Geney Crutchley Case Study

Joshua Edward Ford and Martha Margene "Geney" Crutchley took a vacation in Ocean City, Maryland, during Memorial Day weekend in 2002. Joshua and Martha were never heard from again after a night out on Saturday, May 25, 2002. The last time the couple were seen was at Seacret’s Club leaving with another couple. After the Memorial Day weekend, when Joshua and Martha didn’t show up for work, co-workers and family were concerned. Police filed a missing person’s report and later discovered that Joshua and Martha had been brutally murdered by Erika and Benjamin Sifrit. Joshua Edwards, a 32-year-old successful mortgage broker, and Martha a 51-year-old accountant for an insurance company meet at an officer party and both had been previously married.

Police reported to a robbery in progress and found a Jeep backed up to the door of the restaurant upon arriving. Two suspects were walking out with handfuls of stolen merchandise. The robbers, a man and a woman, were arrested at the scene. These robbers were 23-year-olds, married couple Erika and Benjamin Sifrit.
Benjamin and Erika weren’t your typical criminals. Erika came from an upper-middle class family, an accomplished student with a bachelor's degree in history and political science and was a high school basketball star. Benjamin was a former U.S. Navy Seal, who finished first in his class, had an expert shot and was highly talked about among his colleagues. Neither Erika or Benjamin had no prior history of arrest. Inside the Jeep, investigators were surprised to find that they were fully armed. In, 6 hour 9mm fully loaded, a 45-caliber combat weapon and in Erika’s waistband was a .357 five shot revolver. In the back of the vehicle were ski masks, gloves, and flex-cuffs. A search of Erika’s pursue uncovered the driver’s license of Joshua and Martha. When asked where Erika had found the licenses she claimed she found them at the beach and denied ever seeing them or meeting the couple. With the evidence found police were considered that they could be holding the couple hostage somewhere against their