Cruel Death

5 stars for CRUEL DEATH. I read this book in just a few days - could not put it down. A cold-blooded couple who were able to laugh it up & party after brutally murdering innocent strangers they met on a bus. Author Mr. Phelps did a great job putting this story together. CRUEL DEATH is a must read for true crime fans.

I had heard of this case when it happened; I had actually been in the criminals' scrapbook store in Altoona while visiting my sister. Shortly after that, my sister called to tell me that the owners of the store she had taken me to were accused of murdering a couple in Ocean City. I couldn't believe it! While I followed the case after that, I was glad to have a book come out about it. The book was very well written, showing all sides. This is by far the most disturbing book I have ever read. I read it in a weekend, staying up well after midnight and reading it every waking minute until I finished it. I just could not stop reading because I wanted to find out what happened next. The acts that the Sifrits committed against the victims are unimaginable and parts of the book are extremely gruesome; it is definitely not a book for the faint of heart. It has been a few weeks since I read the book and I still can't stop thinking about it.

This book is a true crime based on two shocking and cruel murders. Phelps tells the story in a way that unlocks the personalities of the people involved, bit by bit, so that you are interested in every page. What is so horrifying about the murders is the way it plays against all our expectations. The woman involved in the murders, Erika, didn't grow up deprived, surrounded by crime. On the contrary. She came from a lovely middle class family. She grew up in a small town, safe and happy. Pictures of her in high school, mugging for the camera, wearing basketball uniforms, a grin on her face, all collide shockingly with the person she became. And Phelps shows, clearly, just how she changed into that person. Until she became a drug soaked, narcissistic, thrill seeker who could slice into another woman as if she were cutting a piece of cake. Her marriage to B.J., a Navy SEAL, was the pairing of two people who loved to play on the edge. They stole from Hooters restaurants and sold the loot on eBay. They also ended up murdering two people--and perhaps may have murdered others. This is a shocking, but absorbing book. You won't be able to put it down.

Erika Grace was an only child. And, is often the case with only children, Erika always got her way and anything she wanted. Until she met and married Benjamin "BJ" Sifrit, a former Navy SEAL with a penchant for violence. Combine his desire to kill and her sociopathic nature; and you get one night of thrill killing in Ocean City, Maryland. A situation which Daddy couldn't buy Erika's way out. Joshua Ford and Martha "Geney" Crutchley were just looking for a fun weekend getaway. Instead an act of kindness would lead to their brutal deaths. Lured to Ocean City's Rainbow Condominiums penthouse suite, Ford and Crutchley would be murdered, dismembered, and their body parts tossed in to various dumpsters. After the motiveless murder, their killers would continue partying and enjoying a Memorial Day weekend vacation. Yet one deadly sin would be their downfall: greed. When Erika and BJ decided to burglarize a local Hooter's, they weren't counting on getting caught; but a silent alarm alerted Ocean City police to a possible crime occurring at the location. Police had no way of knowing that the crime to which they were responding would end up seeming minute in comparison to the discovery of an even greater, more horrendous crime. Even seasoned true crime readers will be appalled at what follows as detailed by veteran true crime writer M. William Phelps in his latest book: Cruel Death. This 435 page book details a Navy SEAL's transformation into a cold-blooded killer, a college basketball player's fall from grace, and a father's determination to prove his little girl is not the monster everyone else knows her to be.

I am a big fan of M. William Phelps and have read most of his books. However, I hesitated on buying this one. I had seen this case on TV and it was so horrible and heartbreaking that I did not know if I could stand to read it. I am glad I did, though. I could not put it down and would stay up really late reading it. It is awesome. The only negative thing I could say about it is I wish it told more about Josh Ford and Geney Crutchley, but as usual, in true crime books, the killers overshadowed the victims. Still it is very good and extremely well written. I will not ruin for any future readers, so I will just say the ending results were somewhat disapointing. Any Juror that served on the case of BJ should be ashamed of themselves. BJ and Erika represent pure evil and I hope they never get out, but I am afraid they will and that is scarey.