Caleb Flynn, a former music pastor who competed in 2013 on American Idol, proclaiming then that he loved his wife Ashley “more than anything,” has been arrested in Ohio for her murder.
The 39-year-old Flynn of Tipp City, Ohio, was arrested last night and charged in Miami County Municipal Court with murder and two counts each of felonious assault and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty this morning in a video-arraignment from Miami County Jail.
“I just want to take care of my daughters,” Flynn told Judge Samuel Huffman. “I’m not a risk.” Bail was set at $2 million, and he’s next due in court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, February 26.
In a statement to press, Tipp City Police Chief Greg Adkins said, “The family and community deserve a thorough, professional and compassionate investigation into this very sensitive matter. As a result of the investigation, probable cause existed to charge Caleb Flynn with the murder of his wife. Due to the ongoing nature of this case, specific investigative details will not be released at this time.”
According to the criminal complaint, the 37-year-old Ashley Flynn was shot with a 9mm handgun, after which Caleb Flynn called 911 at around 2:30 a.m. Monday to report that his wife was bleeding and unresponsive and that a home intruder might still be in the house.
Law enforcement officials later indicated that the crime scene had been “staged,” and that the home showed signs of forced entry. The Flynns’ two young daughters were home asleep at the time and had not been harmed.
Ashley Flynn was a middle school girls volleyball coach and a substitute teacher for Tipp City Schools, about 20 miles north of Dayton, Ohio. Caleb Flynn’s Linkedin page, which includes a photo of him performing on American Idol, indicates that he has worked as a vice president of sales for a Tipp City-based commercial flooring company and interiors supplier for worship spaces.
Caleb Flynn’s defense attorney, L. Patrick Mulligan, told the Dayton Daily News that he questions “the thoroughness” of the criminal investigation and the high bond. “It denies him the opportunity to be at the funeral for his wife, which is an unspeakable tragedy,” he said.
In an American Idol “Road To Hollywood” interview from 2013, Flynn said “music is all I know,” and that he’d been encouraged to audition by his wife. “I absolutely love the Lord and I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty. I love her. I’m just a normal person who absolutely loves to sing more than anything in the world.” He then said his favorite Idol contestant of all time is Carrie Underwood.