American Idol Contestant Arrested For Murder!? The Case Of Ashley Flynn

[MUSIC] >> Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendra Ray. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you're new to this show, then welcome. Make sure to click subscribe so that you never miss an upload from me. So you guys, today we're going to be going over a case that has been super, highly requested by many of you. And depending on if you follow True Crime news and how closely you follow it, this case may not need much of an introduction because there's been a lot of discussion about it online and a lot of coverage. And I'm sure some of you saw the title and already knew what this episode would be about. But for those of you who aren't familiar yet with this case, don't worry. I'm going to be going over everything we know so far when it comes to the case of Ashley Flynn, the horrible murder of Ashley Flynn. This case is extremely frustrating, very, very sad and just absolutely ridiculous. Ashley was a mother of two. She was an outstanding member of her community and just seemed like such a wonderful person. Now, I think a big reason that this case has gotten a lot of attention is because of who stands accused of killing her, her husband, who was a former contestant on American Idol. His name is Caleb and he didn't make it very far when it comes to American Idol. And if his goal was to get his name and lights to get attention, well, now you have Caleb. Congratulations, people know who you are. Caleb is a total monster. He's an absolute moron and just a total loser in every possible way. Terrible father, terrible human. And yeah, I guess I've got to say that he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and his trial is currently set for September of 2026. So coming up pretty soon. So yeah, I wanted this episode to come out before then because personally, I really like knowing all the facts in a case as far as what is out as of today, which I'm recording this on June 26th, so that you have a really good idea of things before the trial actually begins. That way, it's a lot easier to follow the trial. And if you're interested in following the trial, you may want to revisit this episode as the date gets closer. I definitely want to hear all of your thoughts on this one. So let me start out by telling you about Ashley. Ashley Elizabeth Smith was born on February 24th, 1988 in Tip City, Ohio, where among many things she was known for her very encouraging and uplifting spirit, growing up and really throughout her life, Ashley was guided by her faith. And it was through her love of church that so many people got to know her. After graduating from Tip City High School in 2006, she attended Lee University, which I had never heard of. It's a private Christian college in Tennessee, and that is where she studied education. And with that degree, she then returned to Tip City, where she went on to become a beloved member of her community. And I truly mean that people just really, really loved her. And a lot of that was because of her work and her volunteer efforts. In her adulthood, Ashley worked several jobs, including as a substitute teacher for Tip City Schools. She was a seventh grade girls volleyball coach. She was also a teacher for Lifewise Academy, which is, I guess, a non-profit that provides Bible-based education to public school students. She also volunteered at her church, which is called the Christian Life Center. Ashley seemed to really be someone who felt this calling to really serve her community and be an active member of her community. And it sounds like that's exactly what she was doing in so many different ways. And she wasn't the only one her community grew to love. It was really her whole family. While she was attending college, Ashley met Caleb Flynn. And by 2013, the two of them were married. And then they went on to have two daughters. And honestly, to the outside world, their lives looked perfect. Neighbors said that they would often see their family playing outside, just chilling with their two golden doodles and tossing around the softball or doing, you know, other activities. And then during the holidays, they would be cookies and the girls would deliver them to everyone on the block. So very picture-perfect family life from the outside. And if you take all of that and then couple it with the fact that they're so active in their church, I can see why so many people were just shocked to hear that things were not as they appeared. Now, like Ashley, Caleb was, or I guess, probably is still very religious back in college. He studied pastoral and music ministry. And after he earned his degree, he worked as a worship arts pastor and worship director at two different churches. And then once he and Ashley moved to Tip City, he served on the worship team at the Christian Life Center, which to my understanding, that means he helped lead the congregation in prayer through song. It kind of seems like he was sort of a music director for the church, which I guess makes sense, especially since he had a dream of making it big in music. So this was probably a nice outlet for him. And I know a lot of these bigger churches, which I think Christian Life Center was like a pretty big church. They get really, you know, it's like a concert. I mean, it's a big music production. And his time in the church eventually did come to an end. According to Caleb's LinkedIn in 2021, he worked briefly in insurance. And then in November of that year, he began working as the VP of sales at Richard D. Smith and sons, which is a family run single source