FL - Doug Benefield, 58, shot and killed by estranged wife, Manatee County, 27 Sept 2020

[nodamselindistress]

So far from the messages being read in court IMO:
The prosecutor could be using the messages to show that leading up to the shooting AB had no reason to believe that her life was in danger from DB and that she had no reason to fear him when he arrived to help pack because nothing was threatening in his messages?

Sorry but why would the prosecutor want to show that?

I think maybe it is the reverse, she is trying to show that Doug had no reason to doubt AB was fully into the reconciliation plan and moving to MD for a new start.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Yep, she agreed to dismissals! Like was said somewhere else, she planned on court shopping in MD once they moved.

According to AB's mother's testimony daughter AB and her g'daughter were moving to Maryland with her because she inherited a house there and DB got his dream job in Maryland.

OMG!
And this was after AB telling LE that DB was physically and sexually abusing their daughter ?

 

[Wishbone]

According to AB's mother's testimony daughter AB and her g'daughter were moving to Maryland with her because she inherited a house there and DB got his dream job in Maryland.

OMG!
And this was after AB telling LE that DB was physically and sexually abusing their daughter ?

Waiting to see if AB testifies and hear her version of their situation. At this point it seems DB was obsessed with her but in turn I'm getting glimpses of her leading him on. The texts that were just read show everything was just peachy between the two and they were in agreement with lots of love and other emojis until right before he was killed.

 

[Derph]

He's bombarding her with these texts and bible verses. Maybe, just maybe she's just trying to not piss him off and make him angry. She's not really engaging him at all. He's waaay overboard and obsessed. It's starts early in the morning and goes on all day and into the night. It's exhausting. Some of these verses are cryptic.

 

[nodamselindistress]

She had no intention of starting a new life with Doug in MD once they moved. She knew it, but he did not. At least, I think that is the current theory!

ETA: At this point, both prosecutors and defense atty have not impressed me one little bit. Thank God for the Judge, he is awesome.

 

[nodamselindistress]

Early lunch back at 12:45.

 

[bobbymkii]

I've only been half-watching this in the background while I'm at work.

Have I got this right that she got him to help her pack up for a move to a new state, then once he had finished providing her with free manual labour, she shot him 4 times?!

MOO

 

[Wishbone]

He's bombarding her with these texts and bible verses. Maybe, just maybe she's just trying to not piss him off and make him angry. She's not really engaging him at all. He's waaay overboard and obsessed. It's starts early in the morning and goes on all day and into the night. It's exhausting. Some of these verses are cryptic.

I can also see her leading him on and using him to help her move and pick up items or whatever else she needs. Not much time elapses from when he gets to her house and is then killed. What could have happened during the short time he was there to move her things and him being shot. Wouldn't she still be in her placating mode to get the move completed? They've been spending lots of time together and keeping the peace, what changed?

 

[nodamselindistress]

AB's attorney's opening said they almost immediately got into an argument once Doug arrived with the UHaul truck. AB wanted her belongings packed last, to come out first once they got there, which is in line with her plan to dump him once she got moved. Evidently, he did not agree with that and then supposedly "attacked" her and she shot him.

 

[arielilane]

The sound of raised objections and a white noise machine dominated a Manatee County courtroom Wednesday during the second day of the murder trial for former ballerina Ashley Benefield.

The 32-year-old is accused of shooting and killing her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, in September 2020 in what she has claimed was an act of self-defense. Ashley Benefield was arrested more than a month later in November and charged with second-degree murder with a firearm.

During one witness's testimony Wednesday, a conflict resulted in an early lunch and a post-lunch discussion about the possible impeachment of a witness and the release of previously sealed orders, exhibits and transcripts from an in-camera inspection between the judge and defense.

Ashley Benefield trial: Psychologist, Manatee County detectives testify

The murder trial of former ballerina Ashley Benefield continues. A psychologist testifies on an evaluation of Ashley and Doug Benefield done in 2020.

www.heraldtribune.com

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Sure would be helpful to know the exact timeline and dates for these twoAB & DB. From date met, when married, when v-reversal, when pregnant, once allegations of threats or violence, counseling timing, move to mother’s house, other discord, and the shooting death, etc.

Maybe this already exists elsewhere and I have just missed it. MOO

 

[Wishbone]

AB's attorney's opening said they almost immediately got into an argument once Doug arrived with the UHaul truck. AB wanted her belongings packed last, to come out first once they got there, which is in line with her plan to dump him once she got moved. Evidently, he did not agree with that and then supposedly "attacked" her and she shot him.

I'm not clear on the living arrangements once the pair got moved. Was he going to live with grandma and AB or was he going to have his own place? For some reason I was under the impression he would be living on his own until they decided to move in together.

 

[Derph]

Sure would be helpful to know the exact timeline and dates for these twoAB & DB. From date met, when married, when v-reversal, when pregnant, once allegations of threats or violence, counseling timing, move to mother’s house, other discord, and the shooting death, etc.

