Caleb Flynn, a 40-year-old Ohio music pastor and former American Idol contestant, has been found guilty of murdering his wife Ashley Flynn after shooting her twice in the back of the head while she slept at their home in Tipp City, Ohio, on February 16, 2026.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before returning guilty verdicts on all nine charges, including aggravated murder and tampering with evidence. Flynn wept in court as the verdict was read. He faces life in prison without parole and is due to be sentenced on October 5.
The case against Flynn was built on a mountain of digital evidence. Prosecutors presented police body camera footage, Apple Watch and iPhone activity from around the time of the killing, and more than 100,000 text messages exchanged between Flynn and his mistress, Alleigha Botner. She was a former intern at his church.
Among those messages, one written in August 2025 read:
“I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”
Another read:
“I just want her dead and gone.”
Prosecutors also played a song in court they said Flynn had composed using an AI music app and dedicated to Botner. Video of the jury’s reaction, which appeared to include laughter, circulated widely online. Botner herself testified against Flynn for two days, telling the court she now hates him “because I believe that he murdered his wife.”
Investigators noted that multiple apps had been uninstalled from Flynn’s phone before the murder, including Instagram and the AI music app linked to his relationship with Botner. His gun, which had been stored in the console of his truck, has never been found. The console was open when police arrived.
Flynn initially told police he had been in his daughters’ bedroom when he heard gunfire and that he found his wife, 37-year-old schoolteacher and volleyball coach Ashley Flynn, dead in their bedroom. He said he noticed the garage side door was open. He later told investigators he had not been near the garage, contradicting his earlier account.
Prosecutors said he was motivated by fear of losing custody of his daughters in a divorce, as well as his job at the church and his position in his wife’s family business.
Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013 during its 12th series, auditioning before judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson. He received a golden ticket to Hollywood but never reached the main competition. In footage from the show, he said his wife had encouraged him to audition. She nudged him toward the stage in 2013 and he shot her in her sleep in 2026.