interior supplier for flooring, stackable chairs, pews and theater seats. So it sounds like he was doing that most of the time, obviously, but then he would still volunteer at the Christian Life Center. And he and Ashley were very much so active members of the church. And staying on the whole church slash singing note thing for a second, that was clearly Caleb's biggest passion, hence the whole American idol additions, which, yes, that's right, there were multiple auditions. Caleb first auditioned in 2009 and he didn't make it past the first round. And then he auditioned again in the 12th season, which is when he did get a golden ticket to go to Hollywood. And oh man, I wish so badly I could play you guys the road to Hollywood interview that he did. But um, American Idol really does not play around when it comes to copyright. So I cannot share that with you. But I will have it linked in the description box in the show notes if you want to check it out for yourself. And I highly recommend you give the listen, but let me just kind of summarize for you. So in that video, he says that he cried when he got his golden ticket, because he's a quote, cry baby, which he gets from his mom and dad. And that singing is what he lives to do. He also talked about how the Lord is who inspired him the most to be a performer, and that he just had such a unique sound and a hard work ethic. So clearly very confident in himself. And then what's arguably pointed out the most through his interview, and this makes total sense now in hindsight is how he talks about Ashley. He said, quote, I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty. Just, oof, I love her. Then he talked about Carrie Underwood being his favorite idol winner, and that if his wife died her hair, she would look just like her. So yeah, just odd. He seemed very fixated on her appearance, which yeah, just is a red flag to me very weird. And of course, you can't help but immediately recognize the irony of this man saying he loved his wife more than anything only for him to later be accused of murdering her. So this happened very recently, I'm talking February 2026 at 2.31 a.m. Caleb Flynn dial 911 in what appeared to be a panic, stating that an intruder had broken into their home and shot his wife. And as you'll hear, he says that she was shot twice and that he was in his daughter's bedroom when it happened. Now, the call itself is seven minutes long. And normally I tried to refrain from playing something so lengthy and like chop it up a little bit more. But for this particular case, I feel like it's important for you to hear it in full. So let's take a listen. Oh my god. Oh my god. I'm a county. Not alone. Oh my god. Somebody broken in my home. Can you help my wife? Are they still in there? But I don't know. I don't know. Okay. What's the address? Not 9.32. Cut it in court. Get to your house. Please, please. Please, please. What are you seeing? My wife is. She got two shots to her hand. She's blood everywhere. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. I need you to take a deep breath. Okay. Do you still see anybody in the house? No the door to the garage was wide open. Please hurry, please. Oh my god. My daughters are here. My daughter is in here. Where is she? She's in the bed. She's in the bed. Are you in there? Yeah, I am in the room. I'm looking at her. Yes, please. You guys have the door locked. We have the door to the garage locked. He's in the house. Yes, please. Where is that room out in the house? My partner is getting him dispatched, okay? But I need you to answer my question so I can get you help as fast as I can, okay? Where are you guys at in the house? I am in the bedroom with her right now. My daughter is in the bedroom. So you're not with the children? I was with the children when it happened. Okay, but you're not with them now. No, they're in their room. They're not even awake. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. They're a police station. They're heading that way. Okay, I need you to take a deep breath for me. Are you hearing anything? No, I rubbed her leg and said her name. She's not answering. Okay, your daughter is not answering you. What do you say? What do you say? Your daughter is not answering you? No, they're in the other room. Okay. Now, of course it's so much easier to judge a 911 call when you know what we do now. But I'm curious if this dispatcher was already starting to get weird vibes. And yeah, I do have that knowledge of the fact that he is arrested and, you know, facing trial and everything. But this just right off the bat screams fake to me. And I'm curious what you guys think because obviously everyone handles this type of shock and grief. So differently that it is hard to judge a 911 call, but something about this just seems so inauthentic and overly dramatic. I guess is the word I'm trying to use like it's it just seems like such an act. It doesn't seem like genuine sadness. It seems like he's trying to play it up as much as possible. Are you hearing any kind of noise inside the house? No. No her face is. Oh, so her face is. Why is it going so easily? Okay. Who's whose face? My wife's face. Your wife's face? The one who was shot. She was. She was what? Shot, I said. Okay. Where was she shot at? In the head and in the head. Okay. Is she breathing? I don't know. I don't think so. Actually. I said baby. Baby please. Oh my God. I don't know. She's not. Okay. She's not responding to you. No. No. