Histori Personale

The story as a thriller by Doug and Ashley Benefield: The Ballet Company, the Trump affair and how it ended in death

The story as a thriller by Doug and Ashley Benefield: The Ballet Company, the
Ashley and Doug

On a hot autumn day in 2017, 12 dancers arrived in the small town of Charleston, South Carolina. They were members of the (ANB) newly formed American National Ballet. They believed that they represented not only the fulfillment of their dreams, but a revolution in the field of ballet.

The founders of this dance group were a man and a woman, businessman Doug Benefield and Ashley, a former ballerina. They seemed to have enough money, but also a noble mission to bring out dance talents completely different in many respects, from the models we are used to seeing. They also had the right connections with Trump and the Republicans.

Their first employee was Sara Michelle Muraëski, a stunning ballerina who had lost her previous job due to her above average height.

The story as a thriller by Doug and Ashley Benefield: The Ballet Company, the

By the age of 5, Ashley had faced similar setbacks in her career.

Another recruiter was 20-year-old Hanna Manka, who had the opposite problem, was very short. The invitation from the Benefields couple was a lifeline for him. As Manka recalls today: "After working so hard all my life and trying so hard, I said to myself, 'Oh my God, all my work was finally rewarded.'"

ANB vowed to fight not only discrimination in height or weight, but also in skin color.

And in a world where even the biggest companies are struggling for funding, ANB seemed to have no shortage of money. The new troupe with 47 ballerinas had an annual budget of $ 2.5 million and the dancers were promised eight-month contracts, health insurance, and those recruited from Germany, Argentina or Estonia were promised US visas.

The dancers were asked to sign a 1-year lease on a luxury apartment complex.

The day they arrived in town they were greeted with a pizza party and a photo set. They were constantly asked how they felt: Were they happy, but when they themselves asked when they had the performance, under which repertoire they would dance, they received vague emails, vague answers.

"Great things await the ANB group", was one of the answers. "We are changing the face of ballet ... We will send you many announcements in the coming weeks", was another response.

As they moved their bags to their apartments, they noticed that there was no room nearby, as promised, to rehearse.

The only place he was provided with was a small studio, where he could barely push everyone and was 5 km away from where they lived.

Most mysterious of all was Ashley, the co-founder, director of the company, looking nowhere.

"On the first day, Doug said she would come at the end of the week, but she never came," said Kimberly Thompson, whose contract with ANB was signed because she represented a physique with more muscle than enough. to be a ballerina.

As the dancers studied with local teachers and waited for the rehearsal schedule to increase, they heard increasingly grandiose versions of ANB plans. It would not only be a ballet company, but also a conservatory, a dance clothing line, a media company. There would also be a TV show.

Some of the international dancers, who were still in their homes, waiting to get visas, began to feel stressed. Luciano Perotto, a recent graduate of the prestigious Philadelphia School, had turned down a job offer from Atlanta Ballet to dance with ANB. He watched on his computer colleagues uploading photos from Charleston and wondered when he might join them.

On October 1, two weeks after it should have started, he emailed Benefields.

"I understand that there is a lack of communication on your part. "I do not find the reason why my visa process has frozen and why you are not helping me," he wrote.

When the day of wages came, they were paid neither by bank nor by checks, but by bundles of money in envelopes. So money in black, money in cash.

On Friday, October 20, just a month after they arrived, the dancers were called to the small studio and asked to sign an agreement that something big was coming. Trusting the authority, they signed and three days later were informed that they had been fired.

Beth Bogush, the woman who took over the firms, said the 23 layoffs reflected a change in their vision, so they left.

Ashley herself said she was unaware of the downloads and the first time she came to life was through a Facebook status where she wrote: “I publicly deny my support for the American National Ballet and its leadership. I was on leave and I hear today that second-hand people have fired people. "This is destruction."

Sara Murawski, ANB's biggest star, resigned in protest. Within two months, most of the 47 dancers were unemployed in the middle of the season, many of them had rents to pay after signing 1-year contracts. And where? In a city with very few opportunities to do ballet.

Perotto was still at home when he entered Facebook and saw that the company he was waiting to join had disbanded.

"I had lost all my other job offers because I had said 'No'. "I had nothing already and I had to start all over again," he said.

Meanwhile, Doug Benefield disappeared just like his wife.

"I got absolutely no call back, no help, nothing, and I was stuck here in Charleston. "I have never seen so many lies and so many people get hurt for something that is supposed to celebrate diversity," said choreographer Alexandre Proia.

