Former American Idol contestant and pastor Caleb Flynn has been found guilty of murdering his wife, Ashley, during an affair with a young woman from his church in Ohio.
Flynn, 40, was convicted of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence after prosecutors said he shot 37-year-old Ashley Flynn twice in the back of the head at their home.
He had claimed that his wife, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach, was killed by a robber during a home invasion in February. Investigators told the trial that the crime scene did not support his account.
Flynn closed his eyes and shook his head as the judge read the guilty verdicts. He began sobbing after the jury was dismissed.
He is due to be sentenced on Monday and could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. His lawyer described the verdicts as “disappointing” and said he expected to appeal.
Prosecutors pointed to affair and financial pressures
Prosecutors argued that Flynn wanted to end his marriage so he could pursue his relationship with Alleigha Botner, while retaining custody of his two daughters, his job at his wife’s family business and his position in the church.
The couple’s two daughters were at home when police arrived. The night before the shooting, Flynn sent Botner a message saying: “I choose you. I’m free. Actions will come tomorrow.”
Botner testified that she met Flynn in 2022, when she was a 20-year-old intern at his church, and that they had an affair for more than a year. More than 100,000 messages exchanged between them were examined during the trial.
About six months before Ashley’s death, Flynn allegedly wrote: “I was up until 4am last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”
The murder weapon was never found. Prosecutors also said data from Flynn’s devices showed he had moved around the house, despite telling investigators that he had been lying on his daughter’s bed when his wife was shot.
Flynn’s defence lawyer, Patrick Mulligan, argued that his client’s infidelity did not prove he had committed murder. “His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,” he told jurors. “The issue here isn’t, ‘Was he a good husband?’”
Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling viewers that Ashley had encouraged him to pursue his singing ambitions. He performed for Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not progress to the main competition in Hollywood.
The jury also heard an AI-generated love song Flynn had written for Botner, including the lyrics: “Age never mattered, when it was you and me.” Another line said: “We danced on the edge of a life we could choose, so close to forever, so much left to lose.”
