Tonight, a red hot court case from this summer, the so-called Black Swan.

Was it murder or was it self-defense? David, I have the exclusive interview with the ballerina at the center of it all. Not on stage, but on trial for murder. An all-new 2020 begins right now.

I was living a nightmare. At home, it was terrifying. It was like two different people, and I never knew which dog I was going to get.

You're 24. He's 54. Were you worried about her connecting with this guy who's so much older?

Things didn't start off well. It was like, Oh, yeah, Eva. This is my new wife.

I felt like Ashley was taking my dad away from me.

It was all a masquerade. I mean, can I straight up say that? Doug was not who he portrayed himself to be.

That was like, What's going on?

So you're thinking That your husband, the man who loved you and seemed to adore you, would poison you?

I read the allegations and I thought, Oh my God, this is crazy. Doug never poisoned Ashley.

Is it possible that maybe you just imagine this?

Maybe it was all in my head.

You know now that this sounds pretty dysfunctional.

Doug, what are you doing? To try to ruin your life? I don't think he could have ever guessed what was going to happen to him. I've been so scared of my life.

Growing up, Ashley Benefield wanted nothing more than to become a world-class ballerina. She'd never dreamed that one day she'd be wearing a court-ordered ankle bracelet along with her point shoes. May County, 911.

What is the emergency? Okay, right next door to me. She came in. She was quite hysterical. She said that he attacked her, and she shot him. Where is the gun? I have it right here, ma'am. It's sitting on the floor. Where in the house is he?

Deputies are moving as fast as their hand.

A normally quiet Lakewood Ranch neighborhood turned into a bloody crime scene. Was it murder or self-defense? It's a story with a lot of twists and turns. The 32-year-old former ballerina alleging he attacked her in her home and that she fired back multiple times in self-defense. Ms. Benefield was in great fear of immediate and severe bodily harm. A woman out on bond still awaiting her fate.

So many law enforcement officials said, No, this isn't adding up.

Former ballerina at the center of the so-called Black Swan murder trial. Only two people know exactly what happened. One of them is a suspect for second-degree murder. The other is dead.

Until now, Ashley has remained silent about the night of the shooting, about what happened in that house in this Florida community. But tonight, in her first interview, Ashley Benefield tells her story. Hey, there. You're coming. Your first time doing this, so here we go. Let's go back to your life in the beginning. You wanted to be a ballet dancer?

Yeah, actually, I started when I was eight. My family member was dancing on Broadway, and I was very inspired by her and what she was doing.

And what was it about ballet that captivated you?

It's complex. It's something that is beautiful and powerful, but at At the same time, there's a lot of control, and you have to be reserved. I think it's just the dynamic of all of the things combined.

Ashley grew up in Maryland as an only child. Her mom, Alicia Byer, says they had a special bond. Your marriage dissolved, you split up with her father, and you raised her as a single mom. What was that like for the two of you?

At first, it was an adjustment, but we did well. We're very close. She was blessed with a lot of talents. And so it was a real joy raising her.

And at some point, she becomes smitten with ballet.

Very, very, yes. She got to the point where she did it seven days a week.

I was training during the day all day. It was an everyday all day thing.

She soon learns that it takes more than ability alone to make it as a professional dancer. Ashley's 5'9, and considered by most ballet companies to be too tall, something no amount of training can overcome.

There are height ranges in companies. A lot of that is because of partnering and complications that can arise if you're not well-matched height-wise.

The ballet world tends to be a key cutter. It was hard finding a good fit for a company.

With her height and then a ham string injury holding her back, Ashley decides to hang up her point shoes in her early 20s. You begin to shift your focus a a little bit. In 2016, you became captivated by politics. What led you to the Trump campaign?

Well, I'd actually always been interested in politics. I wasn't looking for it. The opportunity came up, and I was just finishing up with one chapter of my life, and it seems like the right thing to do, so I jumped in.

Ashley's job for the Trump campaign was to go to rallies, and she would rile up the crowd, pray with the crowd. You could actually see videos of her online. She thought she was going to be part of the Trump team.

In her diary entries from this time, Ashley says she felt a special bond with candidate Trump. She writes, We got to the plane early and waited for Mr. Trump to arrive. Ashley writes about her hopes for her future. She writes a plea to God, I want to be a wife and mother. Please bring me to that special man you've chosen for me.

Ashley wanted children. She wanted a family. She prayed that God would bring her a man to be with her. She made it clear in the diary what her plan was.

In August of 2016, in the thick of the campaign, her prayers seemed to be answered while attending a fundraiser at Dr. Ben Carson's home in Palm Beach, Florida. At some point, you meet a man named Doug Benefield. Yes. What did you think of him?

He was charming, very funny, really smart, confident, but quiet. We were there for political reasons, but then also he was a man of faith, shared similar interests.

Those common interests included politics, God and guns.

First night that Doug and Ashley met, Ashley had a gun in her bra. Doug, who has a military background, he thought, Wow, look at this girl. She's strong and she's powerful, and she's not afraid of weapons, and everything about her was just great.

He nicknamed you Ashley Oakley.

Yeah, we both had very strong opinions about the Second Amendment. That was something we bonded over. I had a concealed carry permit. I wanted to be a responsible gun owner. We talked the whole night when the evening was over and everyone was leaving. We were texting, and up till three o'clock in the morning, it just seemed And I had met my soulmate. We were the perfect match. He swept me off my feet. It was like a whirlwind. I think it was about four days in when he first told me he loved me.

Four days? That's pretty quick.

Yeah, it was quick.

Something else Ashley says didn't bother her was the couple's significant age difference. You're 24. He's 54.

Yeah.

You're a young woman. Suddenly, you're being romanced by this 54-year-old man. Did anybody in your life say, Slow down, Ashley?

No. It just happened.

But the bliss wouldn't last. Ashley learns that the man she's falling for has been married before.

Nothing was adding up. The more I tried to figure things out, the more the story changed.

And she says she begins uncovering secrets, leading her to wonder just who Doug Benefield really is.