Prosecutors open Caleb Flynn murder trial by alleging affair and 100,000 messages to mistress

Prosecutors allege affair and explicit texts in opening statements

Opening statements in the Ohio murder trial of former "American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn were held Friday, September 18, 2026, in Troy, with Miami County prosecutors telling jurors that Flynn was engaged in a yearslong affair and had exchanged more than 100,000 messages with a mistress in the year before his wife was killed. Prosecutor Paul M. Watkins said the messages "go to the heart of the case."

Among the texts read to jurors, prosecutors said Flynn wrote to the woman, "I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and n…" — the message cut off in court reporting — and separately, "If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat." Another exchange read to the jury said that on February 15, the night before the killing, Flynn texted his mistress, "I choose you. I'm free," followed by, "Actions will come tomorrow, February 16, a day I'll never forget."

Defense argues case rests on circumstantial evidence

Flynn's defense team acknowledged the affair but sought to blunt the impact of the messages. Defense attorney Emily Smith told jurors the texts will show Flynn "said hurtful, selfish things about his wife Ashley to appease his mistress" and were part of an ongoing discussion about divorce. The defense has emphasized that the murder weapon has not been recovered and that there is no direct or forensic evidence tying Flynn to the killing, arguing investigators focused on him only after discovering the alleged affair. Flynn has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and witness intimidation.

How Ashley Flynn was killed and how the scene was staged

Prosecutors told jurors that Ashley Flynn, 37, was shot twice in the back of the head while lying in bed, and accused Caleb Flynn of staging the scene to look like a home invasion. When Flynn called 911, he told a dispatcher that his wife had been shot twice in the head, claimed he had not been sleeping in the same room and said he was "with the children when it happened." The couple's young daughters were reportedly still asleep in their room when police arrived. Body camera footage later showed Flynn distraught at the scene.

Background on Caleb Flynn and the case

Caleb Flynn, 40, appeared on Season 12 of "American Idol" in 2013 and has worked as a worship leader. He and Ashley Flynn met at Lee University in Tennessee and married in 2010. He is being tried in Troy, Ohio. The trial is ongoing, with prosecutors expected to call the couple's young daughters as witnesses.

What remains unresolved at trial

Key questions for the jury include whether the affair and explicit text messages establish intent to kill, and whether prosecutors can link Flynn to the shooting without the murder weapon. Further testimony is expected in coming court sessions.