TIPP CITY, Ohio (Diya TV) — A judge sentenced former pastor and “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn to life in prison without parole Monday for murdering his wife, Ashley, and staging a break-in at their home.
Judge Jeannine Pratt imposed the sentence after a Miami County jury convicted Flynn of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence last week.
Flynn called emergency dispatchers in February to report that an intruder had entered their Tipp City home and shot his wife. Investigators found no evidence supporting that account, according to Court TV.
Prosecutors argued that Flynn shot Ashley twice in the head while she lay in bed because he wanted to pursue a relationship with another woman. His former mistress testified during the trial, and prosecutors presented messages between them as evidence.
At sentencing, Pratt said Flynn could have ended the marriage rather than killed Ashley.
“You could have walked away,” she said.
Ashley’s relatives asked for the maximum sentence. Family members also read statements from the couple’s daughters describing the loss of their mother and the damage to their relationship with their father.
Flynn addressed both families before Pratt announced the sentence. He apologized for his affair and the pain he had caused but continued to deny killing his wife.
His defense team requested a sentence that would allow eventual parole, citing his lack of a criminal record and the possibility of rehabilitation, ABC News reported.
Defense attorney Patrick Mulligan challenged the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence during the trial. After the verdict, he told reporters he expected to file an appeal, including a challenge to whether prosecutors had proved prior calculation and design.
Flynn appeared on “American Idol” more than a decade before his arrest.
