OHIO – Former American Idol contestant turned church pastor Caleb Flynn (40) of Tipp City, Ohio has filed for an appeal against his life without parole sentence following the murder of his wife, Ashley, in their home in February this year.
Flynn, who was found guilty of aggravated murder and eight additional charges, will have to make do with a public defender after declaring he is broke. He was represented by Patrick Mulligan during the trial, who confirmed the appeal plans but said he will not represent Flynn in the appeal, according to the BBC.
The conviction
Flynn was convicted in September after a short jury deliberation that rejected his claim that an intruder shot his wife as she slept. Ashley Flynn (37), a teacher, was fatally shot whilst their two daughters, aged nine and 11, were sleeping in the house.
Judge Jeannine Pratt called Flynn an “extreme” risk to the public as she imposed the sentence on Monday, the BBC reported.
A family betrayed
Family members, including Ashley’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law, testified about their close relationship with Flynn before the murder. Flynn worked for Ashley’s father’s business, and the family had trusted him deeply.
Ashley’s sister, Kayla Keyt, told the court: “He was family, I called him my brother, and would have done anything for him.” She testified she was in total shock to learn of his affair. Her husband, Matthew Keyt, who worked alongside Caleb in Ashley’s father’s company, said in his victim impact statement that he had been “betrayed by one of the people that I trusted the most”.
During the sentencing hearing, before the victim impact statements were read, Flynn turned to Ashley’s family, sobbing through the words: “I did not kill my wife.“
Victim impact statements
Letters from Flynn’s two daughters were read in court, pleading with him to finally admit his guilt. Flynn sobbed loudly as the letters were read.
One daughter’s letter read: “Dear Daddy, I don’t even know where to start. How could you do such a thing? Mommy was the perfect person… And then you chose to kill the only mother I ever had.”
The other daughter’s letter began “Dear Caleb”, rather than addressing him as her father. She added that she will never visit her father in prison.
Matthew, now raising the couple’s two daughters alongside his and Kayla’s own two daughters, told the court: “There’s no road map for helping children understand that their father murdered their mother whilst they were sleeping just 50 feet away.”
“Ashley should be here for their proms, birthdays, holiday traditions, wedding dress shopping, and for the everyday memories in between,” Keyt said.
Flynn sobbed loudly as the letters were read.
The affair and evidence
An affair with Alleigha Botner, who started as an intern at Flynn’s church and later became the worship leader, was deemed as a motive for the murder, according to Fox News Channel. The trial heard evidence of over 107 000 text messages exchanged between Flynn and Botner, including one where Flynn wrote: “I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”
Evidence presented during the eight-day trial included police body camera footage and activity on Flynn’s iPhone and Apple Watch from around the time of the murder when he claimed to have been sleeping. The murder weapon, a gun kept in Flynn’s truck, has been missing since investigators arrived.
Botner’s attorney, Nick Gounaris, told Fox News Channel that investigators reviewed her messages with Flynn, cellphone records and surveillance footage to determine whether she had involvement in the crime. He said the evidence did not suggest Botner was involved in Ashley Flynn’s death.
The appeal
Mulligan argued that there was a “lack of evidence on prior calculation and design”, the BBC reported.
Flynn was eliminated during Hollywood Week on Season 12 of American Idol in 2013. He briefly appeared on the show saying that he loved his wife “more than anything”.
Flynn is being held at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, according to Fox News Channel.
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