Florida's Deadly Dancer

When 24-year-old Ashley Byers met 54-year-old Doug Benefield on August 25th, 2016, at party in former President hopeful Ben Carson's mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, it was love at first sight. Literally. The two started texting and said "I love you" within days. In under 14 days, they were married, much to Doug's 15-year-old daughter Eva's chagrin. But the two were very much alike; both were gun-toting supporters of the 2nd amendment and right wing-leaning. In fact, Ashley Byers had worked on soon-to-be President Trump's campaign in Sarasota, Florida, and Doug was deeply religious.

Soon after they married, they decided to go into business together. Ashley had been a ballerina in Maryland where she grew up, and had big plans for a ballet company that would cater to a more diverse troupe. So the Benefield's started the American National Ballet Co., or ANB in Charleston, South Carolina where they were living at the time. But pretty soon, it became apparent that ANB would not survive, and allegations of fraud were swirling. Besides that, the Benefield's were fighting a lot, Ashley soon became pregnant and ran back to Florida to live with her mother.

Not long after that, ANB shut it's doors, Ashley became increasingly more volatile and unstable, claiming that Doug was poisoning her and her unborn baby, and after she was born, ugly custody battles ensued. Until one night in September of 2020, Ashley flew off the handle, and an unspeakable tragedy would befall the Benefield's.

Show Notes:

https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2021/11/last-dance

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-black-swan-murder/id965818306?i=1000534933710