Ashley Benefield murder trial continues as witnesses dive into her relationship with husband

BRADENTON, Fla. – What appeared from the outside as a loving and new relationship quickly crumbled between Doug and Ashley Benefield. The former ballerina and retired Naval officer’s story would end with one behind bars, and the other dead. 

In day two in the murder trial against Ashley, jurors heard how Doug tried to stay in contact with her through testimony from a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office detective and a Sarasota attorney. But, she went silent after moving to Florida while pregnant. 

In December 2017, Ashley was pregnant, living in the state with her mother and placed a phone call to a domestic violence investigator – Detective Chris Gillum, who testified in court on Wednesday. 

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“She made a comment, something to the effect of ‘if the judge sees you arrest him it’ll help me keep my baby,'” Gillum told the jurors while testifying on Wednesday. 

At the time, Ashley had an injunction against Doug in South Carolina, and she called the Manatee County detective when a package for her birthday arrived from Doug. 

“Her tone turned from the crying to very aggressive, and she says ‘you will [expletive] arrest him in front of the judge, and I will make sure you do it,’” Gillum said.

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Gillum said over time that he would receive around 40 phone calls from Ashley – that call would stick with him. 

“In my 12 years of doing this, I had never had anybody ask me to arrest anybody in front of a judge inside the courtroom,” the detective said. 

While Doug remained in South Carolina, he contacted Sarasota attorney Stephanie Murphy for help in contacting his estranged wife. When she testified on Wednesday, Murphy told the jury that the purpose of the letter was to open the door for discussion for Doug’s participation in the upcoming birth of their child. 

Murphy said one day after she sent the letter, Ashley checked herself into the hospital to be induced. 

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“I did not receive a response directly from Ms. Benefield. She checked herself into Tampa General the next day to start induction,” she told the jury. 

Murphy said Ashley did not inform Doug of their daughter’s birth, but he found out after she discovered a restraining order filed against him. 

“The biggest allegation was that he was poisoning her and their child in utero with heavy metals,” she said. 

That claim along with allegations of domestic violence were unfounded, and a judge ordered Doug to have time with his daughter, who by then was six months old. At their first meeting, Doug’s attorney attended with him and was surprised when Doug and Ashley left together with their daughter. 

“We had just been in knock-down drag out litigation – from months with horrendous allegations that were unfounded, and she said ‘I want to go with you’ and he said ‘okay,'” said Murphy. 

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It would begin a period of reconciliation, which would last until September 2020 before Ashley fired the shots, killing her husband, claiming that she acted in self-defense after he attacked her. 

Jurors also heard from Ashley’s mother and a close friend who is a licensed clinical social worker. Both told the jury that from the time of the shooting on, Ashley never shared any details with them about what happened back in September 2020. 

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