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Okay. Do you see anybody in my house now? No. No. It's black and the doors are locked. The door to leading to the concert was wide open when I ran in there. Okay. Do you see any kind of vehicles? No. No. No. Wait. No. The door is a side door in my garage door that's open. Oh my God. Okay. I need you to just take a deep breath for me. Okay. They're getting to you as quick as they can. So if you caught that, he already starts laying the groundwork here. He mentions that the side door to the garage is open. So he's already set in the scene the way he wants it to be perceived. Oh my God. The door is still open. Yes it is. Yes it is. Okay. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Is she breathing at all? I don't think so. Okay. Okay. If you are comfortable, I want you to go and find the cloth and I want you to put a cloth on that gunshot wound. Okay. Yes. I get that. But do not apply direct pressure to it. Just put it on the whole wood wound. Okay. Oh my God. Okay. Just get that cloth. I don't want you to put it on that wound. But don't apply direct pressure to it. Okay. Just come with you as quick as they can. Okay. I just laid it on her head. Okay. Where are the juveniles? Are they okay? Have you checked on them? I haven't checked on them. Okay. Can you go check on the juveniles for me? The police is here. The police is here. Okay. Police, the cops have pulled them to the left. They just left. You haven't checked on your children yet. We will revisit that. Okay. I need you to go check on the juveniles for me. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. You still see them breathing? You don't see any wounds on them? No. No. The cops are pulled. Sir, sir, sir. Sir, sir, sir, sir. They got me. They got me. They got me here. Okay. I want you to open the door for him so he can get into her. Okay. Okay. He's running. He's coming to me. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. What? I don't know. There's a door to the garage. There was wide open. I'm here. I'm here. The door to the garage was wide open. Again, setting the scene now for the officers. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So there's a lot to unpack. There are more than, you know, when I just chimed in throughout it as we were listening, but there's so much that makes me suspicious of Caleb just right off the bat hearing that call. One thing I didn't bring up while we were listening. I'm sure a lot of you caught it, but Caleb says that his wife was shot two times in the head and that there was a lot of blood. Let's listen to that one more time. I highly doubt, especially in the chaos of a situation like this, that you would be able to clearly see two gunshot wounds, especially if there was as much blood as he says there was. And investigators later did find two shell casings in the room, but I just can't imagine that Caleb spend any time in this so-called panic looking for shell casings to determine how many gunshot wounds there were. Plus, and I wonder how many of you picked up on this, but not once during that entire seven minute call did Caleb ever mention hearing any gunshots. It's not like he can say, "Oh, I heard two gunshots," and that's how I knew that, you know. And if he had heard gunshots, you would think you would hope that he would run to the sound of those and try and protect his wife. And if that was the case, he would have come face to face with the shooter, right? And if we assume he genuinely didn't hear anything, how did he magically just go into their bedroom just after it happened? Now, there's also a lot of body cam footage available in this case, and captured on that body cam footage, an EMS worker says that they didn't think she'd been dead for very long, meaning what? That Caleb just happened to walk into their bedroom right after an intruder killed her, and he saw nobody and heard nothing. And it's not like they had a massive house, meaning it was a very normal-sized home. And let's not forget, they also had two dogs, so you're telling me that an intruder came in the house and shot someone twice, and neither dog lied. they're shit and I mean of course we don't know at this point if he has stated that he heard anything I mean maybe he just neglected to mention that during this seven minute call but I feel like that is something that you would say right away but I didn't curious to hear your thoughts on that and in a little bit here we're gonna be kind of circling back to what he heard versus what he didn't hear so we'll be kind of going over that again but I just think it was so weird that it wasn't mentioned on the call and then another thing I'm sure a lot of you picked up on and are wondering about is the fact that he said he wasn't sleeping in their bedroom. Why? As we know he said that he was sleeping in their two daughters room when this all happened. Listen again. I'm in the bedroom with her right now. My daughters are in their room so you're not you are not with the children. Okay but you're not with them now. No they're in their room and they're not even awake. Now here is what specifically is so interesting to me about that later on in that same body cam footage that was taken at the scene Caleb says that he wasn't in the room because his wife told him to sleep on the couch. Not the girl's room, the couch. He told me to sleep with the couch and I was coughing. I shouldn't have listened. Now if that's true why wasn't he on the couch? I'm confused. And also just to note their daughters were about nine and twelve at the time and we have been told that they were asleep or at least reportedly asleep that entire time. Now by far one of the weirdest things that I think probably the thing