The seeds of the American National Ballet were sown a year ago, in the summer of 2016, when Doug Benefield and Ashley Byers met at Ben Carson's house in Palm Beach after he ended his presidential campaign. He was 54 years old, divorced and once widowed. Doug was confident, charismatic and yet handsome. Ashley 24 was a classic beauty, with bright blue eyes, shiny brown hair and was characterized by the elegance of a ballerina.

They showed that from the moment they spoke for the first time they had never stopped. Ashley had been a member of Donald Trump's campaign group, traveling to rallies and working in the campaign office in Florida, while Doug was close to some of Carson's major donors. Both were dedicated after God and the Second Amendment.

After parting the first night together, Doug sent Ashley a message filled with laughing emojis and exclamation marks. "I liked the time with you Ashley Oakley !!! '", he wrote.

This happened on August 25, and on the 26th, Ashley addressed Doug as 'my boyfriend' and thanked God for bringing her into her life.

On August 27, Doug flew to Israel for a week-long business trip and continued to exchange messages as two teenage lovers.

On September 1, six days after they met, they decided to get married.

Doug, according to a friend, did not have sex with Ashley until before the wedding night. Their plans did not tell anyone, not even Doug's teenage daughter. Ignoring the difference between them and the fact that they had met only 13 days earlier, they were married at St Michael's Episcopal Church in Charleston on September 6, with no guests other than witness and friend Doug.

Ashley gave dance lessons to children and sewed costumes for ballet students. She also worked as lingerie models and her photos were shown posing around town, but without a career.

Above all, she wanted a family. For him, a wedding was more than a set of photos.

"I know what I want, more than anything. I want to love and be loved. I want to be a woman and a mother. "God, bring me a special person chosen for me," Ashley wrote in her 2014 blog.

In late 2015, she met Donald Trump at a campaign meeting and told him that her career had taken an unexpected turn. She had admired Trump for years and he was so impressed by her patriotism that he immediately offered her a job.

The story as a thriller by Doug and Ashley Benefield: The Ballet Company, the
Ashley and Trump

Soon she began working with him, attending rallies, and traveling on Trump's plane.

Ashley wrote in a clean diary, with her hand, how pleased she was when Trump asked her what she thought of the color of his collar. She told how a few days later he had called her to tell her how good she looked that day on the plane.

"He told me I looked good on his plane. He called me a bomb. He called me 'his little girl' and 'his baby'. "He told me he wanted to give me a big kiss and promised me a job at the White House," Ashley wrote of Trump. "Big fat kiss", is the famous expression that Trump used during the campaign for his supporters.

Doug had made small contributions over the years to the Republican National Committee.

Doug resulted in the records of those who had received funding consistently. He often opened and closed businesses. He talked to financiers, claiming he had funds, but in fact often did not.

Doug and Ashley were still getting to know each other when they came up with the idea for ANB. He was escorting her home when he told her he wanted her to return to ballet. After she refused, Doug thought about how they could do something else, improve the world of dance and so they created ANB.

But even though the couple made plans to start a company together, personal life was not going well. Ashley moved to Doug's house in Mount Pleasant, but found it difficult to get into the heart of Eva, his 15-year-old daughter, who was still mourning the loss of her mother.

She tried to enter his heart. She showed her the ballet video, got it to buy house flowers, but at one point called her friend and told her that Doug would pick Eva before her.

"I just want him to choose me," she told her friend.

And a friend of Doug's told how he joked when he first met her, saying, "You have to take good care of Ashley." And she replied: I can take care of myself and pulled out a gun from the belt.

"I did not feel threatened, but it is still very difficult to do when you meet someone for the first time," said Doug's friend.

In June, Ashley found Eve's diary and read that she hated it. Asked Doug for a baby. Asked him to cancel his vasectomy. He refused. They quarreled. They shouted.

Në gusht, vetëm disa javë para se valltarët të vinin, Ashley mësoi se ishte shtatzënë. Ajo kishte dëshirë të madhe për një fëmijë, por simptomat fizike ishin më të këqija nga sa priste. Nauzeja ishte aq intensive saqë ajo nuk qëndronte dot as në këmbë.

Ata vendosën që Ashley të pushonte në shtëpinë e nënës së saj në Florida, ndërsa Doug qëndroi në Charleston për t'u përqëndruar tek grupi i baletit që kishin ngritur.

Më 18 shtator-data e shumëpritur e nisjes së Baletit Kombëtar Amerikan-Doug shkoi në studio për të mbikëqyrur mbërritjen e valltarëve. Po atë ditë, Ashley u nis me makinë 500 kilometra për në Karolinën e Jugut. Ajo nuk i tha Doug se do të vinte. Shkoi në shtëpi, mblodhi rrobat e saj dhe i la atij një shënim me 21 ankesa.

