Caleb Flynn, who once auditioned on American Idol, will die in prison after a jury found he shot his wife and faked a break-in at their Ohio home.
A former church worship leader in the American state of Ohio who once appeared as a contestant on the television singing competition "American Idol" has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for murdering his wife.
Caleb Flynn, 40, was sentenced on Monday after a jury convicted him of aggravated murder, several counts of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, 37-year-old Ashley Flynn, a mother of two. The report was carried by MyJoyOnline.
What prosecutors said happened
Flynn called 911, the American emergency line, in the early hours of 16 February to report that an intruder had shot his wife at their home in Tipp City, a town north of Dayton. He was arrested three days later.
Prosecutors told the court that there was no intruder. They said Flynn shot his wife twice in the back of the head while she lay in bed, then damaged a side garage door to make it look like a break-in.
Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Joseph argued in closing that Flynn had financial and reputational motives: a well-paying job in his wife's family business, life insurance money, and his standing in the church. Prosecutors also pointed to text messages between Flynn and a woman he was having an affair with. She testified for the state, reading from some of the more than 100,000 messages the two exchanged.
Prosecuting Attorney Paul Watkins described the killing in a sentencing filing as planned months in advance. He also alleged that Flynn coached his two young daughters on what to say in their forensic interviews.
The sentencing hearing
Judge Jeannine Pratt called Flynn's conduct "abhorrent" and said he poses the highest risk of harm to the public, citing what she described as layers of deceit and cruelty.
Flynn, in handcuffs and an orange prison uniform, wept as he read a prepared statement. He apologised to his wife's family for the pain his choices caused and said he took full responsibility for his decisions, but he denied the killing itself. "I am not lying when I say I did not kill my wife," he told the court, adding that he would keep fighting to prove his innocence.
The judge said she received more than a dozen victim impact statements. Letters written by the couple's daughters, Alyssa and Ava, were read in court. Both spoke about losing their mother and asked their father to confess.
What happens next
Defence lawyer Patrick Mulligan, who argued during trial that the state's case was circumstantial, said after the guilty verdict that he expected a notice of appeal to be filed. He pointed to what he called a lack of evidence on prior calculation and design.
The jury reached its verdict on 29 September after deliberating for about two and a half hours.