that stands out to me the most potentially is the fact that he didn't really seem to care about their daughter's safety. He had been asked by the dispatcher multiple times to go and check on his daughters go check on the girls. Why would that not be your top priority? I mean any good parent wouldn't even have to be told to do that. I guess he could argue that he didn't think the intruder was still in the house so he figured they were safe but how would you for sure know that? And as a parent I am not leaving my kids side for a second if there's a fraction of a possibility that someone with a gun who just shot my spouse could still be in my house. The juveniles are they okay? They're having some time. Okay. The police is here. The police is here. Okay. Please the cops just go. They just do this last big black. Okay. Okay. But one of the biggest red flags to me, probably even more than not checking on the daughters honestly, is the fact that Caleb was so quick to mention that the garage door was open. For obvious reasons, right? And we went over this a little bit earlier, but I timed it. It was 30 seconds in when he first mentioned it. No, the door to the garage was wide open. And then he mentioned it again. The door to leaving to the garage door was wide open when I ran in there. And again? The door. There's a side door in my garage door that's open. And again, so it certainly seems like he just really wanted them to know that, hey, this is how the intruder got in. And let's talk about that garage door for a second, because this is also a big red flag in the case. And for some context, the door in question wasn't the big garage door like the one that you opened when you drive your car in. It was just the regular side door to the garage, like a normal door that just lets you in and out of the garage. And he doesn't outright say that's how they came in, but obviously that's the insinuation scene is there is no other sign of forced entry and get this. While officers were on the scene, the body cam footage picked up the moment when two officers first noticed that the side door was open. And they also noticed that the center console of Caleb's Ford truck was open. And there's something else I want you to pay attention to in this clip before we start it. Notice that the officer right in the beginning says to another officer, watch him. And we'll circle back to that later. Hold on. Cory, do you watch him? Yep. Yes, one person. Oh, that door is open over there. Back, that back door is open. Is that laid outside? Because I can't see. Is that a closet? OK. The center console truck. It is. And the plot thickens because I'm sure a lot of you can already guess what Caleb had in the center console of his truck, his gun. And before I play this next clip, I also want you to pay attention to the officer's face, specifically at the end of this clip because I think this guy was catching on to things pretty quick. I'm pretty sure all of the officers were and we'll again circle back to that in a sec. Yeah. The back, the back door is open. There's like a door on the side right there. It's open. So you guys pretty close in. Yeah. We didn't. The truck, the center console trucks open. And that's where he said he keeps his gun. So. Hmm. You see the eyes at that? Yeah. He's given side eye quite literally. No, not to get ahead of myself, but they did end up determining that Ashley was killed with a nine millimeter handgun, which just so happens to be the same kind of gun that was now missing from Caleb's truck. So based on how everything looked, one might assume that an intruder broke in through that side garage door, stole Caleb's gun, and then entered the house to shoot Ashley twice. In my opinion, and I'm sure the majority of you agree, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Aside from everything I've laid out so far, I mean, just how ridiculous it all sounds. And plus if you have been consuming true crime for any length of time, we're just have like a fairly functioning brain. You know that this looks just so staged immediately. But here's the craziest part and what truly makes this make zero sense is there was a refrigerator on the inside of that open garage door. It was probably because Ashley and Caleb, I'm guessing didn't really use that side garage door very much. So maybe they had the fridge just blocking it. So my point is the fridge is in front of the door on the inside of the garage, yet someone was able to move the fridge from the outside. I guess they could have shoved the garage door hard enough to move the fridge, but it doesn't seem very logical. You'd have to believe that this intruder happened to open this door that was blocked by a fridge and then happened to find the gun in the truck and then happened to get past the two dogs without setting them off in any way and then happened to shoot someone twice and leave without being seen. That all happens to just be the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard and circling back again to something we talked about earlier about whether Caleb claimed to have heard the intruder or not. There is bodycam footage where you can faintly hear him in the background say "I heard the gun, I froze" and then I ran. But I stand on my opinion that he didn't hear anything because there was nothing to hear. Dude just look at the officer's face, he looks like he is not buying this shit at all. How long were you here before we got here? Like 20 seconds? Yeah not too long, because I think I seen you guys as lights. No cars came driving out. I didn't see anything either, all down high. I came