Chilling letter Black Swan ballerina left abusive husband before murdering him
A chilling letter the Black Swan ballerina left her husband years before shooting him dead revealed the damaged nature of their relationship.
A chilling letter the Black Swan ballerina left her husband years before shooting him dead revealed the damaged nature of their relationship.
Ashley Benefield, 33, was found guilty of manslaughter for fatally shooting her husband, Doug Benefield, 59, in 2020.
The pair met in 2016 and married just 13 days later. They founded the scandal-plagued American National Ballet dance group in 2017, as Ashley - a trained ballerina - had always dreamed of starting a dance company.
They were just with each other all the time, Dougs daughter from a previous marriage, Eva, 23, testified during Ashleys trial in July.
They were lovey-dovey, PDA all the time. They never left each others side, she added.
Black Swan ballerina Ashley Benefield, 32, was found guilty of manslaughter for fatally shooting her husband, Doug Benefield, 59, in 2020
On September 27, 2020, Ashley ran to a neighbors home and told him she shot and killed Doug, whom she married in 2016 after dating for just 13 days
But trouble arose when Ashley became pregnant in August 2017.
After she moved out of their South Carolina home to live with her mother in Florida, the couple never lived together again.
The former ballerina returned to South Carolina in September to deliver Doug a shocking four-page letter, which was shared on the Black Swan Murder podcast and presented during her trial.
The chilling message reads: I can honestly tell you that I am completely heartbroken.
After being married for one year, Doug, a retired Naval flight officer, helped Ashley achieve her dream of starting a ballet company, using his own money and contacts
Over the past year, we have had good times, yes, but youve also displayed scary and irrational behavior with sudden bursts of rage and fits of anger, extremely uncontrollable anger.
This has left me constantly stressed to the point of nausea and scared for my safety.
Ashley wrote that she always felt on edge around Doug and that he behaved as if he were two very different people.
You yell, scream and cuss at me, even telling me we should get a divorce, that you dont want to see me or touch me again, that you dont love me, she continued.
Ashley said that Doug drove dangerously and erratically on several occasions, hitting trees and violating traffic rules.
She also brought up Dougs relationship with Eva, saying that he screamed at his daughter and her friend, who lived in the house with them too.
I now understand why Eva used to tell me she was afraid of you. You are possessive and manipulating, Ashley wrote.
In July of this year, Benefield was found guilty of shooting her husband dead after moving their belongings to Maryland where they planned to reside after the fall-out of American National Ballet
She said that their South Carolina home was falling apart and that Doug, a retired Naval flight officer, was not paying the bills, causing the house to go into foreclosure.
Toward the end of the note, she wrote: All these things and more Ive overlooked and lived with for now a year, because I love you.
But even since finding out I was pregnant, you continue to display psychotic, irrational and unsafe behavior that has left me fearful for my life, safety, as well as that of my own child.
Ive come to get what belongs to me. Do not harass or try to follow me, or I will call the police and have a restraining order against you.
The couples then-pioneering dance group was totally funded by Doug.
Doug Benefield was the one funding behind the disastrous dance company - all with a goal to make Ashleys dreams of keeping her ballet background alive
He acted as the CEO of the group, while Ashley took on the role of executive director.
When the company was born, 48 dancers joined the group, some of them traveling on work visas to Charleston, South Carolina.
Shortly after the companys founding, it was sued by dancers and choreographers who alleged their contracts were breached when they were fired just weeks after their hiring. Ballerinas also reported suspicious behavior by their employers.
Sophie Williams, who was 20 years old at the time, told DailyMail.com that she was suspicious of the venture early on, especially when it came to getting paid.
She recalled a time waiting outside a small hallway alongside other dancers at American National Ballet in alphabetical order for their names to be called.
Nobody was told why they had to gather there, just that there was a chance of finally receiving a paycheck.
When Williams was called into the office, she saw Doug with a briefcase full of cash.
She said: He just started counting off wads of hundreds.
You dont get paid like that in a legitimate ballet company, she said.
The company fell apart in less than two months. The dancers were stuck with no job, no studio and yearlong leases at an apartment complex they couldnt afford.
With no company left, Doug and Ashley planned to move to Maryland. Doug was shot to death while they were packing to go.
Ashley will be sentenced on Tuesday and faces up to 30 years in prison, according to ABC.
She was originally charged with second-degree murder before the charge was dropped down to manslaughter.
She turned herself in to the Manatee County Sheriffs Office and told investigators that she shot Doug in self-defense during a domestic argument.
Ashley will be sentenced on Tuesday and could face up to 30 years in prison
She accused Doug of poisoning her and of non-physical domestic violence.
Ashley said that Doug would constantly bring her teas that she thought contained poison, CBS News reported.
But detectives conducted a five-week investigation and were unable to find any evidence to support her claims.
Prosecutors argued during this summers trial that killing Doug was a last-ditch effort to gain custody of their daughter, who was 2 years old at the time of the shooting.
Dougs 23-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Eva, testified: They were lovey-dovey, PDA all the time. They never left each others side
This is a case about a woman who, early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother, Assistant State Attorney Suzanne ODonnell said. She did not want the father of this child to have any visitation.
This is a long story, this was a custody battle this mother would win at all costs, and the cost was the life of Doug Benefield.
Prosecutors stated that Doug was doing everything in his power to rectify their marriage and keep their family together.
