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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, the so called Black Swan ballerina.

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Speaker 1: She's her hobby dead claiming self defense. I'm Nancy Grace.

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Speaker 1: This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Listen,

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Speaker 1: Tana County nine on one one.

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Speaker 2: Is the address of your emergency?

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Speaker 3: All right?

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Speaker 2: My address is White Rock Terrorist.

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Speaker 4: Okay, can you dress for me to make sure I

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Speaker 4: have it?

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Speaker 2: Fridley the house next to Honey, what's your address? Okay,

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Speaker 2: Lrich right next door to me. She just came over

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Speaker 2: her strength husband attacked her and she says she shot him.

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Speaker 2: Now we've not gone over there yet, doctor.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what is his name?

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Speaker 5: Heard?

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Speaker 2: His name is Doug ft Afield?

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Speaker 1: What happened? Having worked at the Battered Women's Center for

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Speaker 1: nearly ten years while I was a prosecuted I'm always

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Speaker 1: suspicious when I hear people say she claimed self defense?

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Speaker 1: Is there some issue?

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Speaker 6: In the last days, the former mallerina was convicted of

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Speaker 6: manslaughter just hours after a jury began considering whether or

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Speaker 6: not the shooting was self defense. Benefield had been charged

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Speaker 6: with second degree murder, but she was convicted of the

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Speaker 6: lesser crime of manslaughter.

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Speaker 1: How did the whole thing start? Let's Listen to more

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Speaker 1: of that nine to one one call.

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Speaker 2: I had not gone over to the home.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I don't that.

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Speaker 3: I don't want you to go over there.

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Speaker 2: Say I'm alining. One moment, I'm gonna expect you over

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Speaker 2: the sheriff's dispatch. Hoky, okay, okay, one moment, Cornbell, cormbl

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Speaker 2: what is your name? Sir Nin' John stamped and two

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Speaker 2: I lived next summer. That's gonna recorded line. This is Gabby.

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Speaker 7: How can I help you?

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Speaker 1: Okay, gebby.

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Speaker 3: It's carrying on a one, one, three, two seven I

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Speaker 3: John Singer on the phone.

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Speaker 2: He's saying the neighbor came over, a female neighbor. It

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Speaker 2: was at the mastics.

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Speaker 1: She shot her husband, So where's the gun? Listen?

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Speaker 8: She came in.

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Speaker 2: She was quite a sirical. I didn't know who was

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Speaker 2: then in our door.

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Speaker 1: Said that he had packed her.

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Speaker 2: And she shot him.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm just getting that all the straight.

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Speaker 2: Okay, okay, honey, oil go ahead, ma'am. Where's the gun?

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Speaker 7: Is it with her?

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Speaker 5: Or is it?

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Speaker 2: I have it right here. Madam's sitting on the floor

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Speaker 2: inside the door. My door's locked in case she isn't.

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Speaker 2: He can't get off. I'm also armed if she was

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Speaker 2: more and high a harm hope, So so everybody knows straight out.

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Speaker 1: To Sophia Vitello joining US investigative reporter WWSB, joining us

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Speaker 1: out of Sarasota in this jurisdiction, Sophia, thank you for

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Speaker 1: being with us. Start at the beginning, what happened.

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Speaker 7: Very beginning of it all. I just want to start

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Speaker 7: with the two met in twenty sixteen out of dinner, okay,

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Speaker 7: at a Republican dinner. She was twenty four, he was

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Speaker 7: fifty four. So that's already a first red flag right there.

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Speaker 7: They fall in love and in just thirteen.

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Speaker 1: Days, Sophia Vittello, WWSB, you got me drinking from the

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Speaker 1: fire hydrant here too much, too fast? Okay, hold on, well, okay,

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Speaker 1: first of all, you said the age difference is a

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Speaker 1: red flag. Tell me the age difference again.

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Speaker 7: Twenty four, Ashley fifty four, Doug Okay.

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Speaker 1: Okay, probably not a red flag for him, did I

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Speaker 1: hear correctly? In thirteen days they're married. I don't mean

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Speaker 1: just like they have their first sleepover. I mean they're married,

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Speaker 1: they've done the deed.

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Speaker 7: Yes, no engagement. I mean we don't even know if

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Speaker 7: they were fully calling each other girlfriend and boyfriend. They

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Speaker 7: had the ring and got married thirteen days after meeting.

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Speaker 7: Thirteen days.

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Speaker 1: Let me ask you another quick question, Saphia Vittello. Is

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Speaker 1: he rich?

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Speaker 7: I do believe he's well off, Let's just say that.

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Speaker 7: And I do know that Ashley was struggling with a

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Speaker 7: career in modeling that was not working out for her,

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Speaker 7: so that can also be noted in the beginning of

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Speaker 7: this relationship.

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Speaker 1: Okay, right, she was to start her own ballet company.

