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when doug benefield was shot by his wife in september 2020 it was a tragic end to
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a rocky relationship that began very quickly they were saying i love you to each other within i
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think a week or so businessman doug and ballerina model ashley first met in 2016.
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he was 54 and she was 24. 13 days after they first met they had a whirlwind wedding without telling many
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people but soon an intense argument erupted between the newly wed couple in a terrible
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moment he discharged the gun into the ceiling of his house but his best friend tripp cormany
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recalls that doug was immediately filled with regret in his words he said i did the dumbest
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thing i've ever done in my life but that did not end their relationship far from
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it two days later the two had a formal wedding reception this time with guests they also worked together to make
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ashley's dream of creating an inclusive ballet company a reality hiring both dancers and instructors in 2017.
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when you first met doug what kind of guy did he strike you as kind a very serious businessman and had a
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very methodical approach to a lot of what he did did he know anything about ballet no
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and he was very open about that i was supposed to be working with ashley to get her to understand how a company
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should be run what was your first impression of ashley young ambitious we were all hoping that she would rise
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to the occasion but the plan seemed to be doomed from the start each day something would happen that
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just made us feel even more unsettled including not being able to pay for their point shoes or even their
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salaries we would ask him hey where's the money for our shoes or our paychecks he would
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go to the bank and just pull out cash and give people cash paying you out of his own pocket in cash is not the kind
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of thing that's going to inspire confidence no no confidence had gone a long time at this point that was very
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long gone confidence in the business wasn't the only thing suffering doug and ashley's marriage was too
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after stepping back due to a difficult pregnancy ashley moved back home with her mother in florida but she came back
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to tell him their marriage was over she came to charleston packed up her things and then left doug this
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scathing note about all the reasons why she didn't want to be with him anymore but doug wasn't ready to give up on
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their relationship and sent ashley text after text begging her to reconsider including i am on my knees and face
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before god asking you to forgive me [Music] ashley on the other hand did not want to
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reconcile and went to the authorities claiming he had anger issues claims that resulted in a cps
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investigation i was constantly having people come up to my door and questioning if my dad was
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a good dad and it just made me so angry because he was and i just kept having to
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repeat myself my dad's a good dad he's never done anything to hurt anyone he wouldn't hurt
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anyone ultimately he was cleared by authorities of the abuse allegations he'd been
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evaluated by a psychologist a full psych evaluation who said there's nothing wrong with this guy
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he's not dangerous ashley even went as far to allege that he poisoned his deceased wife and was
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now poisoning her in 2020 those who knew ashley and doug were surprised to learn that despite
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their tumultuous relationship they were relocating to maryland after the the case with the poisoning allegations i
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saw a picture of the two of them you know arm in arm attending a gala together and
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looking like a happy couple he was so hopeful and optimistic that everything would be all right however it wasn't
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meant to be i heard from somebody screaming outside according to a neighbor ashley admits
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that she shot doug but why