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Former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of murdering his wife in their Ohio home and staging the scene to look like a break-in.
Flynn, 40, was found guilty last week on all nine charges against him, including aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence over the death of his wife, Ashley Flynn.
The jury deliberated for around two hours before rejecting Flynn’s account that an intruder had entered their Tipp City home and shot his wife while she was sleeping.
Prosecutors said Flynn, a former music pastor, shot his 37-year-old wife twice in the back of the head while she was in bed on Feb. 16 before setting up the scene to make it appear that someone had broken in through the garage.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Flynn killed his wife so he could be with a woman with whom he was having an affair.
They brought up messages exchanged between Flynn and the woman, including one he sent the night before the killing that read: “I choose you. I’m free. Actions will come tomorrow.”
Although the murder weapon was never recovered, prosecutors also presented digital evidence that they said showed Flynn moving around the house during a period when he claimed he had been asleep.
The couple’s daughters, aged 9 and 11, were also sleeping inside the home at the time of the killing.
Letters written by Flynn’s daughters were read out during Monday’s sentencing hearing, with the children questioning why their father had killed their mother and calling on him to admit responsibility.
“Dear Daddy, I don’t even know where to start. How could you do such a thing?” one of his daughters wrote.
Flynn apologized to his family for failing to live up to his wedding vows and for decisions that had caused them pain. He also acknowledged that he had lied about “many things,” but continued to deny killing his wife.
His attorney said the defense plans to appeal the conviction.
Flynn appeared briefly on American Idol in 2013 but did not make it through to the main competition in Hollywood.
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