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Former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, with prosecutors asking an Ohio judge to send him to prison for life without the possibility of parole for murdering his wife.
Flynn is expected back in a Miami County courtroom at 3 p.m. for sentencing before Judge Jeannine N. Pratt, less than a week after a jury convicted him on all nine charges in the killing of Ashley Flynn.
Prosecutors asked Pratt in a sentencing memorandum filed Monday to impose life without parole for aggravated murder, along with the maximum allowable sentences on additional charges that do not merge.
‘AMERICAN IDOL’ ALUM CALEB FLYNN CONVICTED OF MURDERING HIS WIFE
Flynn’s attorneys are pushing in the opposite direction, asking Pratt to impose a sentence that would give him the possibility of parole after serving time behind bars.
Caleb Flynn stands in court Tuesday, Sept. 29, as an Ohio jury returns guilty verdicts on all nine charges in the murder of his wife, Ashley Flynn. (Credit: WKEF)
Flynn continues to maintain his innocence and intends to appeal his conviction, his attorneys wrote.
Prosecutors argued the circumstances demand the harshest sentence available, accusing Flynn of planning Ashley’s murder for months and showing no remorse.
Jurors found Flynn guilty of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence after roughly 2½ hours of deliberations.
His defense argued that Flynn has no prior criminal history and is capable of rehabilitation, pointing to his years working in ministry and letters of support from his family.
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Flynn’s parents were among several relatives who wrote to Pratt asking for mercy ahead of sentencing.
His father, Mike Flynn, told the judge his son’s “brokenness, shame, and remorse” were genuine, while his mother, Kim Flynn, wrote that her son had “repented to his Lord” and was remorseful for his decisions. Both asked Pratt for mercy.
Prosecutors sharply disputed that portrayal, arguing Flynn has never accepted responsibility or shown genuine remorse. They are asking Pratt to sentence him to life without the possibility of parole.
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The verdict capped a trial that exposed Flynn’s secret affair, thousands of messages with his mistress and exchanges about wanting his wife dead before she was shot twice in the back of the head inside the couple’s Tipp City home Feb. 16.
Substitute teacher and volleyball coach Ashley Flynn was discovered dead in her Ohio home. Her husband was convicted of her murder. (Ashley Flynn/Facebook | Tipp City Schools)
Prosecutors argued Flynn killed Ashley before staging the scene to make it appear an intruder had broken into the home.
Flynn’s affair with Alleigha Botner became a key part of the case. Investigators recovered roughly 107,000 messages between the two, with prosecutors highlighting some of those exchanges for jurors.
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Jurors saw messages in which Flynn discussed wanting his wife dead and contemplated ways she could be killed without him going to prison.
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Alleigha Botner testifies in the Ohio murder trial of former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn. Prosecutors say Botner had an affair with Flynn before his wife, Ashley Flynn, was killed. (CREDIT: WKEF)
Botner also read messages exchanged in the hours before Ashley’s death, including Flynn telling her, “It’s happening” and “Tomorrow it all starts.” In another exchange, Botner told Flynn, “You’re about to be free.”
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Flynn’s defense argued the messages were being taken out of context and that references to being “free” meant divorce rather than murder.
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Investigators never recovered the murder weapon, and Flynn was never tested for gunshot residue.
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Jurors heard testimony about searches of storm drains, culverts, the Flynn home and other locations as investigators tried unsuccessfully to find the gun.
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Flynn had pleaded not guilty.
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He visibly broke down as the guilty verdicts were read Sept. 29, shaking and wiping tears from his face as jurors convicted him count by count.