CBS News
· collected 2026-09-29 · by Mark Osborne, Angel Canales, Martina Di Licosa
Caleb Flynn, the former "American Idol" contestant and pastor, has been found guilty of murder in
, Ashley, after he tried to pin the blame on an intruder breaking into his home in February.
asserted
he → find → February
Prosecutors said Flynn, 40, shot his wife twice in the back of the head while she was asleep in bed on Feb. 16.
asserted
she → say → Feb.
They allege he then staged their Tipp City, Ohio, home to mimic a break-in and called 911 to claim an intruder was responsible for the murder.
uncertain
intruder → allege → murder
The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered.
asserted
gun → use → shooting
Flynn had claimed he was in another room when his wife, 37, was killed.
asserted
wife → claim → room
Flynn texted, "I need her to die"
asserted
her → texte → ?
In
, 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 allegedly wrote he wanted his wife dead.
uncertain
wife → have → which
Botner testified to a roughly 18-month sexual affair with Flynn, whom she met when she was an intern at his church.
asserted
she → testify → 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.
asserted
she → describe → death
Asked how she feels about Flynn today, she testified, "I hate him."
asserted
I → ask → him
In the texts, many of which were read in court, Flynn repeatedly said he wished Ashley was dead.
asserted
Ashley → read → court
"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.
asserted
she → need → Feb.
Weeks later, he texted Botner, "I hate her as well and I want her gone."
asserted
her → texte → her
On March 24, 2025, Botner wrote, "What can I do?" and he responded, "Kill her."
asserted
he → write → her
Flynn once texted Botner, "I was up until 4 a.m. last night ... trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.
asserted
I → texte → jail
If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat."
uncertain
I → kill → heartbeat
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.
uncertain
she → say → October
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.
asserted
she → say → murder
During that gap, he sent her a song he wrote, including the line, "Life is now empty since the moment I lost you.
asserted
I → send → 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."
asserted
I → write → you
He also said Feb. 16 would be "a day I never forget," and "Tomorrow is a big day."
asserted
Tomorrow → say → ?
Botner told the court she understood "actions" to mean the divorce.
asserted
actions → tell → divorce
Flynn's defense
Flynn's lawyers said he was asleep at the time of the shooting and awoke to gunshots while he was in their daughter Ava's room.
asserted
he → say → daughter
"Caleb is not on trial for being a bad husband," his attorney, Emily Smith, said during opening statements, conceding he had an affair with Botner.
asserted
he → say → Botner
"He's not on trial for cheating. ...
asserted
He → cheat → cheating
A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer."
asserted
man → fail → husband
Tipp City police released body camera video of them arriving to the house after Flynn called 911, with video of him crying and asking, "Is she, is she gone, sir?"
asserted
she → release → video
Flynn's attorneys argued there was no proof he shot his wife.
asserted
he → argue → wife
FBI Special Agent Sarah Deamron testified on the alleged break-in at the house, saying she found no pry, kick or ram marks on the outside of the door.
asserted
she → testify → door
She found gouge marks on the inside trim of the frame, she said, as opposed to the outside as one would expect.
asserted
one → find → outside
She said she had seen about 75 doors forced open, and the one in this case was not consistent with a forced entry.
asserted
one → say → 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.
uncertain
Flynn → testify → testimony
Defense questions lost cellphone and computer
asserted
questions → lose → ?
While text messages were recovered from Caleb and Ashley Flynn's phones, none were able to be taken from Botner's devices.
asserted
none → recover → devices
She said on the stand her phone had fallen into the water on a solo trip to Clearwater, Florida, and stopped working.
asserted
phone → say → Clearwater
Her laptop, meanwhile, she said was lost on a flight on the way home and never recovered.
asserted
she → lose → way
"I genuinely ... it was completely innocent ... anyone who knows me knows that I lose things," she told the court.
asserted
she → know → court
Flynn's defense lawyers argue Botner's phone and computer being lost is not a coincidence and suggest it could mean she played a role in the murder.
uncertain
she → argue → murder
However, Ring video shown during the trial showed she was at home during the time the murder was committed.
asserted
murder → show → time
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, ultimately concluding her death was "way too much of a coincidence," she testified in court.
asserted
she → tell → court
…and 16 more, not listed.
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