Who is the 'Black Swan' killer? Ex-ballerina Ashley Benefield found guilty of husband's 2020 murder in Florida
Ashley Benefield, 32, claimed that she killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, in self-defence.
A former ballerina who was dubbed the 'Black Swan' has been convicted of manslaughter for shooting her husband dead in Florida. 32-year-old Ashley Benefield was convicted hours after a jury started considering her claim that she shot her husband in September 2020 in self-defence.
Ashley killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, during an argument. The murder was committed at her mother’s home, where she had moved from South Carolina after leaving Doug.
The jury announced the verdict in a Manatee County courtroom on Tuesday, July 30. A sentencing hearing is set to be scheduled.
Originally, Ashley was charged with second-degree murder. However, the panel went on to convict her of the lesser crime. According to NBC News, the judge revoked her $100,000 bond. Ashley was remanded to the custody of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
According to authorities, Ashley shot Doug twice. She faces up to 30 years behind bars for using a firearm in the murder.
The case came to be known as the ‘Black Swan Murder Trial’ based on the film Black Swan, which was released in 2010. In the film, Natalie Portman starred as a ballerina with a psychological unravelling in the backdrop.
Who is the 'Black Swan' killer – Ashley Benefield?
Ashley is a graduate of the Maryland Youth Ballet. She was placed in handcuffs after the guilty verdict, following which the victim’s cousin said "the sound was as good as the sight,” USA Today reported.
Ashley and Doug met in 2016 when she was 24 and Doug was 54. They tied the knot 13 days later. The following year, Ashley became pregnant. The two of them eventually opened the American National Ballet.
The court was told that Ashley and Doug had a volatile relationship. Ashley claimed that her husband had been violent towards her.
On September 27, 2020, Doug Benefield arrived at Ashley's Manatee County home with a truck. He had planned to help her pack and move to Maryland with their daughter, where Doug had also decided to relocate.
Police received a 911 call shortly after, and found Doug on a bedroom floor, having been shot dead. Ashley claimed that she shot Doug after he tried to attack her.
Prosecutors challenged Ashley’s account and claimed evidence did not match her description of the events of the day the shooting took place. “She did not have to shoot him,” Suzanne O’Donnell, assistant state attorney for Florida’s 12th Judicial District, said in her closing argument. “She had an agenda. She got what she wanted.”
However, Ashley’s lawyer, Neil Taylor, claimed that Doug did not let his wife leave her house, hit her in the face and went on to lunge at her when she had drawn out her gun and was begging him to stop. Taylor said in his closing argument that Ashely filed "complaint after complaint after complaint calling Doug Benefield’s behavior to the attention of authorities with no results. Over and over again with no relief."