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Speaker 1: That's not cheap, and then suddenly, poof, presto, here comes

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Speaker 1: money bags. Okay, guys, when I start a murder case,

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Speaker 1: if at all possible, I like to play the nine

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Speaker 1: to one one call in the opening statement. Brian Foley

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Speaker 1: is with me. Board certified criminal defense attorney, former Chief

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Speaker 1: Prosecutor Harris County, and author of What Prosecutors Don't Tell You.

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Speaker 1: I don't know about that, but Brian Foley, in order

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Speaker 1: to play a nine one one call in an opening statement,

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Speaker 1: you must first offer a profit and get it admitted

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Speaker 1: into evidence before you play it for a jury. But

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Speaker 1: do you agree or disagree that only a nine one

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Speaker 1: one call can take you back to the moment of

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Speaker 1: the incident, unlike any witness can. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely.

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Speaker 9: When I was a prosecutor, we love playing nine one

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Speaker 9: one calls, you know, if it sounds good. We hear

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Speaker 9: a little bit at the beginning of that quirk that

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Speaker 9: happens in Ninember one calls where the operator is stopping

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Speaker 9: the drama and asking, well, what's the address? And that

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Speaker 9: always ruffled my feathers because you can get transported back.

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Speaker 9: You can hear her sobbing, you can hear the neighbor

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Speaker 9: saying they're there and consoling her. It really it helps

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Speaker 9: paint an audio picture for the jury. Sometimes I would

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Speaker 9: ask the jury to close their eyes while we played it,

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Speaker 9: and their mind would create the scene for me.

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Speaker 1: Wow, okay, so hey right there. Following up what Brian

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Speaker 1: Foley and guys, he's a veteran trial lawyer out of Houston,

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Speaker 1: Sophia Mattello. Was there any acting in her background?

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Speaker 7: You know, we can't prove that, but what I can

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Speaker 7: say is that watching the trial, you know, she's putting

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Speaker 7: a show. She's testified for four hours with the same

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Speaker 7: facial expression, hysterically crying for four hours, and you know,

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Speaker 7: I don't know if there's acting in her background. But

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Speaker 7: she's seeming like she had this practice. I mean, she

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Speaker 7: had this specific look that she presented to this jury.

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Speaker 1: Guys, let's listen to more than I will one call.

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Speaker 2: I'm kind of concerned with her mother and the little

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Speaker 2: girl and I get back there. Don't go after her,

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Speaker 2: hon Come on, I know, I know, I know, come on,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 10: I know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, I just want you guys to stand.

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Speaker 6: The phone with me.

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Speaker 2: Okay, No, I'm right here with him. I'm just with her.

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Speaker 1: Okay. You hear the neighbor who is consoling. We're calling

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Speaker 1: her the ballerina. Her name is Ashley Benifield. She was

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Speaker 1: twenty eight at the time of the shooting. At the time,

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Speaker 1: her husband, then husband, Doug Benefield, was shot dead straight

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Speaker 1: back out to Sophia Vittello. Investigator reporter WWSB, tell me

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Speaker 1: about the location of the shooting, the specific location.

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Speaker 7: Okay, so this is right after you got to remember

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Speaker 7: Ashley had left South Carolina that was where they lived together.

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Speaker 7: She moved into this Bradenton home that was her mother's

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Speaker 7: house and what we would call here Lakewood Wrench pretty

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Speaker 7: nice area, I gotta say, nice house in a clean,

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Speaker 7: safe area. Okay, So she was in her mother's home,

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Speaker 7: Doug was there to help her move. That raises another question.

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Speaker 7: If you were in a relationship with domestic violence, why

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Speaker 7: did you invite the man who you say abused you

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Speaker 7: to help you move. So that's another situation we have

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Speaker 7: going on at her mother's house. That is the situation.

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Speaker 1: Okay, let me understand something. Joining me is doctor Chloe Carmichael,

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Speaker 1: clinical psychologist and author of Nervous Energy Harness The Power

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Speaker 1: of Your Anxiety. I'll try to do that right now,

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Speaker 1: doctor Chloe Carmichael, Because after ten years, nearly eleven years

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Speaker 1: in the pit, trying at felonies, violent felonies in inner

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Speaker 1: city Atlanta, and at night working at the Battered Women's Center,

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Speaker 1: I never once heard of one of those ladies once

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Speaker 1: they had finally made it out, which is a huge

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Speaker 1: hurdle in itself, getting out of the home, successfully leaving

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Speaker 1: the home, and establishing yourself in another domicile here with

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Speaker 1: her mother. I've never heard of one of the ladies

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Speaker 1: that I dealt with anyway over the course of nearly

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Speaker 1: ten years, inviting the perpetrator, the abuser. She's so afraid

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Speaker 1: of that she actually moves out back to help move

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Speaker 1: help me out.

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Speaker 11: Yes, as a clinical psychologist, Nancy, I actually have seen

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Speaker 11: that before, so that back and forth can certainly happen. Also,

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Speaker 11: as a clinical psychologist working in New York City for

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Speaker 11: a decade, I've also worked with New York City ballerinas

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Speaker 11: and I can tell you indeed they do have acting training.