first when it came in and I started going fast when they said yeah I hit my side and then I turned the side and off the way it's down so I was scared of no one. I couldn't find it the first time. There was a fridge in front of it. We hear her talking about that. But yeah of course I don't know what was going through their heads but it seems like in their conversation they are very much expressing their degree of sus to each other. I got here right before you, I didn't see anyone. It seems like they're definitely catching on to what is happening here and Caleb's just making it so obvious, right? He just seems so fake. Something else that I want to know is at what point did Caleb actually go to the garage himself before even making this call and see that the garage door was open? He said that he was in the girl's room when it happened, right? And then he found his wife In their room, shot. knew that she was shot twice. When did he have the time before making the call to go and check on the garage door? You really went and took a look at that before you called 911? It's definitely not impossible to think that maybe he did go run around the house really quick before looking for the alleged intruder before calling 911, but even if you were to start looking for the intruder, you would think you would, again, you would hope that he would call 911 right away as he's running around doing that. But yeah, I'm curious to know what you guys think about the officer's reactions to everything that we're seeing on this body camp footage because I just feel that you can really sense their skepticism right away and even though they can be seen comforting him and even getting him a bucket at one point in paper towels as he's throwing up from all the crying, I feel like there's this underlying air of suspicion amongst them and at two different points when you saw earlier, you can hear the officer say, watch him. In this next clip, you can literally hear her say, again, that's somebody needs to be watching him. Take a look. Hey, someone. Somebody needs to be watching him. She knows. So yeah, I just think that body camera footage alone is really eye-opening. Now, there was a woman. I don't know if you noticed that was sitting with Caleb in one of the clips I played out on the front porch. And all of my sources say that she was the grandmother of the girls, although it's not clarified anywhere if that was his mom or Ashley's mom. Either way, she's seen comforting him as the initial investigation is underway. Only after she can sold him for a little bit, did he finally agree to be looked at by paramedics? Then he voluntarily agreed to be brought back to the police station, where he answered questions into the early morning hours. Back at the scene, though, the investigation was really just beginning. While Caleb is still being consoled, tip city police officers secured the area, set up a perimeter and used resources like canines and drones to try and locate a suspect. However, nothing was found during these efforts. Of course, they also called in the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who definitely had more resources than them, as well as the Miami County Victims Witness Program, who came in as well to offer support to Caleb and his girls. And I really commend the tip city police department for not only taking action quickly, and I think their immediate response to the scene is excellent, but also just recognizing what they were and weren't equipped to handle. Tip city is not a very big city by any means, and it's great to hear that they were able to so quickly bring in further assistance. They later brought in even more help, including the date and FBI office, the Miami County Sheriff's Office, and the Miami County Prosecutors Office. And as you can imagine, from the outside looking in, this could not have been any more shocking to this community. These types of crimes don't happen often there, if at all in tip city, let alone to a couple with such good standing, I guess you could say. People were totally shocked, absolutely confused, and honestly scared for their own safety, understandably, because despite what I've already shared with you, nobody knew that Caleb was the number one suspect. Neighbors thought there was, you know, some madman on the loose, which actually prompted the tip city chief to issue a statement, assuring people that this case was an isolated event, although naturally that didn't stop people from worrying or speculating. After an open prayer at the Christian Life Center on February 18th, Chief Greg Adkins issued another statement attempting to kind of quash the rumors that a suspect had confessed. It reads, in part, the tip city police department has recently been made aware of claims that a suspect is in custody and has confessed in the homicide investigation involving Ashley Flynn. This information is false and was never released by the tip city police department, the city of tip city, or any collaborating law enforcement partners. The release and spread of unverified information is not only untrue, but also deeply detrimental to the Flynn family and unfair to those involved in this investigation. Our community continues to grieve and the department recognizes the fear and concerns some residents may be experiencing, as previously stated investigators believe this was an isolated incident targeted at this specific residence. At this time, there is no information indicating the community or general public is in danger. Meanwhile, while all of this is starting to unfold, the support for Ashley absolutely flooded the