SNOW HILL, Md. (AP) — Testimony about a Pensylvania woman’s behavior shortly after the deaths of a Virginia couple will not be allowed at the murder trial of her husband.
Worcester County Circuit Judge Thomas Groton denied on Wednesday a request by Benjamin Sifrit’s public defenders to allow two witnesses to testify about statements Erika Sifrit made at a nightclub. The witnesses have said they heard Erika Sifrit angrily threaten a nightclub employee three days after she and her husband allegedly murdered the two tourists on Memorial Day weekend.
The witnesses said Erika Sifrit threatened to kill a Seacrets nightclub employee after her husband was thrown out for tampering with an automatic teller machine. Groton said the hearsay statements could not be permitted at trial, but witnesses may testify that Erika Sifrit pulled a gun from her purse that night.
However, Groton deferred a ruling on whether to allow evidence that public defender Burton Anderson said would prove the .357-caliber revolver used to kill Ford belonged to Erika Sifrit, even though it was registered to Benjamin Sifrit. The revolver was found on Erika Sifrit at the time of her arrest, police said.
The Sifrits, both from Altoona, Pa., face separate trials for the deaths of Joshua Ford, 32, and his girlfriend, Martha Crutchley, 51, both of Fairfax City, Va., inside the Sifrits’ rented condominium.
Shortly after her arrest, Erika Sifrit, 24, told police her husband shot the couple in a bathroom and dismembered the bodies, dumping them in a Delaware trash bin. Her trial has been set for June 2 in Frederick County Circuit Court after being moved due to pretrial publicity. Benjamin Sifrit, 25, is set to go on trial March 4.
Groton also has not decided whether to allow evidence about a 911 call that was apparently made by Erika Sifrit on the morning of the murders, claiming that strangers were at her condo and may have stolen her purse. Worcester County State’s Attorney Joel Todd says the call was contrived as a “cover-up” in case someone heard gunshots and called police.