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Speaker 11: They're quite skilled that portraying the dramatic arts. I do

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Speaker 11: also have a couple of questions for Sophia. I'm curious

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Speaker 11: with this very quick marriage and of course having a child,

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Speaker 11: as we're exploring, what is the financial background? Nancy, you

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Speaker 11: had asked about if this gentleman was wealthy. I'm curious

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Speaker 11: as well about if they had a prenuptial agreement.

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Speaker 7: What I do know is that Doug was very much

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Speaker 7: in love with Ashley. So what I can tell you

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Speaker 7: is that leading up to the day of the shooting,

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Speaker 7: he was trying with everything that he could, every fiber

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Speaker 7: and is being to be with her and make the

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Speaker 7: marriage work.

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Speaker 1: And plus you've got the child he has a child

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Speaker 1: with her. Crime stores with Nancy Grace, did this so

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Speaker 1: called black Swan ballerina murder her wealthy husband or was

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Speaker 1: it self defense of WorldWind Romance. These two actually marry

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Speaker 1: thirteen days after meeting at some political fundraiser. They're married,

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Speaker 1: the deed is done. As a matter of fact, he

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Speaker 1: has a vasectomy reversed ouch so he and she can

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Speaker 1: have a baby, and they do have a baby girl.

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Speaker 1: But what about all the forensics joining me right now?

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Speaker 1: Renowned death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor forensis Jacksonville State University,

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Speaker 1: author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon and starving

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Speaker 1: hit series Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, Joe Scott,

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Speaker 1: This issue comes up over and over and over self

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Speaker 1: defense or murder. What have you learned by studying the case.

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Speaker 4: It's fascinating to me, Nancy, that they're talking about self

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Speaker 4: defense here when you have the police stating that he

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Speaker 4: was shot in the back, and out of all the

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Speaker 4: homesides that I've worked relatives to, particularly firearms, it almost

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Speaker 4: like it's like threat level reduces at that point in time.

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Speaker 4: So you wait until the individual turns away from you

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Speaker 4: if they are in fact an aggressor, and then you're

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Speaker 4: going to place six fire shots or three fire shots

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Speaker 4: into his back. Don't that doesn't marry up with this

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Speaker 4: idea of the individual being an aggressor at that moment

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Speaker 4: in time, at that acute moment, it's almost like they're

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Speaker 4: in retreat at that moment in time.

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Speaker 1: If this had happened, We've got a gunshot when I'm

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Speaker 1: looking at the autopsy right now, and can I tell

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Speaker 1: you Jo just gott as if you don't know, and

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Speaker 1: I know you know, Brian fully Chris Byers also joining us,

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Speaker 1: former police chief in Johns Creek. You guys know how

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Speaker 1: critical the autopsy is. Okay, if you look at it

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Speaker 1: line by line, you learn everything there is to know

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Speaker 1: about what you're going to try to prove or what

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Speaker 1: you're not going to try to prove at trial. We've

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Speaker 1: got a gunshot wound to the chest and gunshot wound

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Speaker 1: to the right leg. How did that happen? Blunt impact

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Speaker 1: of head? Now wait a minute, Wait a minute, blunt

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Speaker 1: impact of head, continuous abrasion and soft tissue scalp contusion.

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Speaker 1: So was he hitting the head and shot multiple times?

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Speaker 1: Just got help me out here. With the gunshot wound

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Speaker 1: to the chest, it says perforation of right lateral chest

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Speaker 1: wall with confluent chest tube incision. What does that mean, Well.

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Speaker 4: What that means is that his longest obvious been clipped

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Speaker 4: in this round with this round, and so his chest,

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Speaker 4: the chest is actually filling with blood. So if there

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Speaker 4: is an attempt to, you know, depressurize that area where

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Speaker 4: you have blood that's kind of surrounding the lung and treatment,

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Speaker 4: you'd have to drop a line in there because it's

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Speaker 4: the pressure that's building up as a result of the

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Speaker 4: blood contained in the chest cavity is inhibiting his ability

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Speaker 4: to breed. And this is something that happens all the time.

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Speaker 12: Let me just.

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Speaker 1: Break it down. I know it's hard for you not

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Speaker 1: to talk like a medical professional, but are you saying

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Speaker 1: his lung was clipped? You kept me to that moment,

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Speaker 1: but then I think you're saying that his lung started

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Speaker 1: filling it with blood or his chest cavity started filling

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Speaker 1: out with blood and he couldn't breathe, so they inserted

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Speaker 1: a toe to try to save him. Is that what

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Speaker 1: you're saying.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And one more thing that's really frustrating forensics sometimes

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Speaker 4: when we're trying to examine these insults like this, they

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Speaker 4: will actually use and it's no fault of their own.

