Ashley Benefield, dubbed the 'Black Swan,' took the stand in her own defense during her trial for the murder of her estranged husband. Prosecutors say she killed Doug Benefield so she would have sole custody of their daughter.
After nearly four years, the trial of Ashley Benefield, the former ballerina charged with second-degree murder for shooting her estranged husband Doug, began in the summer of 2024. In the lead-up to the trial, a small group appeared near the courthouse to support Ashley's claims of self-defense.Among the supporters was Ashley's mother Alicia and Ashley and Doug's 6-year-old daughter Emerson, who stopped to speak to a reporter.
Douglas Benefield was a violent abuser. Ashley Benefield's efforts to placate him was absolutely consistent with what abused women do.For the first time ever, Ashley would tell a jury what she says happened that night.The trial took place in Bradenton, Florida, near where Ashley was living with her mother when she killed Doug. It was the culmination of a long and complicated relationship.
: He was very loving and attentive …We laughed a lot and he made me feel very special and loved.Doug invited almost no one to the wedding, not even his teenage daughter Eva. Jim Axelrod | '48 Hours' contributor: He loves this girl, his 15-year-old daughter … he goes and gets married and doesn't even tell her. Tommie Benefield: Yeah.Tommie Benefield is Doug's cousin. Tommie Benefield: …it's bewildering … I would've talked him out of it.
I had decided I was going to leave him and so I went back to get my things. … I left him a letter saying why I was leaving.In the letter, Ashley called Doug 'possessive, controlling and manipulating.' She wrote about that incident where he'd 'shot a hole in the ceiling in the kitchen' and wrote that his behavior 'has left me fearful for my life and safety as well as that of my unborn child.' She told the jury why she was so afraid of him.
What was the result? : Yeah — there's not a lot of great ways to — to figure out what I was thinking. It was definitely to put a stop to the conversation.But Doug denied poisoning Ashley. In September 2018, the judge ruled in Doug's favor, granting joint custody. She said she didn't believe anything Ashley had to say.
Medical Examiner: Yes, I did.Eva wasn't fully prepared to hear the details of her father's death.DR. EXPLAINS WHY SHE SHOT DOUGOne of the first witnesses at Ashley's murder trial was Doug's 23-year-old daughter.Eva Benefield had lived with Doug and Ashley when they were newlyweds and saw firsthand how they interacted.
Did you ever see or hear your dad get physical with her? EVA To this day you've never talked about it? That's the chest injury to the right side of the right nipple.He testified about the two bullets that hit Doug in the leg and chest.REBECCA FREEL : Would you be so kind as to stand up and kinda point on your body to where the entrance wound would be? DR.
He would get in my face. He'd yell at me. He'd come at me like he was gonna hit me.And Ashley said Doug once punched the family dog Sully. I — I just held the gun like in front of me and I — I said, stop, and he like turned and he got into this like almost like a fighting stance. He started like moving his arms and his hands around …
reads: 'I was deeply disappointed that you distorted the truth about who you really were when I married you. I loved you through finding out you weren't really what you pretended to be — you kicking me so hard on New Year's Eve on our honeymoon, because you were having trouble functioning in certain areas — you holding a gun to your head twice in my home … Matt Tympanick: … when you hear that text message … it … helps Ashley Benefield's case.
: Um, yeah, I would say that's correct.SUZANNE O'DONNELL: Doug Benefield never choked you ever? So, he's standing there. He turns to— like this and starts moving his arms around? I don't remember.The state insists Ashley's story didn't match with the medical examiner's testimony that Doug was shot in the side. Doug's cousin Tommie agrees. Tommie Benefield: If Doug was really lunging at her the way she said, he would've been presenting the front of his body. That's not how he was shot.
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