Caleb Flynn, a former “American Idol” contestant and pastor, has been convicted of murdering his wife, Ashley Flynn, after prosecutors said he staged a home invasion to blame the killing on an intruder in February.
A jury found Flynn guilty on nine counts, including aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence. Jurors also determined that he used a firearm in connection with seven of the charges, triggering additional sentencing enhancements.
Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5.
Flynn began crying as the guilty verdicts were announced. Later, as attorneys discussed potential sentencing dates with the judge, he hunched over and appeared to struggle to contain his emotions.
The jury deliberated for roughly two hours. Afterward, Flynn’s defense attorney joked that the process lasted “twice the time that the O.J. [Simpson] verdict came back on, for those old enough to remember that.”
Prosecutors alleged that Flynn, 40, shot his sleeping wife twice in the back of the head on Feb. 16. They said he then rearranged their Tipp City, Ohio, home to make it appear a break-in had occurred before calling 911 and reporting that an intruder had killed her. The firearm used in the shooting has not been found.
Flynn maintained that he was in another room when Ashley, 37, was killed.
“Today’s verdict brings justice and accountability for Ashley’s death, and our family is deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring us to this moment,” Ashley’s family said in a statement read by prosecutor Paul Watkins following the trial. “However, no verdict can bring Ashley back, give the girls back their mother or erase the pain our family has endured.”
Flynn’s attorney, Patrick Mulligan, told reporters that his client continues to deny the allegations. “I fully anticipate that there will be a notice of appeal filed, and this decision will be tested thoroughly in the Court of Appeals,” Mulligan said.
Asked about Flynn’s response to the verdict, Mulligan said his client was “upset.” He added, “And I understand that because, I think he had expectations. And, you know, it’s disappointing.”
Flynn texted, “I need her to die”
In damning testimony, Alleigha Botner, 24, described an affair with Flynn and testified over two days about tens of thousands of text messages exchanged between them. Some of those messages included statements in which Flynn said he wanted his wife dead.
Botner testified that her sexual relationship with Flynn lasted about 18 months and began after she met him as an intern at his church. She explained how they concealed their communications, acknowledged initially lying to the FBI and said she lost her phone and work laptop only weeks before Ashley’s death.
When asked how she now feels about Flynn, Botner replied, “I hate him.”
Many of the messages read in court showed Flynn repeatedly expressing a desire for Ashley to die.
On Feb. 11, 2025, nearly a year before the shooting, Flynn wrote to Botner, “I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave,” referring to his wife. Weeks later, he wrote, “I hate her as well and I want her gone.” On March 24, 2025, Botner asked, “What can I do?” Flynn replied, “Kill her.”
In another message, Flynn told Botner, “I was up until 4 a.m. last night … trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail. If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat.”
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Botner said Flynn discussed leaving Ashley “four or five times” beginning around August 2025. She set deadlines for him to do so in October, November, December and possibly January.
Botner testified that she gave Flynn a final deadline of Jan. 11, 2026, to separate from Ashley, then stopped communicating with him until Feb. 14, two days before the killing. During that period, he sent her a song he had written that included the line, “Life is now empty since the moment I lost you.”
In messages sent the night before Ashley was killed, Flynn wrote, “It’s happening,” “actions will come tomorrow,” “I choose you” and “about to be free.” He also called Feb. 16 “a day I never forget” and wrote, “Tomorrow is a big day.” Botner told jurors she understood “actions” to refer to the divorce.
Flynn’s defense
Flynn’s attorneys argued that he was asleep when the shooting occurred and woke to the sound of gunfire while he was in the room belonging to the couple’s daughter, Ava.
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“Caleb is not on trial for being a bad husband,” his attorney, Emily Smith, said during opening statements, conceding he had an affair with Botner. “He’s not on trial for cheating. … A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer.”
Tipp City police released body camera video of them arriving at the house after Flynn called 911, with video of him crying and asking, “Is she, is she gone, sir?”
Flynn’s attorneys argued there was no proof he shot his wife.
FBI Special Agent Sarah Deamron testified on the alleged break-in at the house, saying she found no pry, kick or ram marks on the outside of the door. She found gouge marks on the inside trim of the frame, she said, as opposed to the outside as one would expect. She said she had seen about 75 doors forced open, and the one in this case was not consistent with a forced entry.
FBI Special Agent Andrea Kinzig, who testified during the trial, said she found no evidence on Ashley’s phone of her having an affair as Flynn had told Botner, according to her testimony.
Flynn did not take the stand.
“You heard his statement three times with the police. There wasn’t any reason to put him on for a fourth time,” Mulligan said after the trial of the decision not to have Flynn testify.
Defense questions lost cellphone and computer
While text messages were recovered from Caleb and Ashley Flynn’s phones, none were able to be taken from Botner’s devices. She said on the stand her phone had fallen into the water on a solo trip to Clearwater, Florida, and stopped working. Her laptop, meanwhile, she said was lost on a flight on the way home and never recovered.
“I genuinely … it was completely innocent … anyone who knows me knows that I lose things,” she told the court.
Flynn’s defense lawyers argue Botner’s phone and computer being lost is not a coincidence and suggest it could mean she played a role in the murder. However, Ring video shown during the trial showed she was at home during the time the murder was committed.
In her first interview with FBI agents, Botner told them she did not believe that Flynn had killed his wife, but in her second interview with agents, she said she did, ultimately concluding her death was “way too much of a coincidence,” she testified in court.
Botner was not charged in the case, and told the court she was not offered anything for her testimony. She told the court when she texted she wanted Ashley “gone,” she meant divorce.
The defense called no witnesses in the trial.
Flynn professed love for Ashley on “American Idol”
Caleb Flynn appeared on season 12 of “American Idol,” which took place in 2013. He was given a “golden ticket” to Hollywood after auditioning but was cut early on in the competition.
“Music is all I know, it’s what I live to do and I love to sing, so that’s why I auditioned,” he said in videos from the show. “Maybe my wife kinda nudged me a little too.”
He also raved about Ashley, adding Carrie Underwood was his favorite contestant and his wife would look just like her if she dyed her hair blond.
“I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty,” he said. “I love her.”
In closing arguments Tuesday, Miami County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Watkins picked apart each of Flynn’s defenses.
“He had a lawful way to leave, but he was too greedy,” Watkins said in finishing his rebuttal. “People lie. Evidence doesn’t.”
