‘Black Swan’ Left Chilling Note Years Before Murdering Husband: ‘Scared’

A chilling letter Ashley Benefield left for her husband Doug Benefield before moving out of his house leveled several abuse allegations against him and gave insight into the couple’s deteriorating relationship.
Ashley Benefield, a 33-year-old ballerina, was charged with second-degree murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of her husband, 58-year-old Douglas Benefield. She was found guilty on the lesser offense of manslaughter.
The couple first met in 2016 during a political event at Ben Carson’s home. Despite a 30-year age difference, the two quickly formed a connection and began a whirlwind romance.
Doug got married to Ashley 13 days later. The only people present were the officiant, witness and Doug’s best friend.
“Black Swan Murder,” a podcast by Law & Crime, details Doug and Ashley’s relationship and features interviews with sources close to the couple.
Doug’s cousin, Tommie Benefield, recalled meeting Ashley for the first time.
“You could tell they were starstruck to each other, I would say, in love,” Tommie said. “And she seemed like a normal person at the time. There was nothing that I saw that first night, except for 30 years difference and married in 13 days, no red flags, but a lot of caution.”
Doug’s daughter, Eva Benefield, also supported her father’s decision to get married.
“I just told him that I trusted him, and if that’s what made him happy, that I would be happy for him,” Eva said.
Eva’s mother, Renee Benefield, had died nine months prior from an undiagnosed heart condition. Ashley was closer to Eva’s age than she was to Doug, which caused some conflict inside the home.
“Over time, she tried to reprimand me a little bit more and kind of step into a motherly role, and I did not like that because it was so short after my mom passed away,” Eva said.
As Ashley learned to navigate the new dynamic, things continued to change. She found out she was pregnant in August of 2017. Experiencing a severe form of morning sickness, she decided to move in with her mother in Florida.
Ashley traveled back to South Carolina on September 18 to leave a four-page message for her husband. The note was read on the “Black Swan Murder” podcast.
“I can honestly tell you that I am completely heartbroken,” the note reads. “Please do not be rash. Hear me out and read all the way to the end of this letter. Over the past year, we have had good times, yes, but you’ve 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.”
She said she had to “walk on eggshells” around Doug.
“It’s like you’re two very different people, and I’m never sure when you will lash out and be overtaken with rage,” Ashley wrote. “You yell, scream and cuss at me, even telling me we should get a divorce, that you don’t want to see me or touch me again, that you don’t love me.”
Ashley also alleged that Doug put her life in danger multiple times.
“When driving with me in the car, you’ve driven erratically, way fast, broken traffic laws, crossed in front of oncoming traffic, driven over a curb, through grass, almost hit several trees and acted like you were going to crash the car,” Ashley said.
She claimed that Doug showed anger toward Eva and a friend of hers who was living with them at the time.
“I’ve even seen you get mad at the girls, yell, scream and cuss at them,” Ashley wrote. “I now understand why Eva used to tell me she was afraid of you. You are possessive and manipulating.”
Ashley also complained about the living conditions in Doug’s home.
“The house is falling apart in many ways, cracked tile floors in the bathroom that pinch your feet when you walk, toilets that don’t work at all and places where the ceiling is literally falling down in giant chunks,” Ashley wrote. “There are exposed outlets and wires where I have electrocuted myself. There’s black holes in the walls and ceiling in the kitchen pantry.”
She also hinted at experiencing financial troubles.
“The electric and water have been turned off because of unpaid bills,” she said. “We even got a notice in the mail that our house was going into foreclosure.”
Ashley left Doug with one final warning.
“All these things and more I’ve 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,” she said. “I’ve 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.”
Ashley also went to the police department to turn Doug in to Child Protective Services (CPS) for the conditions inside the home.
Tommie said Ashley alleged “emotional abuse, physical abuse, teenage abuse, that it was an unsafe environment for those two girls to live in that house.”
Eva and her friend both refuted the allegations against Doug when interviewed by CPS and police.
Ashley Benefield is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22. She is facing 11 to 30 years in prison.
Do you have a story Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact [email protected]