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Speaker 4: They have to do what they have to do. But

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Speaker 4: the people that are saving the life will actually use

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Speaker 4: the gunshot wound itself as the place where they're going

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Speaker 4: to put a tube in because there's no need in

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Speaker 4: going in and creating another defect in the body where

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Speaker 4: you can simply use this.

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Speaker 1: Which totally ruins your trajectory investigation.

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Speaker 3: Yeah it can, it can. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. We also got perforation of right fifth and left

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Speaker 1: tenth ribs and T ten vertebra in a nutshell. Dummy

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Speaker 1: down for me, Joe Scott, dummy down? What does that mean?

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Speaker 4: Well, T ten that's you're talking about the thoracic vertebra

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Speaker 4: at that point in time. And also this is I'm

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Speaker 4: unclear if they have clipped along or clipped a rib

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Speaker 4: and it doesn't really give you directionality. One more thing here,

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Speaker 4: they're saying chest. Most people don't understand we have an

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Speaker 4: anterior chest and we have a post here your chest.

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Speaker 4: So you hear the term chest and automatically from the

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Speaker 4: front and back, and if it's lateral, then this can

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Speaker 4: be the back that gives you an idea of orientation

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Speaker 4: and presentation of the target.

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Speaker 1: Stop plays ears, hurting, ears, bleeding now I'm just asking you,

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Speaker 1: t ten vertebra that there's the perforation that's your spine.

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Speaker 3: Correct, Yes, it is.

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Speaker 1: So if he's shot with spine, can he even move well?

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Speaker 4: It all depends on how compromised that vertebral body is. Now,

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Speaker 4: if it went into the area where the spinal cord

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Speaker 4: goes down, drops through the little hole that's in there,

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Speaker 4: the foremen as it's referred to, Yeah, that can be compromised,

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Speaker 4: and it can compromise your ability of mobility.

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Speaker 1: Got a small isolated blast laceration of a order, the

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Speaker 1: A order. What do you mean aren't there's several A

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Speaker 1: order in the body? So what is this A order singular?

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Speaker 4: It's the largest vessel in the body and it literally

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Speaker 4: runs if you front, we're talking about front right, the

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Speaker 4: front of the spine. Okay, the order runs down the

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Speaker 4: length of the spine until it bifurcates into our legs

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Speaker 4: where it becomes the femeral arteries.

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Speaker 3: And so yeah, you see this associated.

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Speaker 4: With spinal trauma many times where the order will actually

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Speaker 4: be clipped as well. That can lead to that space

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Speaker 4: around the lungs and even the abdominal cavity filling with

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Speaker 4: blood too. It becomes very complicated.

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Speaker 1: I'm just trying to get my head around the fact

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Speaker 1: that he's shot in T ten vertebra. That's your spine,

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Speaker 1: and I'm wondering if he couldn't even move that projectile

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Speaker 1: bullet is recovered. But now I've got a gunshot wound

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Speaker 1: to the right leg. Sophia Matello, how many times is

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Speaker 1: the victim of shock?

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Speaker 7: Three times? Three times?

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Speaker 1: Okay? And we've got perforations of lungs. Gunshot wound to chest.

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Speaker 1: That's the cod cause of death, separate gunshot wounds. I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to make sense of what we know right now,

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Speaker 1: but I want you to hear what a judge, Circuit

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Speaker 1: Court Judge Diana Morland said. From our friends at Inside.

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Speaker 10: Edition, We'll see that this was a custody battle that

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Speaker 10: this mother was going to win at all costs, and

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Speaker 10: the cost was the life of Doug Benefield.

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Speaker 3: I thought he was going to kill me.

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Speaker 5: Black Swan ballerina Ashley Benefield testifies in her husband's murder trial.

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Speaker 1: So Joskott Morgan, professor FORENSAC Jacksonville State University death investigator

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Speaker 1: with over one thousand deaths investigated by him, says that

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Speaker 1: the victim was shot in the back. Our investigative reporter

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Speaker 1: joining us today from w WSBABC seven and Sarasota says

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Speaker 1: there were three gunshot wounds. Okay, I think the word

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Speaker 1: overkill may come into play right here, but having worked

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Speaker 1: at the batter Women's Center for so many years, I

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Speaker 1: do not want to dissuade the consideration that she may

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Speaker 1: have been a battered woman. Let's look at the relationship.

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Speaker 1: Let's move away from the forensics, the gunshot residue, the

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Speaker 1: trajectory path of the bullets. What do we know about

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Speaker 1: them as a couple.

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Speaker 5: Listen, still grieving the sudden loss of his wife, and

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Speaker 5: Doug Benifield is rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful

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Speaker 5: of a GOP fundraiser at the Florida home of doctor

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Speaker 5: Ben Carson when he's introduced to a former ballerina Ashley Byers,

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Speaker 5: as a swimsuit model, and she and Benifield are smitten

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Speaker 5: with each other and neither one seems to notice or

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Speaker 5: care about their thirty year age gap.

