Prosecutors said Flynn staged break-in to mislead investigators

Caleb Flynn, a former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on American Idol, was found guilty Tuesday of aggravated murder in the February shooting of his wife, Ashley Flynn, 37, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach. The day before the verdict, Flynn appeared in Troy, Ohio, with Emily Smith, one of his attorneys.

Flynn, 40, pleaded not guilty and said in a frantic 911 call that a burglar had killed her. He faces up to life in prison.

Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling television viewers that his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition. He did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.

Prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments that Flynn tried to mislead investigators by staging a break-in at the couple’s home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton. Flynn and the couple’s two daughters were home when police arrived. Prosecutors said Flynn wanted out of the marriage but did not want to lose his daughters, his high-paying job at his wife’s family business, or his position in the church.

“He wanted to keep his mistress and have his daughters all to himself,” said Matthew Joseph, an assistant Miami County prosecutor.

During the trial, a woman who said she was having an affair with Flynn testified that he had said he hated his wife and had thoughts of killing her. Alleigha Botner said she met Flynn in 2022 when she was a 20-year-old intern at his church and had an affair with him for more than a year. Botner read some of her text messages with Flynn.

About six months before the killing, Flynn wrote in one message: “I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”

Flynn’s attorney, Patrick Mulligan, told the jury that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn had fired a gun that day. “His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,” Mulligan said. “The issue here isn’t: ‘Was he a good husband?’”

Mulligan said the text messages Flynn sent to his lover complaining about his wife were meant to make her feel good.