A former American Idol contestant accused of killing his wife broke down in court as jurors heard about messages he allegedly sent to his mistress describing his desire to have her killed.
Caleb Flynn, 40, is on trial for the alleged murder of his wife, Ashley, 37, who was fatally shot inside the couple’s home in Tipp City, Ohio, in February this year.
The trial began Friday, with prosecutors focusing on more than 100,000 messages Flynn exchanged with a woman with whom he was having an affair.
Prosecutors said the messages showed that Flynn, who appeared on the talent show in 2013, had expressed a wish for Ashley to be killed.
During opening arguments, Prosecutor Paul M. Watkins said Flynn, a father of two, had carried on a “yearslong” affair with the unidentified woman.
Watkins alleged that Flynn wrote to his mistress: “If I could literally kill her and not go to hell I would do it in a heartbeat. That is how dark and hateful I feel.”
In another message, Watkins said, Flynn wrote: “I was up until 4AM last night crying. Literally crying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”
“Those two messages are Caleb Flynn’s own words, words communicated to his mistress,” Watkins told jurors. “Those messages were sent months apart.”
Flynn’s defense team acknowledged the affair but argued that prosecutors had built their case around a theory they would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutors began Flynn’s trial Friday by highlighting more than 100,000 messages he sent to the woman with whom he was having an affair
Flynn is charged in connection with the fatal shooting of his wife, Ashley
Defense attorney Emily Smith told the court: “The evidence will show text messages between Caleb and his mistress.
“At times Caleb said hurtful, selfish things about his wife Ashley to appease his mistress.
“They will also demonstrate that he was texting his mistress about making plans regarding a divorce throughout the time of their relationship.”
Flynn later began crying as the court heard the 911 call he made to police after Ashley was shot.
In the recording, he could be heard telling a dispatcher: “Somebody broke into my home – somebody broke into my home and shot my wife.
“My wife, she’s got two shots to her head. There’s blood everywhere. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”
Ashley was found dead at the home on February 16, after Flynn told authorities that someone had broken into the residence.
Investigators later arrested Flynn and accused him of staging the scene to mislead law enforcement.
He faces charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. Flynn has pleaded not guilty to every charge.
Court documents allege that Caleb used a 9mm handgun to shoot his wife in the head, while their two children were sleeping in rooms nearby.
Flynn is seen here in tears as his 911 call was played aloud on Friday
Ashley was found dead in the home on February 16, after Flynn told law enforcement that there had been a break-in at the residence
Flynn had been seen on American Idol’s 12th season in 2013
According to dispatch logs, officers responded to reports of a possible burglary and found the garage door was open, suggesting a potential intruder could still be inside.
When officers arrived, Ashley was found in bed in the master bedroom with gunshot wounds to the head.
Flynn told police that he was asleep on the couch due to him not feeling well and woke up after allegedly hearing something in his daughter’s room.
In footage pulled from the police bodycam, Flynn was seen crying and panicking following the deadly incident.
He was heard saying, ‘Oh my God,’ then asking a police officer of his spouse, ‘Is she gone?’
On a phone call he made to his mother, Flynn was telling his mother, ‘Ashley’s dead – mommy, she’s gone – I don’t know what to do.’
Caleb was later seen vomiting while saying he was ‘gonna be sick.’ He lost his footing in another section of the clip prior to speaking with a female relative.
Caleb told the woman, later identified as the grandmother of the two girls, that ‘the girls don’t know.’
The trial continues.
