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Caleb Flynn is the former American Idol contestant-turned-pastor who was found guilty of murdering his wife, Ashley. After he was unable to cover up the fact that she was shot in her sleep, he tried to accuse an intruder of killing her.
Flynn was found guilty of nine different charges including aggravated murder and three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence. The jury also found Flynn guilty of using a firearm in relation to seven of the charges, which carry an enhancement to the sentences for those crimes.
He will be sentenced on October 5th.
As the verdict was read Flynn started to sob. As attorneys for both sides talked to the judge about sentencing dates, Flynn slouched forward, overcome with emotion and apparently barely able to keep from crying again.
The jury took about two hours to deliberate, which is when Flynn’s attorney joked that it was “twice the time that the O.J. [Simpson] verdict came back on, for those old enough to remember that.”
Prosecutors Say Caleb Flynn Staged a Break-In
Prosecutors argued that Caleb Flynn, 40, shot his wife Ashley, 37, in the back of the head while she was asleep in bed on February 16th. They say he then made it look like a break-in and called 911 saying that there was an intruder in the house who had killed his wife. The gun used in the shooting has never been recovered.
Flynn said that he was in the next room when his wife 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 after the trial. “However, no verdict can bring Ashley back, give the girls back their mother or take away the pain our family has endured.”
Flynn’s attorney, Patrick Mulligan said to reporters after the verdict was read that his client is innocent and that “I fully anticipate that there will be a notice of appeal filed, and this decision will be tested thoroughly in the Court of Appeals.”
When asked about Flynn’s reaction to being found guilty on all charges Mulligan replied with “he was upset. 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, who had an affair with the defendant, testified over two days about the tens of thousands of text messages the two shared, including some in which he wrote he wanted his wife dead.
Botner testified to a roughly 18-month sexual affair with Flynn, whom she met when she was an intern at his church. She described how the two hid their messages, admitted to lying to the FBI at first, and explained how she lost her phone and work laptop just weeks before Ashley’s death.
Asked how she feels about Flynn today, she testified, “I hate him.”
Texts Revealed Flynn’s Anger Toward Ashley
In the texts, many of which were read in court, Flynn repeatedly said he wished Ashley was dead.
“I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave,” Flynn wrote to Botner about his wife on Feb. 11, 2025, almost exactly a year before she was shot. Weeks later, he texted Botner, “I hate her as well and I want her gone.” On March 24, 2025, Botner wrote, “What can I do?” and he responded, “Kill her.”
Botner said Flynn talked about leaving Ashley “four or five times” starting around August 2025, and she set deadlines for October, November, December and possibly January.
Botner said she gave him a final deadline of Jan. 11, 2026, to separate from Ashley, then cut off contact until Feb. 14, two days before the murder. During that gap, he sent her a song he wrote, including the line, “Life is now empty since the moment I lost you.”
In his last messages to Botner from the night before the killing, Flynn wrote, “It’s happening,” “actions will come tomorrow,” “I choose you,” and “about to be free.” He also said Feb. 16 would be “a day I never forget,” and “Tomorrow is a big day.” Botner told the court she understood “actions” to mean the divorce.
Caleb Flynn’s Defense Denied He Killed His Wife
Flynn’s attorneys said he was asleep when the shooting happened and awoke to gunshots in their daughter Ava’s room.
“Caleb is not on trial for being a bad husband,” his attorney, Emily Smith, said during opening statements, admitting 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 a body camera video of how they arrived at the house after Flynn called 911, in which video of him crying and asking, ‘Is she, is she gone, sir?’
Flynn’s attorneys said there was no proof he shot his wife.
FBI Special Agent Sarah Deamron testified about the alleged break-in into 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, instead of on the outside as one might expect. And she had seen about 75 doors forced open, she said, 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 not having Flynn testify.
Defense questions lost cellphone and computer
While text messages were recovered from Caleb and Ashley Flynn’s phones none could be retrieved from Botner’s devices. The defense said on the stand her phone fell into the water while 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 was never recovered.
“I genuinely … it was completely innocent … anyone who knows me knows that I lose things.”
Flynn’s defense lawyers say Botner’s phone and computer being lost is not a coincidence and can be seen as a sign that she played a role in the murder. However, ring video shown during the trial showed she was at home during the time of the murder.
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 and concluded 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 never offered anything for her testimony. She told the court that when she texted she wanted Ashley “gone”, she meant divorce.
The defense called no witnesses in the trial.
Caleb Flynn and Ashley’s Relationship Before the Murder
Caleb Flynn was a part of season 12 of “American Idol” in 2013. He was awarded a “golden ticket” to Hollywood but was let go soon after.
“Music is all I know, it’s what I live to do and I love to sing, so that’s why I auditioned,” he told in videos from the show, saying his wife “might have helped me out.”
He later spoke highly of Ashley but said Carrie Underwood was his favorite contestant. Flynn said his wife would look just like Underwood 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 statements Tuesday, Miami County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Watkins picked apart all of Flynn’s arguments.
“He had a lawful way to leave, but he was too greedy,” Watkins said in closing his rebuttal. “People lie. Evidence doesn’t.”