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Speaker 12: Ashley tells Doug she wants to have a ballet company

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Speaker 12: using dance of all sizes and genders. Doug wants to

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Speaker 12: make her dreams come true. Doug returns from a trip

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Speaker 12: in thirteen days after they meet Doug Benefield Mary's Ashley Buyers.

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Speaker 12: It is a shocking turn of events for a man

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Speaker 12: with a teen daughter, just nine years younger than his

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Speaker 12: new wife.

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Speaker 1: Okay, let me understand something, Sephia Vittello. Hold on, when

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Speaker 1: you said model, you didn't tell me she was a

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Speaker 1: swimsuit model.

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Speaker 7: I mean, she's a gorgeous girl. She's a gorgeous girl.

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Speaker 7: But what I do know is, you know, swimsuit model.

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Speaker 7: We got to use it lightly. Her career was not

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Speaker 7: blowing up. You know. I'm not to say that she

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Speaker 7: was in a position seeking money. We don't know that specifically,

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Speaker 7: but we do know that Doug was vulnerable. In that video,

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Speaker 7: it says sudden dealing with a sudden loss of his wife. Guys,

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Speaker 7: it was less than a year. It was less than

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Speaker 7: a year. His wife had just died.

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Speaker 1: Yes, And isn't it correct, Sefia Vittello that his daughter

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Speaker 1: by his first wife came home and found mommy dead

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Speaker 1: on the floor from heart ailment. Yes, so this guy

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Speaker 1: is reeling m hm.

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Speaker 7: Yes, he's reeling it, and so's his daughter. And Eva

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Speaker 7: says that she had talked to her dad and he said, oh,

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Speaker 7: I'm not I'm not going to get into anything. You know,

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Speaker 7: I'm I'm not going to get into anything fast. And

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Speaker 7: next thing you know, Eva says her dad was married

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Speaker 7: and it really shocked her. That's another thing shocked her.

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Speaker 1: Okay, very quickly after the wedding, things turned sour lessen.

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Speaker 5: In the first days of their wedded bliss, Doug and

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Speaker 5: Ashley Benifield argue loudly. Doug's daughter Eva asks if one

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Speaker 5: of her friends can move in with them for a while.

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Speaker 5: And now Doug has two teen girls in the house

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Speaker 5: and a wife who not only wants to create a

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Speaker 5: ballet company that Doug says he will help finance, she

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Speaker 5: also wants a baby. Doug starts making calls about the

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Speaker 5: ballet and about having his vest sectomy reversed.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what do you have to do to having a

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Speaker 1: sex to may reverse show Scott Morgan.

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Speaker 4: In a nutshell, you have to go back in and

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Speaker 4: actually reattach the vest deference and so that they're functional

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Speaker 4: at that point, Tom.

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Speaker 1: The vast difference. I don't even know what you're saying, man,

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Speaker 1: What go back into what the penis it's anatomical. You

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Speaker 1: can say penis. Okay, so you know I'm not.

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Speaker 4: Talking about penis, Nancy, I'm not talking about penis.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't have to ask.

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Speaker 3: Well, we'll talk about testicles.

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Speaker 4: How's that instead of penie, we're talking about attachment.

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Speaker 1: Scott, I don't care. I know that the peanut gallery

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Speaker 1: may yiggle. But you meet a man in thirteen days,

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Speaker 1: you're married, and you convince him to have surgery on

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Speaker 1: his testicles. Okay, that's love. So he has surgery on

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Speaker 1: his testicles. He has the best sect to me, it's

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Speaker 1: kind of a snip, snip in and out correct.

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Speaker 4: The best sectomy is yes, But now you're talking about

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Speaker 4: a reattachment to make it functional once again. And you know,

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Speaker 4: all I have to say is, if that's the case,

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Speaker 4: she must have been quite beguiling and bewitching because this

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Speaker 4: is a really quick decision to make.

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Speaker 1: So how difficult is it? And what does the man

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Speaker 1: have to undergo to have a vasectomy reversal? And again,

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Speaker 1: there's no giggling. This is real. The guys did he

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Speaker 1: shot three times? Once in the back. It's not holding

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Speaker 1: together from me, but into the thinking, the thinking of

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Speaker 1: these two I just want to know how difficult it

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Speaker 1: is and what a man must endure to have a

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Speaker 1: asectomy reversal.

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Speaker 3: It's not very difficult at all.

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Speaker 4: It's done all the time, literally, and it can be

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Speaker 4: done actually on an outpatient basis. Most guys would like

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Speaker 4: to remain in the hospital if they could. There is

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Speaker 4: pain associated with this, make no mistake about that. A

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Speaker 4: lot of post operatives, swelling and this sort of thing.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, it takes tom and it's a painful process

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Speaker 4: to go through, So obviously you felt like she was

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Speaker 4: worth it.

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Speaker 1: Joining me right now, private investigator, owner of Buyers Investigative Services.

