A jury reached a verdict Tuesday in the murder trial of former “American Idol” singer Caleb Flynn, whose wife was killed in February, which he has blamed on an armed intruder of their Ohio home.Flynn, a former music pastor, pleaded not guilty to murder, assault and tampering with evidence in the death of Ashley Flynn.He told a 911 dispatcher that his wife, 37, who worked as a school teacher and volleyball coach, was shot multiple times in the head and he didn’t know whether the intruder was still in their Tipp City home.
Flynn and the couple’s two daughters were home at the time of the shooting.In police interviews played in court, Flynn told officers that he was sleeping on the couch when he woke up to the sound of gunshots.
He said that a day before the killing, a man had come to their home and handed his wife an American flag while making a “weird sales pitch for America.” When police arrived at the home on the day of the shooting, the garage door, a side door and the center console of Flynn’s pickup truck were open.Flynn told police that he kept a gun in the console, but no weapon was found there.
Add to GoogleBoth sides rest in trial of ‘American Idol’ contestant accused of killing his wife02:40Prosecutors alleged that Flynn, 40, staged the home invasion to mislead investigators and shared thoughts of killing his wife in text messages to his then-mistress.Authorities never found the gun used in the killing.“The evidence has proven the defendant’s account to be a complete fabrication,” Matthew C.
Joseph, assistant prosecuting attorney for the Miami County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Troy, Ohio, said in closings Tuesday.Flynn, who had tears on his face, wiped his nose.
“While the defendant told law enforcement that he was sleeping, his electronic devices documented something different.They documented movement and activity in the hours leading up to Ashley’s murder,” Joseph said.
“The defendant said he was sleeping.His...