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Speaker 1: Crime Alert. I'm Drew Nelson breaking crime news now. A

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Speaker 1: Florida pastor faces the death penalty for charges of photographing

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Speaker 1: himself raping a very young girl two years old. Jonathan

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Speaker 1: Elwing is forty three. He is charged with multiple child

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Speaker 1: sex offenses, including two capital felonies for sexual battery of

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Speaker 1: a minor. The pastor's arrest shocked the Palm View Baptist

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Speaker 1: Church congregation in Palmeadow, Florida, where he served for five years.

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Speaker 1: Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells labeled Elwing quote a monster

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Speaker 1: for his actions. Initially charged with possessing child pornography, further

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Speaker 1: investigation found at least fourteen images of him abusing the

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Speaker 1: young girl on his cell phone. Detectives discovered eight covert

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Speaker 1: cameras in Elwing's church office and two more at his home.

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Speaker 1: Elwing is held without bond at Manatee County Jail. The

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Speaker 1: pastor could receive a life sentence without parole or the

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Speaker 1: death penalty under a twenty twenty three Florida law for

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Speaker 1: sexual battery of a child under age twelve. The church

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Speaker 1: is cooperating with the investigation. They are urging members to

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Speaker 1: report any relevant information to the authorities. Pastor Ryan Akers

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Speaker 1: expressed horror at the allegations and emphasized his support for

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Speaker 1: Elwing's family. During this time, Elwing admitted to purchasing adult

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Speaker 1: pornography and claimed he deletes any child sex abuse material

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Speaker 1: that might be mixed in. Detectives received a tip about

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Speaker 1: Elwing using cryptocurrency to buy child sexual abuse material, leading

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Speaker 1: to a search of his home and the church. Elwing

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Speaker 1: resigned from his position at the church before his arrest.

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Speaker 1: Detectives are continuing to examine Elwing's cell phone and expect

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Speaker 1: to find more illegal material on his computer, with more

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Speaker 1: charges potentially forthcoming up next, a woman allegedly kills her

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Speaker 1: husband so she can become a single mom. More crime,

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Speaker 1: I'm injustice news after this. A woman is on trial

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Speaker 1: for the murder of her husband in September of twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: Amidst the court battle, prosecutors claim Ashley Benifield, aged thirty two,

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Speaker 1: killed her husband, Douglas Bennifield, aged fifty nine, to become

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Speaker 1: a single mother to their young daughter. Benifield admits the shooting,

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Speaker 1: but argues it was in self defense after years of

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Speaker 1: alleged abuse. Prosecutors counter that Doug was shot while facing away,

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Speaker 1: indicating the act was premeditated. The marriage between Doug and

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Speaker 1: Ashley was troubled. They had a thirty year age difference.

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Speaker 1: They met at a twenty sixteen Republican fundraiser and married

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Speaker 1: two weeks later. Dougs a Navy veteran and a wealthy

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Speaker 1: technology consultant. He funded Ashley's establishment of a ballet company.

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Speaker 1: Then their relationship deteriorated, leading to a contentious divorce and

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Speaker 1: allegations of infidelity and abuseh earlier filed multiple abuse allegations

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Speaker 1: against Doug, but a judge found no evidence of abuse.

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Speaker 1: In court, text messages between Doug and Ashley are highlighted

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Speaker 1: as the prosecution wraps up its case. Text messages between

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Speaker 1: Doug and Ashley are highlighted in court as the prosecution

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Speaker 1: wrapped up its case yesterday, messages that had been exchanged

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Speaker 1: as they prepared to move from Florida to Maryland. The

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Speaker 1: last text message was five thirty two pm on September

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Speaker 1: twenty seventh of twenty twenty. Shortly after that, Ashley claims

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Speaker 1: she shot Doug in self defense after he attacked her.

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Speaker 1: Ashley's defense attorney states that she was searching for ways

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Speaker 1: to get along with an abusive ex spouse, but the

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Speaker 1: judge denied these searches as hearsay. A crime lab analyst

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Speaker 1: testified there was no evidence of gunshot residue on Doug's shirt,

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Speaker 1: suggesting he may not have been at close range when

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Speaker 1: he was shot. The prosecution rested their case after the

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Speaker 1: analyst's testimony. The defense started its case earlier today. The

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Speaker 1: trial is expected to last over two weeks. The FBI

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Speaker 1: offers a reward of fifteen thousand dollars for information leading

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Speaker 1: to the return of a boy named Elijah vu amidst

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Speaker 1: the circumstances of the disappearance. The boy's mother, Katrina Bower,

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Speaker 1: has a plea hearing set for August fifth. Elijah View

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Speaker 1: is three. He was last seen wearing gray pants, a

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Speaker 1: long sleeved dark colored shirt, and red and green dinosaur

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Speaker 1: slip on shoes. He might also be carrying a red

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Speaker 1: and white blanket. He disappeared February twentieth of this year.

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Speaker 1: Bower is facing charges of chronic child neglect and obstructing

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Speaker 1: an officer. She's been in police custody for about five months,

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Speaker 1: arrested just days after Elijah's disappearance. She's pleaded not guilty

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Speaker 1: to the charges. Police found a deleted picture on Bower's

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Speaker 1: phone showing Elijah blindfolded on a bed with apparent bruises

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Speaker 1: on his jaw, neck, and arm inside her boyfriend's apartment.

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Speaker 1: Elijah Vieu has dark blonde hair and brown eyes. He's

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Speaker 1: about three feet tall, three years old of munged. If

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Speaker 1: you have any information about Elijah Vie, please contact Two

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Speaker 1: Rivers Police or your local FBI office. You can also

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Speaker 1: submit a tip online at tips dot FBI dot gov.

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Speaker 1: For the latest crime injustice news, go to crimeonline dot

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Speaker 1: com and follow crime stories with Nancy Grace on your

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Speaker 1: favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm Drew Nelson.