Among the thousands of vacationers who traveled to Ocean City, Maryland, on Memorial Day weekend, 2002, were two couples whose lives intersected, with horrific results. The first couple, Joshua Ward and Geney Crutchley, were good people looking for a relaxing weekend. But the second couple, Erika and Benjamin Sifrit, had much darker plans.
Join us at the quiet end for Bad Romance. At first glance, Erika and Benjamin appeared to be a typical young married couple, but they were a deadly match. They were big partiers, always looking for a bigger thrill. When drinking and drugs were no longer enough to satisfy them, they moved on to burglarizing businesses and carrying loaded guns. Then, one dreadful night, the Sifrits played a twisted game of murder and mayhem, showing their gravitation to violence and their complete lack of human empathy.
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Joshua & Geney
Sources
Baltimore Sun Online Archives
Cruel Death by M. William Phelps
Killer Couples: S11 Ep2
Maryland Court of Appeals 2003
True Crime Daily May 2020 “Ben & Erika Sifrit: Thrill-kill couple caught after Hooters break-in”
WBLTtv.com 2003-2004
Comments
1 Comment
On the Gene Leroy Heart case
I knew a good friend of Gene. Jim B. he actually dated my mom. I remember a few things that were said, it is hearsay, not facts. All his friends said,!that he would not do something like this . Also I was told that the two girls who said, that he raped them, was not true. They were wanting a ride to Locus Grove so he took them, and when they wanted to go back to Tulsa he did not want to take them and that’s when they cried rape. I have no fact just hearsay . Jim was Cherokee also and he was from the area where Gene Leroy Heart lived . I also heard that some people think that he was murder in jail for what reason I don’t know. I do that people suspected that a councilor killed he girls. In all case there are so many different stories. I really don’t no who did but I just wanted to share what I heard.