A former Ohio music pastor who appeared on “American Idol” is on trial for murder in his wife’s February shooting death.
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.
Prosecutors say Mr. Flynn staged a home invasion and told a 911 dispatcher that a burglar had shot his wife. He and the couple’s two daughters were home when police arrived.
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Alleigha Botner, 24, testified for two days that she met Mr. Flynn in 2022 as a 20-year-old church intern and had an affair with him for more than a year.
“He told me that he hates her,” Ms. Botner said, according to The Associated Press. She testified he said he had thoughts of killing his wife.
Jurors heard AI-generated love songs that prosecutors say he made for Ms. Botner and some of the more than 100,000 texts authorities say the two exchanged, including one from August 2025 in which he wrote he was up until 4 a.m. “trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”
According to the texts reported by the AP, Ms. Botner replied: “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.”
The defense and prosecution gave their closing arguments on Tuesday.
Mr. Flynn appeared on season 12 of “American Idol” in 2013 but did not advance to the Hollywood round.
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