Former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn trembled with emotion after a jury convicted him of murdering his wife, following his affair with a woman who worked at the church where the couple served on the worship team.
Flynn, 40, shot Ashley as she slept in their marital bed at their Ohio home on February 16, jurors concluded after deliberating for just two and a half hours.
His lip quivered and tears streamed down his face as the judge announced the guilty verdict at the Miami County courthouse on Tuesday.
Flynn rocked back and forth, sobbing, before lowering his head in what appeared to be prayer while Ashley’s family watched from the courtroom.
The judge revoked Flynn’s bond, and he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. His sentencing is set for October 5.
Flynn now faces life in prison without parole for Ashley’s murder. Police said the shooting took place while the couple’s two young daughters, who were then nine and 11, were inside the home.
He had denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and several other charges.
On Monday afternoon, prosecutors filed a motion seeking to dismiss two misdemeanor counts accusing Flynn of intimidating an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case.
A jury found Caleb Flynn, 40, guilty of murdering his wife, Ashley, after he had an affair with a woman who worked at the church where he was a preacher
Flynn rocked back and forth and cried before bowing his head in prayer after the judge announced the guilty verdict at the Miami County courthouse
Flynn shot Ashley as she slept in their marital bed at their home in Tipp City, Ohio, on February 16
Flynn made a frantic 911 call claiming that a burglar had entered their home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton, and killed 37-year-old Ashley. Prosecutors argued, however, that the former worship pastor staged the break-in to deceive investigators.
They said Flynn had been carrying on a years-long affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted to end his marriage.
According to the case presented in court, he also wanted to avoid losing custody of his daughters, his well-paid position at Ashley’s family business and his role at the church.
During the trial, Botner acknowledged the affair and testified that Flynn had said he hated Ashley and had considered killing her.
Botner, now 24, told jurors that she met Flynn in 2022, when she was a 20-year-old intern at the Christian Life Center in Dayton. Flynn was in his 30s at the time.
The pair exchanged more than 100,000 text messages during their 18-month relationship, which Botner said began in early 2024.
Botner has since left her position at the church and moved to North Carolina. In court, she read several of the messages she and Flynn exchanged to the jury.
She testified that Flynn frequently complained about his wealthy in-laws and told her he remained with Ashley only because of their two pre-teen daughters.
Flynn and Botner also got matching tattoos, choosing locations that would keep them hidden from his wife. Both had a lightning bolt tattoo—an emblem of their shared love of Harry Potter—with Flynn’s placed in his armpit.
Flynn’s bond was revoked and he was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs
Ashley’s family react after the 40-year-old was found guilty of all counts
Flynn’s father, who sat directly behind his son in court throughout the duration of the trial, appeared heartbroken as the 40-year-old was hauled off to jail
Botner told the court that Flynn ignored her ultimatums to leave his wife for her – the final one allegedly given the month before Ashley was killed.
In one September 2025 message, Flynn himself listed what he was prepared to sacrifice to be with his mistress – and listed his daughters first.
He said he was willing to risk his ‘daughters, a quarter-million-dollar salary job, a place to live, possibly a church I serve at, public shame and humiliation, and way more.’
Botner, meanwhile, repeatedly demanded that he leave Ashley. ‘Until she’s gone, I’m gone,’ she wrote in one ultimatum.
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‘I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail,’ he wrote.
Botner responded by explicitly telling him not to kill Ashley.
‘I’m not asking that you take her life, obviously, because that’s not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn’t,’ she wrote. ‘But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.’
Flynn responded: ‘I’ll work on getting rid of her. Until then, I love you.’
Police say Flynn carried out the murder while the couple’s two young daughters, then nine and 11, were asleep in the home
Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder broke in through their garage and killed his wife
By the night before Ashley’s death, prosecutors say the pair’s secret relationship had reached a decisive moment.
Botner sent Flynn information she had researched about divorce proceedings, custody, deleting messages and how Ashley could potentially prove her husband’s infidelity.
Shortly before midnight, Flynn sent his mistress one final message. He wrote: ‘Good night, tomorrow’s a big day. I’ve got to get to bed.
‘I choose you, I’m about to be free.’
Hours later, Ashley was dead.
Botner testified that the timing immediately alarmed her.
‘Caleb, what’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?’ she messaged Flynn on the morning of the killing.
Flynn had been having a yearslong affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted out of his marriage, the court heard
Alleigha botner performs on state at the CLC church in September 2023. Her married lover is behind her on the guitar
She later deleted the message because she feared investigators would examine his phone and discover their affair, she admitted.
When she learned Ashley had supposedly been killed by an intruder, Botner said her ‘heart started pounding.’
‘In my mind, it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that, the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden,’ she told the court.
Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder killed his wife.
His defense maintains investigators rushed to judgment and that lurid publicity surrounding his affair has distorted the evidence against him.
Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day.
‘His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,’ said defense attorney Patrick Mulligan. ‘The issue here isn’t, “Was he a good husband?”‘
Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day
Text messages Flynn sent to his lover complaining about his wife were meant to make her feel good, Mulligan added.
Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling TV viewers his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition.
He sang before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.