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Speaker 1: But for my purposes, former police Chief John's Creek, twenty

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Speaker 1: five years in l E law enforcement, Chris Buyers, It'll

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Speaker 1: be a cold day, cold, frigid, cold day in hub

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Speaker 1: l that. I do not support a battered woman's right

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Speaker 1: to defend herself against her abuser.

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Speaker 7: Right, absolutely absolutely, But.

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Speaker 1: I cannot turn away from physical forensic evidence. Forensic evidence,

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Speaker 1: unless it's been tampered with, does not lie. Now what

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Speaker 1: do you.

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Speaker 8: Think absolutely in any of these cases, that's what you do.

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Speaker 8: You follow the evidence. I'm from what I'm hearing on

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Speaker 8: this as well. The three shots shot in the back.

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Speaker 8: It does not present as someone who was about to

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Speaker 8: receive imminent death or great bodily harm, which is what

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Speaker 8: you need for this self defense. So yes, with what

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Speaker 8: I'm hearing about the forensics of this yeah, that's a

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Speaker 8: far stretch to show self.

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Speaker 1: Defense crime stories with Nancy Grace to get to the

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Speaker 1: truth of this case. It's so called black Swan ballerina.

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Speaker 1: What do we know? Okay, we know that very quickly

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Speaker 1: after the meetup at a political fundraiser, the two get

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Speaker 1: married within thirteen days, and she announces not only does

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Speaker 1: she want her husband to fund a ballet company, which

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Speaker 1: is not a cheap endeavor, that things go south. Not

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Speaker 1: only does she want the ballet company, she also wants

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Speaker 1: her husband to reversive s sectomy so she can have

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Speaker 1: a baby, which he does. Everything's going sideways, including money woes. Listen.

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Speaker 5: Doug Benifield, trying to hold together the ballet company that

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Speaker 5: was his wife's dream, arrives to find that Ashley and

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Speaker 5: her mother drive from Florida to Charleston, pack up Ashley's

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Speaker 5: personal belongings and leave a note for Doug the marriage

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Speaker 5: is over, calling him possessive and controlling. In the note,

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Speaker 5: she says she is fearful for her life and the

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Speaker 5: safety of her unborn child.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so she moves in with the mom. Listen.

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Speaker 13: Ashley Bennifield moves in with her mother in Florida and

435
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 13: begins a process to prevent Doug Bennifield from being involved

436
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,640
Speaker 13: in the life of his own child. Frustrated, Doug Minnifield

437
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 13: uses an attorney to reach out to Ashley Bennifield by email.

438
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,639
Speaker 13: Ashley has not capped Doug informed of anything with regard

439
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,439
Speaker 13: to her pregnancy, and one day after receiving the email

440
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 13: from Doug's lawyer, Ashley Bennifield has labor induced even though

441
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,159
Speaker 13: she's weeks away from her due date. Ashley then refuses

442
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 13: to communicate with Doug. He isn't even aware his daughter

443
00:25:58,080 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 13: is born for six.

444
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:04,680
Speaker 1: Weeks stars Okay, Sophia Vittella joining US investigative reporter WWSB.

445
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,680
Speaker 1: So she kept the birth of the baby a secret

446
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,120
Speaker 1: and did not tell the husband.

447
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 7: Yeah, and this is really the state's entire argument here

448
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,440
Speaker 7: that Ashley decided she wanted to be a single mother

449
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 7: the second she got pregnant. That's their whole argument against her,

450
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 7: saying that it was self defense because there have been

451
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 7: all of these instances where she she got pregnant. She

452
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 7: immediately moved right and then she made sure that he

453
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,639
Speaker 7: didn't even know that the baby was born until six

454
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 7: weeks after. So she wanted him to have nothing to

455
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,280
Speaker 7: do with the child that they shared.

456
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,359
Speaker 1: Now, I want you to hear what the so called

457
00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: black Swan, by the way, she doesn't like that Moniker

458
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 1: has to say. Listen, Douglas Benifield was a violent abuser.

459
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,720
Speaker 11: I said stop, and he turned and he got into

460
00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 11: this like it like a fighting stance.

461
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:00,920
Speaker 5: Kill me.

462
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 11: He started coming towards me and he lunged up Merlie

463
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:08,879
Speaker 11: the trigger.

464
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 1: Okay, again from our friends at Inside Edition. But Joe

465
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 1: Scott Morgan, did you hear what she just said? This

466
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 1: is critical, Joe Scott. She said he lunged at her.

467
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,919
Speaker 1: If he lunged at her, the bullet should be front

468
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:23,359
Speaker 1: to back.

469
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 4: Yeah, what he lunged at her with his shoulder blade.

470
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 4: That doesn't make sense at all. The calculus doesn't work

471
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 4: out here. Lunging means that you're moving toward the individual.

472
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:33,959
Speaker 2: Uh.

473
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,919
Speaker 4: The indication is what we're hearing is that he was

474
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,959
Speaker 4: shot post heially now We don't know the precise the

475
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 4: precise trajectories here.

476
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 3: But it just doesn't. It just doesn't, mesh.

