Former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn broke down in court after a jury convicted him of murdering his wife, Ashley, following an affair with a worship leader at the church where the couple served on the worship team. The 40-year-old pastor was found guilty of shooting 37-year-old Ashley as she slept in their Tipp City, Ohio, home on February 16, 2026. Jurors reached their verdict after about two and a half hours of deliberation. Flynn’s lips trembled and tears streamed down his face as the decision was read at the Miami County courthouse Tuesday. He rocked back and forth, wept and lowered his head in prayer while Ashley’s family watched. His bond was revoked, and he was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs. Sentencing is set for October 5.
Flynn could receive life in prison without parole for Ashley’s killing. Police said the shooting occurred while the couple’s two daughters, who were then 9 and 11, were inside the home. Flynn had pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and other charges. Prosecutors filed a motion Monday afternoon seeking to dismiss two misdemeanor counts involving intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case. In an emotional 911 call, Flynn claimed a burglar had entered the family’s home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton, and killed Ashley. Prosecutors, however, argued that he staged the alleged break-in to deceive investigators.
Prosecutors said Flynn had carried on a yearslong affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted to end his marriage without losing custody of his daughters, his lucrative position at Ashley’s family business or his role at the church. Botner acknowledged the affair during the trial and testified that Flynn had told her he hated Ashley and had considered killing her. Botner, now 24, said she met Flynn in 2022 when she was a 20-year-old intern at the Christian Life Center in Dayton. Flynn was then in his 30s. The pair exchanged more than 100,000 text messages during an 18-month relationship that Botner said began in early 2024.
Botner has since left the church and moved to North Carolina. In court, she read portions of her messages with Flynn to the jury. She testified that he frequently complained about his wealthy in-laws and said he remained with Ashley largely for the sake of their two preteen daughters. The couple also got matching tattoos. Botner said she repeatedly pressed Flynn to leave his wife, including in a final ultimatum she allegedly issued the month before Ashley’s death. In a September 2025 message, Flynn outlined the risks he was willing to accept to be with Botner, placing his daughters at the top of the list. He wrote that he could jeopardize 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 repeatedly insisted that Flynn end his marriage. “Until she’s gone, I’m gone,” she wrote in one message. Flynn replied, “I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail.” Botner testified that she warned him not to kill Ashley, writing, “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. But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.” Flynn answered, “I’ll work on getting rid of her. Until then, I love you.” Prosecutors said the affair reached a critical point the evening before the killing. Botner sent Flynn information about divorce, child custody, deleting messages and ways Ashley might uncover the affair. Just before midnight, Flynn texted, “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 said the timing immediately raised her suspicions. On the morning of the shooting, she messaged Flynn: “Caleb, what’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?” She later deleted the message because she feared investigators would search Flynn’s phone and uncover their relationship. When she learned that Ashley had reportedly 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 testified. Flynn has maintained that he was asleep in another room with his daughters when an intruder killed his wife. His defense argued that investigators reached conclusions too quickly and that sensational coverage of the affair had overshadowed the evidence.
During closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorney Patrick Mulligan stressed that investigators never recovered a gun or found proof that Flynn had fired one that day. “His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,” Mulligan told jurors. “The issue here isn’t, ‘Was he a good husband?’” He argued that Flynn’s critical text messages about Ashley were written to please Botner rather than reveal an intent to kill. Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling viewers that Ashley had supported his ambitions and encouraged him to audition. He performed for judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not make it to the Hollywood stage of the competition.
