A former ballerina accused of shooting and killing her estranged husband has been found guilty in what has been called a “black swan” murder trial.
Ashley Benefield, 33, had been charged with second-degree murder for shooting and killing her husband, Doug Benefield.
According to People magazine, the couple met at a Republican fundraiser in 2016 when Ashley was a 24-year-old ballet dancer and Doug was a 54-year-old Navy veteran and technology consultant, and they were married just 13 days later.
In a Florida courtroom Tuesday night, a Manatee County jury found Benefield guilty of the misdemeanor of manslaughter, which in Florida is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
After the sentence was handed down, the judge revoked Benefield’s $100,000 bail and remanded her to the custody of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Her sentencing date has not yet been set.
Benefield fired a gun at her estranged husband, 58, at her mother’s home in Bradenton, Florida, in 2020.
Benefield’s lawyer, Neil Taylor, argued that the fatal shooting was in self-defense, given her husband’s history of violent behaviour.
Taylor said in closing arguments Tuesday that his client “filed complaint after complaint to authorities about Doug Benefield’s conduct, to no avail. Time and time again there was no remedy.” NBC News.
In her opening statement, Taylor described her estranged husband as a “manipulative, cunning and abusive man.”
“Thirty years older than Ashley, he was infatuated with her but skillfully portrayed himself as something he was not, in order to secure an excuse for marriage,” Taylor said. “Though he promoted himself as a godly, honorable and decent man, Benefield was manipulative, cunning, abusive and obsessed with control.”
Taylor told the court that Doug once fired a gun into the kitchen ceiling in an attempt to silence Ashley, threw a loaded gun at her, beat the family dog unconscious and always carried a concealed gun “ready to fire.” WFLA Television report.
“The only thing established here beyond a reasonable doubt is that Douglas Benefield was a violent abuser and that Ashley Benefield tried to appease him,” the judge said. [were] “Ashley’s actions were entirely consistent with those of an abused woman, particularly one involving a child, and her actions and use of deadly force were justified under the circumstances,” Taylor said.
The two met at a Republican fundraiser in 2016 when Ashley was a 24-year-old ballet dancer and Doug was a 54-year-old Navy veteran and technology consultant. People MagazineThe two were married just 13 days later.
Eva Benefield, Doug’s 23-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, testified at the “Black Swan” murder trial, “They were always together. They were very lovey-dovey. They were very touching and affectionate. They were together at every school event I went to or extracurricular activities. They never left each other’s side.”
Less than a year later, Ashley became pregnant with Doug’s child.
About a year after they got married, the couple founded a ballet company, which was reportedly Ashley’s “dream.”
“Within a year of their marriage, they had vasectomies, got pregnant and started ballet, which then fell apart,” Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell told the jury.
His marriage also reportedly deteriorated.
O’Donnell said the couple obtained a court order in 2017 banning them from contacting each other.
During her pregnancy, the former ballerina moved from the couple’s South Carolina home to her mother’s home outside Sarasota, Florida.
Taylor said Ashley had tried to obtain a domestic violence restraining order in Florida that would have banned her estranged husband from seeing their children.
“This was a custody battle that the mother was intent on winning at all costs, and the cost was Doug Benefield’s life, and that is murder,” O’Donnell argued.
The judge denied Ashley’s request for a domestic restraining order.
WTVT Television Doug reported that he did not know that the child had been born until the restraining order was filed.
On September 27, 2020, Doug was allegedly helping Ashley pack to move from Florida, where her mother lives, to Maryland.
Ashley claimed that an argument broke out and Doug slapped her in the face, so she ran to the bedroom to get a gun.
She then testified that Doug tried to stop her from leaving the house and lunged at her, at which point she claimed she shot him.
“I thought he was going to kill me,” Ashley testified. New York Post.
Ashley fired four shots from a .45-caliber handgun.
Benefield’s neighbor, John Santo, said Ashley ran back into the house immediately after the shooting.
“As soon as I opened the door, before I could say anything, she said, ‘He attacked me,'” Sant said in court. “At that point, I asked, ‘Who?’ She said, ‘Doug. … He attacked me, so I shot him.”
During the “Black Swan” murder trial, Santo’s 911 call was played to jurors. During the call, Santo can be heard trying to calm Benefield.
“She just came in and said her estranged husband attacked her and she shot her husband,” Santo said in the 911 call, according to WTVT.
O’Donnell said there was no evidence Ashley was physically assaulted.
O’Donnell also said the fatal bullet that struck Doug entered his body from the side, which he argued contradicted Ashley’s testimony.
Regarding where the victim was shot, detectives noted, “it appears the gunman was not facing Ashley when she began firing.”
Do you like Blaze News? Bypass censorship and subscribe to our newsletter to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up here!
