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, and the couple got married in 1998 when they were just 20 years of age. As per a People article, published on June 9, 2003, after the marriage, the couple moved to Erika's hometown in the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and started a scrapbook shop.
As per the People article, Erika's father Mitch was a successful contractor, while her mother Cookie, was a former nurse. Erika was a basketball player, at Mary Washington College. The couple shared different exotic likings.
Erika had an obsession with the Hooters chain restaurants and had a collection of their tank tops worn by the waitresses there. Whereas, Benjamin had undergone former Navy SEAL training, and had a large swastika tattooed on his chest. Surprisingly, the couple raised a collection of exotic snakes at their apartment.
What happened on the night of May 25, 2002
As per the People article, Joshua and Martha were a tourist couple who were travelling on a local bus, to the Seacrets nightclub in Ocean City, on the evening of May 25, 2002. The Sifrits were traveling in the same bus and were struggling with change for the bus fare.
Joshua offered to pay for the tickets, and the couple ended up at the nightclub, partying together till late at night as will be shown in Very Scary Lovers season 1 episode 1.
The Sifrits soon invited the couple to their condo apartment. However, Joshua and Martha were never seen alive again. Upon investigation, the Sifrits claimed that the victim couple had stolen Erika's purse with her wedding ring, which led to the violence, and eventually, the murder. As per this is MONSTERS podcast, published on October 24, 2022. The complete story was made up to evade interrogation and arrest.
As per the People article, it was May 31, 2002, when the police went to search the Sifrits' apartment. It had been six days by then since Joshua and Martha had disappeared. In the apartment, the police found traces of blood and some plastic bags.
The most crucial evidence came out when Erika started having a panic attack, while they were getting arrested for robbing a Hooters store. When the authorities looked at her purse in search of medication, they shockingly found the IDs of Joshua Ford and Martha Crutchley, tying them to the case.
The investigators eventually discovered that after killing the couple, Benjamin had disposed of their bodies, and threw them in a grocery dumpster near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Reportedly in his testimony, Benjamin said:
“I dismembered them,” he admitted in his testimony. “That was my idea.”
The portions of the remains were found in a landfill, where they were discovered by the investigators nine days later.
Benjamin and Erika Sifrit were found guilty of murder
As per the People article, the Sifrits were arrested while trying to rob a Hooters restaurant on May 31, 2002. After interrogation, both of them confessed their involvement in the murder of Joshua Ford and Martha Crutchley. The case soon caught public attention, and the culprits had to be moved out of Worchester Couty, Maryland for their trial.
It was in March 2003, when the trial for Benjamin and Erika Sifrit began. A woman by the name of Melissa Seling, testified in the courtroom, of undergoing the same situation, but managed to survive. As per a Baltimore Sun article, published on June 24, 2021, Benjamin Sifrit was found guilty of murder and assault on June 3, 2003. He was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment.
Whereas on June 11, 2023, Erika Sifrit was also found guilty of the double murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment, and an additional twenty years. As per a Murderpedia article, Benjamin Sifrit filed for divorce in March 2010, which was granted in August 2010.
As per WTOP news, Benjamin Sifrit filed for parole in 2021, which was refused in April 2022. He will be released from prison in 2030. While Erika Sifrit will be eligible for parole in 2024.
To know more about the double murder of Joshua Ford and Martha Crutchley, watch Very Scary Lovers fseason 1 episode 1 on Investigation Discovery.