Ndërsa Ashley iku në Florida, Doug ishte në Charleston, duke u përpjekur të mbante në këmbë ANB. Buxheti i premtuar prej 2.5 milionë dollarësh nuk kishte ekzistuar kurrë, por Doug ende shpresonte se ai mund t`i mblidhte paratë para se dikush ta kapte. Ai huazoi dhjetëra mijëra dollarë për të financuar listën e parë të pagave. Më 23 tetor - ditën kur gjysma e valltarëve u pushuan nga puna dhe Ashley hoqi dorë nga e gjithë ndërmarrja në Facebook - Doug iu lut që të mos e bënte.

Në Florida, ndërkohë, Ashley ndjeu që shëndeti i saj nuk po përmirësohej. Kishte dhimbje të tmerrshme në bark, dhimbje të tmerrshme në gjoks. Mori ilaçe të forta, por pa sukses. Ende duke kërkuar për një diagnozë në Nëntor, ajo vendosi të dërgojë një tufë flokësh në një kompani laboratori. Laboratori tha se kishte zbuluar nivele të rrezikshme të aluminit, kobaltit, zinkut, kallajit dhe bariumit në trupin e saj. Shpjegimi i tyre ishte tronditës: Ashley ishte ekspozuar qëllimisht dhe sistematikisht ndaj këtyre toksinave nga një individ i cili konsiderohej helmuesi, sipas laboratorit. Ashley mendoi për çajin e nxehtë dhe të ëmbël që Doug i bënte çdo mëngjes. Ajo e kishte një ide se kush mund të ishte ‘helmuesi'.

Ashley mendoi gjithashtu për nënën e Evës, Renee, e cila ishte 56 vjeç kur u gjet e pajetë në shtrat. Në fotografi, ajo duket e lumtur dhe shëndetshme. Kur policia në Mount Pleasant hetoi vdekjen e Renee dhe kontrolloi celularin e saj, ata mësuan se ajo dhe Doug ishin zënë.

Një vit para vdekjes së saj, Renee kishte qenë e sëmurë. Doug u kishte thënë detektivëve se asaj i kishte rënë të fikët dy herë vitin e kaluar. Mjekët arritën në përfundimin se ajo kishte vdekur nga zemra.

Një toksikolog i kishte thënë Ashley-t se ajo kishte thithur helm shtesë sepse 'një grua shtatzënë thithë shtatë herë më shumë ajër se një grua jo shtatzënë, si dhe merr shtatë herë më shumë ushqim/lëndë ushqyese'. Kompania Carlson, që kishte bërë analizat kishte një profil të lartë. Në vitin 2013, pasi aktorja 32-vjeçare Brittany Murphy vdiq në shtëpi, babai i saj i pikëlluar nuk e pranonte shkakun e vdekjes nga pneumonia dhe i dërgoi një tufë flokësh në kompaninë Carlson; Ai mori një raport ku thuhej se ajo (si Ashley) kishte qenë viktimë e helmimit të qëllimshëm nga metale të rënda.

Ashley e lindi vajzën dhe Doug e çoi në gjyq për kujdestarinë e vajzës së tyre 4 muajsh të cilën nuk e kishte takuar kurrë, ndërsa Ashley, duke pretenduar dhunën në familje dhe helmimin, donte një urdhër mbrojtjeje.

Gjyqtarja mohoi kërkesën e Ashley dhe urdhëroi prindërit të ndanin kujdestarinë.

E megjithatë, pas gjithë kësaj, kolapsi i kompanisë së vallëzimit, betejat e vazhdueshme dhe të mbrapshta në gjykatë, Ashley dhe Doug filluan të kalojnë përsëri kohë së bashku. Në Nëntor 2018, ata kërkuan ndihmën e një këshilluesi martese.

Nuk pati sukses. Gjyqi do vazhdonte. Psikologu do jepte vlerësimet për secilin prej prindërve të vajzës katër muajshe.

Një ditë para gjyqit, në mëngjes Eva vajza e tij u zgjua, kontrolloi telefonin dhe nuk pa asnjë varg biblik, që babai i dërgonte çdo mëngjes. Ashley e kishte vrarë.

Ajo kishte improvizuar edhe një skenë sikur ai kishte tentuar ta vriste. Sot është e arrestuar dhe pret të marrë dënimin. Eva bën video në Tik Tok ku flet për njerkat e këqija.

The story as a thriller by Doug and Ashley Benefield: The Ballet Company, the
Ashley pas vrasjes

As for the dancers, they are still struggling with the consequences - financial, professional and emotional.

Hanna Manka spends her nights working as a waitress at a golf club. Sara Murawski could hardly find an office job which she lost due to COVID. Today, she is teaching part-time at the school where she trained and is trying to understand her experience in South Carolina.