Former “American Idol” singer Caleb Flynn’s murder trial moves to closing arguments Tuesday

September 28, 2026 / 10:03 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on "American Idol" is on trial on charges that he killed his wife while having an affair more than a decade after gushing to TV viewers about how she encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition.

Caleb Flynn, 40, has pleaded not guilty to murder, assault and tampering with evidence charges in the February shooting of Ashley Flynn, 37, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach, at their Tipp City home, north of Dayton. Flynn and their two daughters were home when police arrived.

Flynn's trial, which heads to closing arguments on Tuesday, has featured testimony from a woman who said she and Flynn had been having an affair at the time of his wife's killing. Jurors also heard AI-generated love songs that prosecutors say he made for his paramour and some of the more than 100,000 text messages that authorities say they exchanged.

Prosecutors say Flynn staged a home invasion to mislead investigators and claimed in a frantic 911 call that a burglar had shot his wife. Flynn's alleged paramour, 24-year-old Alleigha Botner, testified that he had remarked that he hated…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/