Ex-Navy SEAL Gets Prison for Killing Tourist
A former Navy SEAL was sentenced to 38 years in prison Monday for killing and dismembering a tourist after a night of partying during the 2002 Memorial Day weekend.
At the sentencing, Montgomery County Circuit Judge Paul Weinstein called Benjamin Sifrit a butcher and said he didn’t believe his story that his wife was the killer.
“This was nothing more than a thrill killing that you and your wife committed,” he said.
Sifrit, 25, was convicted in April of second-degree murder in the death of Martha Crutchley of Fairfax, Va. Crutchley, 52, and her companion, Joshua Ford, 31, were killed and cut into pieces after a night of partying with Sifrit and his wife, Erika, in Ocean City, Md.
She was convicted of first-degree murder last month for Ford’s death and second-degree murder in Crutchley’s killing. She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison plus 45 years when she is sentenced Aug. 14.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