477
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,959
Speaker 4: And I got to tell you, Nancy, from a forensic standpoint,

478
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,399
Speaker 4: this is one of the major benchmarks as to why

479
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 4: the police moved forward with this case.

480
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 1: What do you mean one of the benchmarks as to

481
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:56,640
Speaker 1: why police move forward?

482
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 3: The science doesn't.

483
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, the beauty of this is that the science doesn't lie.

484
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,720
Speaker 4: She's actually saying that he lunged toward her and all

485
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 4: indications are is that these gunshot wounds, that this man

486
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 4: has sustained our posterior on his backside or at least lateral,

487
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 4: that it doesn't marry up with this so called fighter

488
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 4: stance whatever whatever the hell that means that he goes into.

489
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,719
Speaker 4: According to her, the science doesn't marry up here. And

490
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 4: that's one of the big we use the term red

491
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,880
Speaker 4: flag a moment ago for an investigator. That's a big

492
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,240
Speaker 4: red flag when you've got when the police have spoken

493
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 4: with the EME, which I guarantee they did that day,

494
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:40,840
Speaker 4: and try to marry this up with a statement that

495
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 4: she's giving. The two things just don't mesh.

496
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,880
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to go back to Sophia Vittillo joining

497
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: US investigative reporter WWSB. Are we correct that at least

498
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:51,880
Speaker 1: one of the shots.

499
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:56,320
Speaker 7: Was back to front according to dozens of hours honestly

500
00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 7: of testimony, everything that we have heard, he was facing

501
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 7: the other way right.

502
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 1: Are you saying he was shot in the back?

503
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:06,120
Speaker 7: Very simply according to medical examiner's testimony, Yes, he was

504
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:06,760
Speaker 7: shot in the back.

505
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:11,959
Speaker 1: Okay, then what she's saying cannot be true. And you know,

506
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 1: let me understand. Brian Foley joining me, renowned criminal defense

507
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 1: attorney and author, Brian, It is possible that he is

508
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: shot in the back and was attacking her. He could

509
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 1: have attacked her and then turned to get a weapon.

510
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 1: He could have attacked her and tried to push off

511
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,560
Speaker 1: a dog. There are many reasons he could have turned

512
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 1: his back and still be the aggressor. However, her story

513
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: is impossible based on the bullet path trajectory.

514
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 9: Yes, and when we listen to a defendant give a

515
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 9: statement about a very traumatic event, these things really happen

516
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 9: a lot faster than people think. You don't have time

517
00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 9: to to react in between shots. You know, some people say, well,

518
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 9: why did you have to shoot him two more times

519
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 9: if he'd already been shot.

520
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 3: He's not.

521
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 9: You know, the other two bullets aren't self defense, even

522
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 9: if the.

523
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:11,239
Speaker 3: First one was.

524
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 9: But these all happened way too fast for that to

525
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 9: be the case. And one thing I wanted to add

526
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,760
Speaker 9: is the prosecution doesn't have to prove that she lied

527
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,719
Speaker 9: about how it happened. You know, if the forensic evidence

528
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,440
Speaker 9: shows that her statement isn't accurate, that doesn't mean that

529
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 9: she's not doing it in self defense. They have to

530
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 9: prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there's no other possibility

531
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 9: that it was in self defense. And Nancy, you hit

532
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 9: the nail on the head. They said she had to

533
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:38,480
Speaker 9: run back.

534
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: That's not true. Nobody has to prove no possibility beyond

535
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,960
Speaker 1: any doubt whatsoever, such as to a mathematical certainty, like

536
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,680
Speaker 1: two and two plus is four. Two and two equals four.

537
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 1: Now that's not the legal standard. The legal standard is

538
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: beyond a reasonable doubt. She has raised the affirmative defense

539
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 1: of self defense, which may it's au firmative defense. I

540
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: did it, but I'm excused because self defense, because accident,

541
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,960
Speaker 1: because insanity, different reasons. But the state only has to

542
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 1: pierce that beyond a reasonable doubt, not to a mathematical certainty,

543
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:20,840
Speaker 1: and the fact that while an attacker can rarely be

544
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,640
Speaker 1: shot in the back and still be the aggressor never happens,

545
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:31,920
Speaker 1: it's possible her story does not coincide with the wounds.

546
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:33,920
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying, Brian Foley.

547
00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,239
Speaker 9: Well, her story does coincide a little bit there in

548
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 9: the fact that he has an abrasion on his head.

549
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 9: That would tend to show that there was a struggle,

550
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 9: maybe even an attack on her, and so that could

551
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 9: have happened before he was killed. You know, we don't

552
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:48,960
Speaker 9: have the exact photos or anything like that.

553
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: Is okay, you know what, let's follow through with that,

554
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 1: Brian Foley. Did she say, Sophia Vtello, that there was

555
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 1: a physical struggle and then somehow she hit him in

556
00:31:59,360 --> 00:31:59,720
Speaker 1: the head.

