# Best of MURDERISH: Ep.175 Doug Benefield: “Black Swan Murder or Self Defense?”

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/murderish-881287/best-of-murderish-ep-175-doug-benefield-black-swan-murder-or-self-defense
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/murderish-881287/best-of-murderish-ep-175-doug-benefield-black-swan-murder-or-self-defense.md
Podcast: [MURDERISH](https://stenobird.com/podcast/murderish-881287)
Published: 2026-05-27T21:45:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/mgln.ai/e/204/traffic.megaphone.fm/CTL7567930227.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/mgln.ai/e/204/traffic.megaphone.fm/CTL7567930227.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2528

## Resource

In August 2016, 24-year-old Ashley Byers and 54-year-old Doug Benefield got married just 13 days after meeting. To a hopeless romantic, a whirlwind romance can seem like a dream. From a more practical standpoint, marrying someone you barely know can be perceived as impulsive and reckless. People close to the couple wondered - how well can you know someone in such a short span of time? In this case, it’s not clear whether Doug and Ashley’s rushed nuptials had anything to do with the relationship’s tragic end. And to this day, there remains much debate over the reasons why one of them would end up dead. Follow Jami on Instagram & TikTok @JamiOnAir and join the Serial Streamers true crime TV club! Subscribe to Jami’s YouTube channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@jamionair⁠ Dirty Money Moves: Women in White Collar Crime - Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dirty-money-moves-women-in-white-collar-crime/id1619521092⁠. Research and writing by: Alison Schwartz. Want to advertise on this show? We’ve partnered with Cloud10 Media to handle our advertising requests. If you’re interested in advertising on MURDERISH, please send an email to Sahiba Krieger ⁠sahiba@cloud10.fm⁠ and copy ⁠jami@murderish.com⁠. Visit ⁠Murderish.com⁠ to learn more about the podcast and Creator/Host, Jami, and to view a list of sources for this episode. Listening to this podcast doesn’t make you a murderer, it just means you’re murder..ish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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