Brownsville Man Who Stalked And Slayed Wife Convicted: DA

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — A Brownsville man who stalked his estranged wife, then broke into her car and slit her throat has been convicted of murder, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced Friday.

Beresford Ashley, 55, was found guilty on Thursday of murdering 45-year-old Karen Ashley outside her friend’s home at 1483 Blake Ave. around noon on Sept. 13, 2016, prosecutors said.

Ashley had followed his wife from outside her job at a Linden Boulevard nursing home, scaring the woman so badly she asked a security guard to escort her to her car, then drove to the house of a friend, prosecutors said.

But Ashley drove behind the terrified woman in his car, which he then used to block her outside her friends’ house before leaping onto her back seat, prosecutors said.

Ashley stabbed his wife repeatedly, slit her throat and ran away, said prosecutors.

The dead woman’s friend, who found her slumped unconscious in the driver’s seat, called 911, prosecutors said.

Police arrested Ashley after he walked into Brooklyn's 78th precinct with a bloody hand around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 14 and admitted he’d had an argument with his wife, prosecutors said.

Investigators examined the blood in Mrs. Ashley’s car, and on Mr. Ashley’s t-shirt and discovered both husband and wife’s DNA, prosecutors said.

Ashley was convicted Thursday of murder and criminal possession in Brooklyn criminal court, where he is expected to return on Dec. 15 for sentencing, according to prosecutors.

Ashley faces 25 years to life in prison, said prosecutors.

Contact information for Ashely's attorney was not immediately available.

Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office