American Idol singer Caleb Flynn quivers with shock as he’s found guilty of murdering wife after starting affair with mistress he met at church
A former American Idol contestant quivered with shock as a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife after cheating on her with a mistress who worked at the church where they were on the worship team.
Caleb Flynn, 40, shot his wife, Ashley, dead while she slept in their marital bed in their Ohio home on February 16, 2026, a jury ruled after just two and a half hours of deliberation.
Flynn’s lip quivered and tears rolled down his cheeks as the judge read out the jury’s guilty verdict aloud in the Miami County courthouse on Tuesday.
He shook back and forth and wept before bowing his head in prayer as Ashley’s vindicated family members looked on.
Flynn’s bond was revoked and he was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. His sentencing is scheduled for October 5.
He is now facing life in prison without parole for Ashley’s murder, which police say he carried out while the couple’s two young daughters, then nine and 11, were home.
He had pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and several other charges.
Prosecutors filed a motion on Monday afternoon to dismiss two misdemeanor counts of intimidation of an attorney, victim, or witness in a criminal case.
A jury has found Caleb Flynn, 40, guilty of murdering his wife, Ashley, after he cheated on her with a mistress who worked at the church where he was a preacher
Flynn shook back and forth and wept before bowing his head in prayer after the judge read out the jury’s guilty verdict aloud in the Miami County courthouse
Caleb shot Ashley dead while she slept in their marital bed at their Tipp City, Ohio home on February 16, 2026
Flynn told police in a frantic 911 call that a burglar came into their home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton, and killed 37-year-old Ashley. But prosecutors argued that the pastor staged the break-in in an attempt to mislead investigators.
He had been having a yearslong affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted out of the marriage, prosecutors said.
He also did not want to lose custody of his daughters, his high-paying job at Ashley’s family business or his position in the church, the court was told.
During the trial, Botner admitted to having an affair with Flynn and testified how he said he hated Ashley and had thoughts of killing her.
Botner, 24, testified she met Flynn in 2022 while she was a 20-year-old intern at the Christian Life Center (CLC) in Dayton. He was in his 30s.
She and Flynn shared more than 100,000 texts over the course of their 18-month-long romance, which she told the court began in early 2024.
The mistress, who has since resigned from her role at the church and moved to North Carolina, read some of their messages aloud to the jury.
He regularly moaned about his wealthy in-laws to her, Botner testified, and said Flynn told her he only stayed with Ashley because of their two pre-teen daughters.
Flynn’s bond was revoked and he was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs
Ashley Flynn’s family react after the 40-year-old was found guilty of all counts
Caleb Flynn’s father, who sat directly behind his son in court throughout the duration of the trial, appeared heartbroken as the 40-year-old was hauled off to jail
Botner and Flynn got matching tattoos. Botner told the court that Flynn ignored her ultimatums to leave his wife for her – the final one allegedly given the month before Ashley was killed.
In one September 2025 message, Flynn himself listed what he was prepared to sacrifice to be with his mistress – and put his daughters first.
He said he was willing to risk his ‘daughters, a quarter-million-dollar salary job, a place to live, possibly a church I serve at, public shame and humiliation, and way more.’
Botner, meanwhile, repeatedly demanded that he leave Ashley. ‘Until she’s gone, I’m gone,’ she wrote in one ultimatum.
‘I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail,’ he wrote.
Botner responded by explicitly telling him not to kill Ashley.
‘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,’ she wrote. ‘But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.’
Flynn responded: ‘I’ll work on getting rid of her. Until then, I love you.’
Police say Flynn carried out the murder while the couple’s two young daughters, then nine and 11, were asleep in the home
Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder broke in through their garage and killed his wife
By the night before Ashley’s death, prosecutors say the pair’s secret relationship had reached a decisive moment.
Botner sent Flynn information she had researched about divorce proceedings, custody, deleting messages and how Ashley could potentially prove her husband’s infidelity.
Shortly before midnight, Flynn sent his mistress one final message. He wrote: ‘Good night, tomorrow’s a big day. I’ve got to get to bed.
‘I choose you, I’m about to be free.’
Hours later, Ashley was dead.
Botner testified that the timing immediately alarmed her.
‘Caleb, what’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?’ she messaged Flynn on the morning of the killing.
Flynn had been having a yearslong affair with Alleigh Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted out of his marriage, the court heard
Alleigha botner performs on state at the CLC church in September 2023. Her married lover Caleb Flynn can be seen just behind her on the guitar
She later deleted the message because she feared investigators would examine his phone and discover their affair, she admitted.
When she learned Ashley had supposedly been killed by an intruder, Botner said her ‘heart started pounding.’
‘In my mind, it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that, the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden,’ she told the court.
Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder killed his wife.
His defense maintains investigators rushed to judgment and that lurid publicity surrounding his affair has distorted the evidence against him.
Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day.
‘His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,’ said defense attorney Patrick Mulligan. ‘The issue here isn’t, “Was he a good husband?”‘
Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day
Text messages Flynn sent to his lover complaining about his wife were meant to make her feel good, Mulligan added.
Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling TV viewers his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition.
He sang before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.