Maybe this already exists elsewhere and I have just missed it. MOO

Check out the Vanity Fair article posted earlier in this thread a few pages back. It answers some of those questions. Not all, but some.

 

[arielilane]

• Ashley Benefield was preparing to move to Maryland with her mother and daughter. Ashley Benefield was staying at their home, but Doug Benefield was living in a temporary apartment.
• Doug Benefield was planning to move to Maryland with Ashley Benefield and their child, but they planned to live separately.
• Doug Benefield showed up to their home around 5:30 p.m.
• Ashley Benefield’s mother took their daughter to the splash pad.
• While packing up a U-Haul outside and in the garage, Doug Benefield’s mood was “consistent to his prior history: happy, hyper and animated, then agitated, sullen and intimating.”
• Doug Benefield allegedly became angry, screaming “we are moving together as a family, making a fresh start, but you’re dividing us” and “it’s time you start acting like a wife.”
• Later, Doug Benefield allegedly drove a moving box directly into Ashley Benefield “in an upward motion, resulting in considerable pain and scratches to her right side.”
• Ashley Benefield tried to leave their home, but Doug Benefield allegedly grabbed her by the left hand, yanked her backward, and asked her where she was going. He’s accused of wagging his finger in her face stating “You can’t leave me!”
• Ashley Benefield snapped, yelling at him to leave.
• “Raising his right hand, with a closed fist, the decedent drove his knuckles, at the second joint, into the left side of Ms. Benefield’s head,” the motion reads. “Her worst fears realized, Ms. Benefield now believed her life was in danger.”

This is a diagram of the Benefield’s home that was provided as evidence in the motion for dismissal.

• Ashley Benefield ran into the master bedroom and grabbed a gun that she legally owned. Doug Benefield allegedly followed her and he barged into the bedroom “with a fierce scowl.”
• Ashley Benefield pointed the gun at Doug Benefield and ordered him to leave her alone and leave the home.
• “He postured like a mixed martial arts fighter (blading, hands parallel with his chest/shoulders, moving his arms/hands in small circular motions) and advanced toward her, according to the motion.
• Ashley Benefield shot at Doug Benefield – Doug Benefield allegedly kept moving toward her. She kept shooting.
• “She saw the deceased’s legs go up in the air as if his feet slipped out from underneath him, and he fell backward.”
• Ashley Benefield ran to a neighbor’s home yelling for help.
• Two neighbors out walking their dogs saw her running outside with the gun, crying and screaming “Help!”

Bombshells, a ballerina & her husband shot in the bedroom: What we know about the Benefield murder case
Jul 5th, 2023

 

[nodamselindistress]

Sure would be helpful to know the exact timeline and dates for these twoAB & DB. From date met, when married, when v-reversal, when pregnant, once allegations of threats or violence, counseling timing, move to mother’s house, other discord, and the shooting death, etc.

Maybe this already exists elsewhere and I have just missed it. MOO

Been having these same thoughts myself, a timeline would be so helpful! I googled but was not able to find one. My main point of concentration is that they were together in the same household in Charleston for less than a year before she moved to S. Fla to live with her Mom. Your other points would be quite interesting to map out, like the court filings and child abuse claims, etc.

 

[Wishbone]

Murphy said that began a time of peace for about 11 months. Doug was killed three days before an upcoming court hearing as Ashley, her mother, and Doug planned to move to Maryland to live near each other, albeit not together.

Ashley Benefield trial: Prosecution expected to rest in murder murder trial for Florida mother

The prosecution is expected to rest its case Thursday in the murder trial of a former ballerina accused of shooting and killing her husband in Bradenton.

www.fox13news.com

 

[Izzylizzy]

Waiting to see if AB testifies and hear her version of their situation. At this point it seems DB was obsessed with her but in turn I'm getting glimpses of her leading him on. The texts that were just read show everything was just peachy between the two and they were in agreement with lots of love and other emojis until right before he was killed.

I just read Vanity Fair's "Last Dance".
Eyebrow rising to say the least.

 

[Dotta]

This story previously aired on September 8, 2021.
It was updated on June 4, 2022.

Did a former ballerina accused of murder shoot her husband in self-defense?

To some, Ashley Benefield is a woman who fought back from alleged abuse. To others, she's a manipulative murderer who shot her husband so she would not have to share custody of their daughter.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[nodamselindistress]

Sounds like the defense wants to present text message evidence that the State maintains was not turned over to them

ETA: Judge finds it was not willful by the defense

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Sounds like the defense wants to present text message evidence that the State maintains was not turned over to them

Yes, and I wonder if that is the same issue that appeared it might be a possible discovery violation? IANAL….. but aren’t there sometimes differences whether or not the evidence is exculpatory? I could well be wrong on that. MOO