557
00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 7: She said that he was trying to strike her for

558
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:08,160
Speaker 7: the first time and she fired. So it is believed

559
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 7: that he did not he did not reach her.

560
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 1: Jessica Morgan, what were you saying.

561
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,959
Speaker 4: Yeah, one of the things that's very troubling to me, Nancy,

562
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,520
Speaker 4: are these head injuries that he has sustained. Because they're

563
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,280
Speaker 4: calling one of them a laceration. As you well know,

564
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,920
Speaker 4: that's blunt force trauma. And one of the things that

565
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 4: we think about when someone holding a weapon. If we

566
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,600
Speaker 4: have a dummy weapon here from JSU that we use

567
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,480
Speaker 4: at Jack State to train our students with, you see

568
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 4: these very definitive edges.

569
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:36,000
Speaker 3: Here right here.

570
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:40,760
Speaker 4: And actually I've worked cases where weapons like this can

571
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:44,160
Speaker 4: be used almost like a hammer. They're very blunted, and

572
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:49,240
Speaker 4: that's where you I can't imagine her as quote unquote

573
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 4: athletic as she may have been, that she's going to

574
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 4: score a hit to his head that's going to generate

575
00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 4: a laceration that's severe blunt force trauma. I wonder if

576
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 4: there are trace elements of his blood on this weapon,

577
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,600
Speaker 4: and did they try to match this up with the

578
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 4: injury he sustained to his head, because how's she going

579
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,920
Speaker 4: to get in close enough in order to generate that

580
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 4: kind of force with her bare hands. I think there's

581
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 4: a high probability that once he's down, she may have

582
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:17,320
Speaker 4: struck him in the head.

583
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,440
Speaker 1: In other words, simply put bare handed.

584
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:23,480
Speaker 3: Maybe stomping on somebody, but not bare handed.

585
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:26,720
Speaker 1: No, yeah, got it. One thing that's very disturbing. I

586
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 1: got a lot of eminence stating that this is not

587
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: self defense, but Sylvia Matello. Isn't it true that Evans

588
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:40,760
Speaker 1: is coming in that he the victim, hit the dog

589
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 1: and the cat out of anger.

590
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,400
Speaker 7: Yeah, so those are some things we have to look at,

591
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,920
Speaker 7: and that is where the defense is pushing their entire argument.

592
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,920
Speaker 7: We have his abuse. We don't know how many times

593
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,840
Speaker 7: or what the situation specifically was towards the Pats. We

594
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:04,160
Speaker 7: have a fists in the wall. We have a bullet

595
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,759
Speaker 7: mark in the ceiling of their house. Okay, so we

596
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:12,440
Speaker 7: see here that maybe there was some moments of anger

597
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,839
Speaker 7: and we don't know exactly what happened, But that's where

598
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,799
Speaker 7: the defense is using. Hey, Doug was violent. Look he

599
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,400
Speaker 7: hit the dog, he punched the wall. Why couldn't it

600
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 7: have been Ashley Sophia.

601
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,920
Speaker 1: I think this text purportedly is from him. I pussed

602
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:29,600
Speaker 1: the dog because you got me so mad, like you

603
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 1: wouldn't stop about Eva always Eva, every argument. Eva? Who

604
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:37,960
Speaker 1: is Eva? Sophia.

605
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,239
Speaker 7: Eva is Doug's daughter, and I'd like to add have

606
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,359
Speaker 7: talked to her several times and she tells me that

607
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:47,960
Speaker 7: they were constantly together, touching each other, lovey dovey, and

608
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,840
Speaker 7: so maybe there was a bit of jealousy on Ashley's

609
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,080
Speaker 7: end because I did not pick it up from Eva's

610
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:54,480
Speaker 7: end while I was interviewing her.

611
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:55,000
Speaker 1: Nancy.

612
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 6: Ultimately, the jury did not believe Ashley Benifield's account that

613
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,400
Speaker 6: she was at risk when she shot her husband and

614
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:06,840
Speaker 6: killed him. In his closing argument, Benifield's defense attorney, Neil Taylor,

615
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,759
Speaker 6: said his client did what any law abiding citizen would

616
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:14,240
Speaker 6: do when dealing with an abusive partner. According to the defense,

617
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,520
Speaker 6: she filed complaint after complaint, calling Doug Benifield's behavior to

618
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,040
Speaker 6: the attention of authorities, with no result. No one else

619
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 6: was home when Benifield shot her husband, but according to

620
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 6: state prosecutors, there was no evidence that Benifield had been

621
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,920
Speaker 6: struck in the face and her testimony about the event

622
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,600
Speaker 6: had been evasive. Now, the thirty two year old Ashley

623
00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,839
Speaker 6: Benfield is facing a sentence of up to thirty years

624
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,279
Speaker 6: in a state prison after being convicted of manslaughter. She

625
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:45,400
Speaker 6: will learn her fate in October.

626
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:50,520
Speaker 1: We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Mary signing off good

627
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: night friendl