State rests its case in Ashley Benefield murder trial. Here’s what happens next

The prosecution rested its case Thursday in the murder trial of Ashley Benefield after three days of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses.

Prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell, who is trying the case alongside Rebecca Freel, rested after calling the final witnesses to the stand, including the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Doug Benefield, who was shot and killed in September 2020.

Ashley Benefield looked down as Medical Examiner Russell Vega showed jurors graphic autopsy photos and described the cause of death as a gunshot wound to Doug Benefield’s chest, which caused perforation and bleeding in the lungs. The chest wound was one of three wounds Vega said Benefield had, including another gunshot wound to his right knee and an abrasion to his right shoulder.

Another state witness, a crime laboratory analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, later held up the alleged firearm used in the shooting for jurors to see: a Springfield armory .45 automatic pistol, which he said fired four bullets that day.

While Vega said the gunshot wound to Doug Benefield’s chest may have incapacitated him quickly, he said it is difficult to predict the amount of time with any certainty and the wound was likely not immediately fatal.

Defense attorney Neil Taylor has argued the night of Sept. 27, 2020, Ashley Benefield was “forced” to shoot her husband multiple times after he attacked her and did not immediately stop moving forward toward her after the first shot.

Now, Ashley Benefield’s defense is preparing to present evidence and testimony to jurors starting Friday as they seek to refute allegations that she murdered her husband. Ashley Benefield has already undergone a Stand Your Ground hearing in July 2013.

Phone evidence was also presented to the court Thursday in the form of logs of text messages, phone calls and videos that appeared to show Ashley and Doug Benefield being friendly with one another in the days leading up to the fatal shooting.

The defense has argued throughout the trial that any attempt by Ashley Benefield to be friendly with Doug Benefield, despite several allegations that he abused her, is consistent with responses by domestic abuse victims looking to “keep abuse at bay.”

But prosecutors say Ashley Benefield was frustrated by the system amid a custody battle. This frustration was on full display in a story told during witness testimony from the previous day.

A domestic violence investigator with the sheriff’s office told jurors Wednesday about a conversation he had with Ashley Benefield that was unlike any other in his career.

Of the more than 40 phone calls Detective Chris Gillum with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said he received from Ashley Benefield concerning her husband, Doug Benefield, one in particular sticks with him several years later.

“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,” Gillum said.

Gillum was one of several state witnesses to testify on day 2 of a murder trial for an ex-ballerina who shot and killed her husband in September 2020 at her mother’s Lakewood Ranch home.

“She made a comment, something to the effect of, ‘If the judge sees you arrest him, it’ll help me keep my baby,’ ” Gillum said.

When Gillum told her “no” multiple times, he said Ashley Benefield’s demeanor switched.

“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.’ ”

“She let out like a screech or a high-pitched scream and she says, ‘I will do whatever I have to do to keep my baby you (expletive),’ ” Gillum said.

The conversation lasted around 20 to 30 minutes, according to Gillum.

When defense attorney Neil Taylor questioned why Gillum made no mention of these comments during reports filed at the time, Gillum said he didn’t see anything she said at the time as a direct threat to Doug Benefield.

“Two and a half years later, you remember the exact details of the conversation?” Taylor asked Gillum.

“Absolutely,” Gillum said, cutting Taylor off before he could finish his question.

Gillum said he didn’t report it at the time because it had “no relevance” to his case. “I just saw this as her just having this massive meltdown because she was not getting her way with me.”

But the circumstances changed, he said. After Ashley Benefield shot and killed Doug Benefield on Sept. 27, 2020, Gillum said he felt “that was information that needed to be heard.”

But as the state is on track to rest its case Thursday, the defense continues to argue that Ashley Benefield was a victim of domestic abuse and only shot her husband in self-defense after he attacked her.

While prosecutors contend that Ashley Benefield acted one way around her husband as a ruse, telling him they would move to Maryland together for a fresh start and reconcile, the defense has argued that her behaviors are more indicative of common responses by domestic abuse victims to “keep abuse at bay.”

A mental health professional said Ashley Benefield told him on multiple occasions that she acted the way she did because she was worried about Doug Benefield hurting their child.

“Ashley had shared with me a number of times that she felt the best way to keep Doug at bay so he wouldn’t hurt (the child) was to kind of appease him, to kind of go along with him,” said Dr. Brad Broder.

A psychological evaluation undergone by Ashley and Doug Benefield by Broeder is central to the state’s premise that Ashley Benefield murdered her husband. Prosecutors argue that Ashley Benefield, in addition to running out of legal options in a custody battle she was intent on winning, was worried about the results of the psychological hearing being released at an upcoming court hearing on Sept. 30, three days after Doug Benefield was killed.

Ashley Benefield acted one way in front of her husband during the sessions with Broeder, expressing wishes for reconciliation during a move to Maryland, but showed zero desire to reconcile and was secretly planning on moving without him during the solo sessions, the state argued.

Broeder said at one point Ashley Benefield showed up unannounced to his office, but he told her she had to get the evaluation report through the courts, at which point he said she became emotional.

Another mental health professional said Ashley Benefield expressed concerns to him about the results of the evaluation being released.

“She was worried about what it would say. She said if it were to be disparaging of Doug she was concerned that he would be upset and take some form of retribution,” Dr. Jason Quintal said.

Ashley Benefield filed several domestic abuse claims against Doug Benefield during their four years of marriage, alleging that he shot a hole in the ceiling, punched their pet dog and punched holes in the drywall.

One complaint filed by Ashley Benefield that was discussed Wednesday was the allegation that Doug Benefield poisoned her.

“The biggest allegation was that he was poisoning her and their child in utero with heavy metals,” Stephanie Murphy, an attorney who represented Doug Benefield during the custody battle.

The judge who oversaw the custody hearings previously said there was no evidence of poisoning.

Murphy told jurors how Doug Benefield first hired her to draft a letter to Ashley Benefield asking to be present for the birth of their child. But they never heard back. Instead, the next day Murphy said Ashley Benefield checked herself into Tampa General to induce labor.

Doug Benefield only found out about the birth of their daughter after Murphy discovered a restraining order filed against him, she said.

When Murphy arranged for Doug Benefield to see his child for the first time at six months old, she said she was stunned when Doug and Ashley Benefield left the sheriff’s office together.

“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 ‘OK,” Murphy said.

Murphy said she pulled Doug Benefield aside and cautioned him about going with her, but he went anyway.

“I said, ‘This is not a good idea; she is trying to set you up for something, don’t do this,’ and he said, ‘I understand. I am going to go ahead and do it anyway.’ ”