‘Crybaby’ pastor shakes his head and cries as jury declares him guilty of murdering his wife

TROY, Ohio (Court TV) — A former “American Idol” contestant wept in court — again — as a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife.

The jury deliberated for a little more than two hours before convicting Caleb Flynn, 40, of all charges, including aggravated murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, Ashley Flynn, 37.

While the defendant remained stoic for the first few pronouncements of “guilty,” he soon began to cry as the reading of the verdict continued. After the jury left the courtroom, Caleb Flynn began to sob, putting his head down on the table in front of him.

Ashley Flynn was shot in the couple’s bed on Feb. 16, 2026. When Caleb Flynn called 911 to report the shooting, he said that an intruder had broken in and attacked his sleeping wife. For more than a week, prosecutors presented evidence that they said proved there was no intruder and that Caleb Flynn killed her. Jurors agreed.

Prosecutor Matt Joseph acknowledged no eyewitness or direct evidence linked the defendant to the shooting. Investigators conducted no gunshot residue testing, no blood was found on Caleb Flynn’s clothing and police never found the weapon used to kill Ashley Flynn. “This was a homicide, staged as a burglary,” Joseph said as he urged the jury to focus on the circumstantial evidence in the case. “Consider the evidence together. When you do, the pieces connect. They corroborate one another and they tell you what happened inside the Flynn residence on Feb. 16, 2026.”

But Caleb Flynn’s defense attorney, Patrick Mulligan, told the jury that the prosecution had failed to prove its case. “When the state doesn’t have any real evidence, they plead circumstantial evidence,” he said. “You’re not required to make those leaps. You’ve been given nothing directly.”

Mulligan challenged the credibility of the state’s key witness, Alleigha Botner, who had an extramarital affair with the defendant for more than a year. “Let’s do a little test: should we believe Alleigha?” Mulligan asked the jury. “If you believe that she was a virgin when she did Caleb, I have some swampland I would like to sell you.”

Focusing on Botner, whom Mulligan repeatedly called a “side piece,” the defense attorney claimed Botner was the only person who truly wanted Ashley Flynn gone. “Did they investigate her finances to see if she hired anyone?” he asked.

Prosecutor Paul Watkins said the evidence doesn’t show that Botner had a problem leaving the relationship — but Caleb Flynn did. “The defendant was obsessed with Alleigha,” he told the jury. “He created fake social media accounts to interact with her. He stalked her. … They exchanged, on average, almost 300 text messages a day. Just days after Ashley’s death, her husband was not searching Ashley’s Instagram; he was instead searching Alleigha’s.” Watkins pointed to Botner’s lack of contact with the defendant after her final deadline for him to leave his wife passed on Jan. 11, 2026, without any action. “She wasn’t responding when he reached out. She didn’t even respond when he sent her that AI-generated love song,” Watkins said. “He’s desperate for her to get back in his life and started to spiral.”

Mulligan dismissed the timing of messages Caleb Flynn sent to his lover in the hours before his wife’s death, which said he planned to get a divorce, as a coincidence, but Watkins didn’t accept that explanation. “Coincidence is like winning the lottery. And Ashley being murdered on the day the defendant wanted to divorce her is like the defendant winning the lottery,” Watkins said. “Except he’s so lucky, he won without even buying a ticket.”

Caleb Flynn wept during closing arguments Tuesday through both the prosecution’s address and his own attorney’s argument. The defendant has often been seen crying in court; in one interview during season 12 of “American Idol,” he described himself as “kind of a crybaby.”

Caleb Flynn faces life in prison at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for Oct. 5.