Former 'American Idol' singer Caleb Flynn is on trial in wife's killing.
He says a burglar did it
[September 29, 2026]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK
A former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on “American Idol” is on
trial on charges that he killed his wife while having an affair more
than a decade after gushing to TV viewers about how she encouraged him
to chase his dreams on the singing competition.
Caleb Flynn, 40, has pleaded not guilty to murder, assault and tampering
with evidence charges in the February shooting of Ashley Flynn, 37, a
schoolteacher and volleyball coach, at their Tipp City home, north of
Dayton. Flynn and their two daughters were home when police arrived.
Flynn’s trial, which heads to closing arguments on Tuesday, has featured
testimony from a woman who said she and Flynn had been having an affair
at the time of his wife’s killing. Jurors also heard AI-generated love
songs that prosecutors say he made for his paramour and some of the more
than 100,000 text messages that authorities say they exchanged.
Prosecutors say Flynn staged a home invasion to mislead investigators
and claimed in a frantic 911 call that a burglar had shot his wife.
Flynn's alleged paramour, 24-year-old Alleigha Botner, testified that he
had remarked that he hated his wife and harbored thoughts of killing
her.
Here’s what you need to know about Flynn’s trial:
The woman in the affair testified against him
Botner's bombshell affair testimony has been the highlight so far. On
the witness stand for two days, Botner described how she met Flynn in
2022 while she was a 20-year-old intern at his church and carried on an
affair with him that spanned more than a year.
She detailed the secret life she says they shared, including candid
conversations in which he mused about leaving his wife and wanting her
dead.
“He told me that he hates her,” Botner testified. “He told me the only
reason that he’s still with her is because of the girls.”
Botner sobbed as she read some of her text messages with Flynn, saying
she regretted telling him: “I want to kill her, Caleb.”
Rather than dissuade her from that dark thought, Flynn replied: “That
makes two of us.”
In August 2025, about six months before the killing, Flynn texted Botner:
“I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of
ways to kill her and not go to jail."
In another text message read in court, Botner said she wasn't serious,
telling Flynn: “I'm not asking that you take her life obviously, because
that's not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn't. But to
make the divorce happen, it would change everything.”
When a prosecutor asked how she felt about Flynn now, Botner said: “I
hate him.” Asked why, she said: “Because I believe that he murdered his
wife.”
Jurors heard love songs he made with AI
Prosecutors played some of Flynn’s AI-generated love songs, which
included lyrics such as: “Age never mattered, when it was you and me,"
and “we danced on the edge of a life we could choose, so close to
forever, so much left to lose.”
They also played audio of Flynn's 911 call, in which he said someone had
broken into his home and killed his wife. He told a dispatcher that she
was shot multiple times in the head and didn't know whether the intruder
was still there.
When police arrived, the garage door, a side door and the center console
of Flynn’s pickup truck were all open. Flynn told officers he kept a gun
in the console, but no weapon was found there, according to a police
report. Police say they never found the gun used in the killing.
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Caleb Flynn listens to court proceedings inside the Miami County
Court of Common Pleas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Troy, Ohio. (AP
Photo, Pool)
Jurors also saw videos of Flynn’s police interviews. Crying and
wearing a sweatshirt that said, “God-Sized Vision,” he said he was
sleeping on the couch when he was awoken by a pair of gunshots.
Flynn told investigators that a man had come to the door a day
before the killing and handed his wife an American flag while making
a “weird sales pitch for America.”
In another police interview, Flynn told investigators: “We are a
normal married couple who love each other and disagree. I’ve never
laid hands on her.”
Defense rests without calling any witnesses
Flynn didn't testify on his own behalf. Nor did anybody else.
After eight days of testimony from 40 prosecution witnesses,
including detectives and forensics experts, Flynn's lawyers decided
not to call any witnesses.
The prosecution and defense both rested their cases on Monday. That
leaves Tuesday for closing arguments, followed by the start of jury
deliberations.
In an opening statement, defense lawyer Emily Smith acknowledged
Flynn's affair. But, she told jurors: “Caleb is not on trial for
being a bad husband. He’s not on trial for cheating. You’re not here
to deliberate on whether or not you like Caleb.”
Prosecutors opted not to call Flynn’s daughters, ages 10 and 12, as
witnesses.
Caleb Flynn auditioned on ‘American Idol’ years ago
Flynn appeared in season 12 in 2013. He sang in televised auditions
in Chicago before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj
but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood, where
Candice Glover took the crown.
“Music is all I know,” Flynn said on the show. “It’s what I live to
do, and I love to sing.”
Flynn said God inspired him to be a performer. He credited his wife
with encouraging him to try out for “American Idol” again after he
missed the cut a few seasons earlier.
“I love my wife more than anything,” he said. “She’s very, very
pretty. Oof, I love her.”
Ashley Flynn was an educator, coach and church volunteer
Ashley Flynn coached middle school volleyball and was a substitute
teacher, Tipp City Schools said on its Facebook page. In her
obituary, she was described as “a devoted and loving wife, and a
caring and dedicated mother.”
“She was known for her beautiful smile, warmth, kindness, and the
positive impact she had on so many — both in and out of the
classroom and on the court,” the school district said.
According to her online obituary, the Tipp City High School and Lee
University graduate also volunteered at her church, Christian Life
Center, and was part of a program that teaches the Bible to public
school students.
“Ashley was known as a shining light of joy to all who crossed her
path, effortlessly encouraging others along the way,” the obituary
said. “Her genuine care for people reflected the selfless love we
all strive to share.
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