The Aporia · Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend's murder after claiming self-defense

Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend's murder after claiming self-defense

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Sabes, A. (2026, October 15). Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend's murder after claiming self-defense. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/us/horse-farm-owner-gets-life-prison-boyfriends-murder-claiming-self-defense

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Quick Summary

Caylen Deller, 32, was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing Chad Mullen and burying him on her horse farm in San Mateo, Florida. After a trial that lasted several days, the jury deliberated for over an hour before convicting her. She received a life sentence along with convictions for tampering with evidence and failure to report a death. Deller claimed she acted in self-defense after Mullen choked her and threatened her with a hammer; however, prosecutors argued that contacting authorities would have been more appropriate than covering up the crime.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-15, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Caylen Deller, 32, has been sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of her boyfriend Chad Mullen at her horse farm in San Mateo, Florida. The verdict followed a guilty conviction on Thursday after less than an hour and fifteen minutes of jury deliberation. Additionally, Deller was found guilty of tampering with evidence and failing to report the death.

According to prosecutors, Deller killed Mullen when he allegedly choked her and threatened her with a hammer over unproven accusations that he had sexually abused her young daughter. She claimed self-defense but admitted to burying his body in a shallow grave and contacting him 28 times between September 2 and September 9, 2024, despite describing him as violent.

Deller was charged with first-degree murder following Mullen's death in September 2024, when her actions led to the discovery of his body more than a month later. The jury deliberated on evidence presented by prosecutors, including Deller’s inconsistent statements and behavior post-murder.

Written for “Horse Farm Owner Sentenced To Life” on 2026-10-15, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

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No political leaning scored for article 83238 · logged 2026-10-15

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Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

26%

5 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

68/100

Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-15 · how these are computed

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Publisher

Fox News · 4267 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Adam Sabes

20 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Deller testified that she didn't initially call 911 after shooting Deller because she thought police wouldn't believe her self-defense claim.

2026-10-15 · mixed framing · Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend's murder after claiming self-defense

🔮 He told The Associated Press, "It’s been disheartening, to say the least, to see that one of your student’s life is in jeopardy and another student may be responsible for that." "That was one of the worst shocks in my professional career," Gomelsky said.

2026-10-15 · mixed framing · Chinese national accused of poisoning cancer researcher had laptops seized while fleeing U.S.: cops

🔮 " Notably, the allegations couldn't be corroborated by The Post and Courier.

2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Murdaugh lawyers allege prosecutors withheld witness claim that police chief handled murder weapons: filing

🔮 Authorities said Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," a conclusion consistent with a drug overdose.

2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Pills found near dead Ole Miss student didn't come from gas station after feds raid store, owner says

🔮 EMS personnel was able to revive the person, and they're expected to be OK.

2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Police near Ole Miss respond to suspected overdose, say 'not student-related'

🔮 Officials noted that Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," a finding consistent with a drug overdose.

2026-10-01 · mixed framing · Ole Miss students died near drug listing newly illegal ingredient, ex-prosecutor says selling it is 'unlawful'

🔮 The toxicology reports for two Ole Miss students who died on Sept. 21 will be completed "in due course," with the families being notified of results first, an official tells Fox News Digital.

2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Ole Miss students' toxicology reports will be done 'in due course,' families to be notified first: officials

🔮 Officials detailed that Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," which would be consistent with a drug overdose.

2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Ole Miss students' toxicology reports completed, official says

🔮 Officials detailed that Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," which would be consistent with a drug overdose.

2026-09-29 · mixed framing · Vape store clerk near Ole Miss campus warned buyer 'people were dying' from kratom pills, affidavit says

🔮 Fox News Digital first reported Amer Alowdi, 40, was indicted in 2022 and fled the country before he could face formal prosecution documents allege.

2026-09-28 · mixed framing · Yemen-born vape shop owner near Ole Miss fled country after synthetic drug trafficking indictment: docs

Also by Adam Sabes

Chinese national accused of poisoning cancer researcher had laptops seized while fleeing U.S.: cops

2026-10-15 · Fox News

Murdaugh lawyers allege prosecutors withheld witness claim that police chief handled murder weapons: filing

2026-10-02 · Fox News

Pills found near dead Ole Miss student didn't come from gas station after feds raid store, owner says

2026-10-02 · Fox News

Police near Ole Miss respond to suspected overdose, say 'not student-related'

2026-10-01 · Fox News

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 20 articles by Adam Sabes →

Topics

911 Florida San Mateo

Subjects

Deller PERSON · 12× Mullen PERSON · 8× Florida GPE · 2× Caylen Deller PERSON · 1× Chad PERSON · 1× Chad Mullen PERSON · 1× San Mateo GPE · 1×

Narrative

Prosecutors then questioned Deller about why she chose not to contact police and why she kept in touch with Mullen despite having described him as a violent individual, presenting evidence that she placed 28 calls to him between Sept. 2 and Sept. 9, 2024.

framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-15

🔮 Deller testified that she didn't initially call 911 after shooting Deller because she thought police wouldn't believe her self-defense claim.

2026-10-15 · Fox News

Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend's murder after claiming self-defense · mixed framing

Claims (19 extracted, 5 hedged)

The Florida woman accused of killing her boyfriend and burying him in a shallow grave was found guilty of his murder. asserted

woman → accuse → murder

Caylen Deller, 32, was charged with first-degree murder in the September 2024 death of Chad Mullen, her on-again and off-again boyfriend. asserted

Deller → charge → Mullen

According to prosecutors, Deller killed Mullen at her San Mateo, Florida, horse farm, then got a friend and her horse to help move the body, which was found in a shallow grave over a month after he went missing. uncertain

he → accord → grave

Deller was found guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday after the jury deliberated for over an hour and was sentenced to life in prison. asserted

jury → find → prison

She was also found guilty of tampering with evidence and failure to report the death of a person. asserted

She → find → person

On Wednesday, Deller testified that she killed Mullen in self-defense because he choked her and raised a hammer at her when she confronted him about unproven claims that he had sexually abused her young daughter. uncertain

he → testify → daughter

Deller said Mullen became angry, pinned her against a truck and grabbed her by the throat, alleging she was unable to breathe at the time. asserted

she → say → time

That's when Deller said she grabbed a gun. asserted

she → say → gun

Deller said she obtained the gun after Mullen allegedly broke into her apartment Aug. 1, 2024. uncertain

Mullen → say → apartment

"I pulled the trigger of the gun and shot him twice," Deller said. asserted

Deller → pull → him

I shot Chad twice in self-defense." asserted

I → shoot → defense

The woman said she didn't intend to kill Mullen and believed she was defending herself. asserted

she → say → herself

she → question → Sept.

Deller testified that she didn't initially call 911 after shooting Deller because she thought police wouldn't believe her self-defense claim. uncertain

police → testify → claim

She didn't tell Mullen's family for that same reason. asserted

She → tell → reason

"It was probably not a good idea," Deller said. asserted

Deller → say → ?

"I was more concerned about getting in trouble." asserted

I → get → trouble

During closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors said Deller should have called law enforcement. " asserted

Deller → say → enforcement

She could have called law enforcement to report that Mr. Mullen attacked her or or charged at her or did something to her, but she never did," a prosecutor said. uncertain

prosecutor → call → her