‘Black Swan’ murder trial puts self-defense allegation front and center

(NEW YORK) — Doug and Ashley Benefield seemed to have a fairy tale romance — a beautiful ballerina swept off her feet by a dashing older man, married only 13 days after they started dating. However, less than four years later, Doug would be dead, killed by Ashley in what she claims was self-defense.

The trial is playing out in a Florida courtroom, with prosecutors accusing Ashley of wanting sole custody of the couple’s daughter Emerson.

“This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother,” prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell said. “Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense.”

However, Ashley Benefield’s attorney argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship, stating that Doug Benefield was a manipulative, controlling and abusive man.

Doug and Ashley met in 2016 at a political event. They instantly connected despite their 30-year age difference. Doug was a recently widowed father to a teenage daughter named Eva.

Doug went as far as reversing his vasectomy so he and Ashley could have a child together. However, their whirlwind romance started to crumble as the ballet company they started together failed, and Ashley claiming Doug became abusive.

“Ms. Benefield was alleging that Doug had been violent toward her,” Stephanie Murphy, a former attorney for Doug, said. “She alleged that he had hit the dog, fired a gun into the ceiling. The biggest allegation was that he was poisoning her and their child in utero with heavy metals.”

On May 6, 2020, Ashley filed a restraining order against Doug.

Things came to a head on Sept. 27, 2020. Doug was helping Ashley load a U-Haul at her mother’s house. They were planning on moving to Maryland, with Doug living separately.

According to court documents filed by the defense, Ashley claims Doug struck her, hitting her on the side of her head, and then tried to keep her from leaving the room.

“When I saw her after the incident, there was edema swelling on the side of her face,” Dr. Barbara Russell said.

Ashley claims she feared for her life, shot Doug multiple times in self-defense, and then ran to her neighbor’s house.

But Eva Benefield told ABC News’ 20/20 that she doesn’t believe it was self-defense.

“If it was self-defense, why did she shoot — why shoot multiple times?” Eva said. “If I was defending myself in a situation I would shoot once and I wouldn’t shoot to kill. I wouldn’t take a life away. And she clearly wanted to take my dad’s life away and ruin her own child’s life and ruin my life.”

The high-profile case has been coined “the Black Swan murder trial,” named after the movie starring Natalie Portman. The movie tells the story of a tortured artist whose quest for perfection leads to mental instability. Ashley’s ballet background inspired the title.

“I think what it comes down to is that ‘the black swan’ has a catchy ring and it sensationalizes my life and my situation, and so they ran with it,” Ashley told ABC News before her trial. “And it’s sad to me that people who don’t even know me have this idea of a monster when they think of me.”

She decided to speak exclusively with ABC because she wanted to help other women who had gone through similar experiences.

“I am really doing it for other people because I know I’m not alone in this,” Ashley said. “There are women all over the country, all over the world, who have gone through or are going through hard situations behind closed doors. The statistic is like 1 in 3, 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence of some sort in their lifetime. And until you have been there or it’s someone that you know and care about, it’s not something that you think about.”

During testimony, Ashley alleged that Doug had been violent toward her.

In submitted text messages, Doug admitted to punching their dog and shooting a gun in the home, writing, “I shot the gun… How many times did I tell you I was having a nervous breakdown?”

Outside the court, advocates for survivors of domestic violence have rallied around Ashley, including her mother and 6-year-old daughter, Emerson.

The case is now in the hands of the jury of five women and one man. Ashley Benefield is facing 25 years to life in prison.

“It’s a horrible reality. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody,” Ashley said. “Emerson’s already been through a lot. I can’t imagine how this would affect her if things were to go poorly at trial.”