Caleb Flynn, Former American Idol Contestant, Found Guilty of Murdering Wife
A Miami County jury has found former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn guilty of murdering his wife, Ashley, in their Ohio home.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours on Tuesday before convicting the 40-year-old, according to Variety. The verdict was also reported by ABC News 4.
Flynn was convicted on all nine counts he faced, covering murder, assault and tampering with evidence. That includes aggravated murder, three counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault, which is Ohio law’s term for causing or attempting to cause serious physical harm. Jurors also found him guilty on all gun specifications attached to the charges, according to WLWT.
Ashley Flynn, 37, was found dead on the morning of Monday, Feb. 16, in the couple’s home in Tipp City, Ohio. She had been fatally shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecutors said Flynn called 911 at around 2:30 a.m. that day and told operators someone had broken in and shot his wife. He later told police he had been sleeping, had not seen anyone inside the house, but had noticed his garage door was open.
Police evidence presented at trial undercut that account. Officers found a side door to the garage open, but with a fridge positioned in front of it that would have had to be pushed aside to open the door.
In his closing argument, assistant prosecuting attorney Matthew C. Joseph for the Miami County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said data from Flynn’s electronic devices showed movement and activity in the hours before the killing. That activity contradicted Flynn’s claim that he was asleep.
Flynn was booked into the Miami County Jail on the Thursday after his wife’s death. He had first faced a murder charge in February.
Flynn appeared as a contestant on the television singing programme American Idol in 2013. In his Road to Hollywood interview that year, he said he was a music pastor and that his wife had encouraged him to audition.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5, according to NBC News.