town. Literally on the day of her murder, a prayer gathering was held at the Lifewise Academy, and the online support was also mounting big time. Messages from fellow churchgoers, students, parents, teachers, neighbors expressed what a light Ashley had been in their lives. I mean, she really impacted a lot of people it sounds like, and most of them talking about it really emphasized her Christian faith and her kind spirit. And as I mentioned, there was also an open prayer held at her church on the 18th, and the town started putting up these red and white ribbons in her honor pretty much right away. Also, a GoFundMe was launched as well, and in less than 24 hours, it had raised more than $80,000, which is really impressive, and I think just speaks to how rocked this community was and how loved Ashley was. Right now, it sits at just over $175,000, and it's still growing. The proceeds of course are going to her daughters who were and are being cared forward by family members. Several local businesses and organizations decided to raise money as well through different fundraiser events, and they also have collectively raised a significant amount of money. Everyone in this community really rallied together to offer whatever support they could to these girls. And if there's any light in the darkness, it's seeing how loved and cared for they are. And my heart just breaks for them. I mean, that support and love is going to be so needed in their lives because not only did they lose their mom, but they're losing their dad to in a very different way, of course, but it's still devastating. And the reason I say they're losing their dad is because on February 19th, 2026, only three days after she was killed. So pretty quick turnaround here. Caleb Flynn was arrested for the murder of Ashley Flynn. Put your hand together for me. Tip City Police Chief Gregory Atkins is calling this case complex, but says investigators had enough evidence for probable cause to charge Ashley's husband with murder. Caleb is officially being charged with one count of homicide, two counts of felonious assault, and two counts of tampering with evidence. Ashley was shot and killed in her home early Monday morning, and her two children were in the home, but weren't injured. Multiple agencies, including the FBI, Ohio BCI and Miami County Sheriff's Office, assisted in the investigation, providing various resources. Chief Atkins said in a statement in part, quote, as previously stated, the family and community deserve a thorough professional and compassionate investigation into this very sensitive matter. So there you have it. What a relief. One count of homicide, as well as two counts, each of felonious assault and tampering with evidence. The following day, he was arraigned via video conference, during which time, of course, he pleaded not guilty. His bond was set at a whopping $2 million, and he was ordered to go no contact with his children. His defense attorney, Patrick Mulligan, seemed very upset about this outcome, saying, quote, "We are both disappointed and concerned about the short timeline and seeming rushed to judgment in this case." When the government runs out of leads or can't develop leads and looks at a surviving spouse in cases such as these, the chance of a wrongful conviction increases. Also, his attorney said that the bond was "unnecessarily high" and that it would prevent Caleb from attending his wife's funeral. Can you believe that? I'm sorry. What, sir? Nobody wants you there, bro. Can you just imagine how offensive that would be if he had the nerve to show his face at his wife's funeral after killing her? And it's pretty obvious, he did it right, innocent until proving guilty again, but nobody needs you there. How much more difficult that would be for her friends and family to be around you right now, just ew, why would you even say that? And the reality is the majority of people do not see this as a rush to judgment. In fact, the chief of police put out a very confident statement basically saying, "Actually, there was no rush to judgment. We just did our jobs well." Chief Adkins also said, quote, "I am confident that the case ultimately presented in a court of law will reflect diligence, thoroughness, accuracy, and integrity. The family and the community deserve nothing less from our department and the assisting agencies." All right, this is case 26 CRA-285 Caleb C. Flynn. Mr. Flynn, you have several charges here. Count one is a murder charge, is a couch felony of the first degree. Count two is a two and three or both Fologna assault charge second degree felonies. Count four is tampering with evidence, a third degree felony, and that's count four. Count five is tampering with evidence, a third degree felony. Mr. Flynn, we're going to set your case for a preliminary hearing for next week on February 26th at 1 p.m. You do have the right to have an attorney who represents you. If you cannot afford when you can apply to the public defenders office and they'll determine if you're eligible for a court appointed attorney. Do you understand all that? Is there anything you'd like to say to the court with regards to a bond in this case? Is there anything you'd like to tell the court with respect to bond in this case? So the court has to establish a bond, sir, to ensure that your appearance, okay? So the court will establish a bond and you have the right to tell me, hey, I'm not a flight risk. I am a flight risk or any of that. Is there anything you would want to tell me about that? Sir, I just want to take care of my daughters. I'm not a risk. I understand. Okay. Is it? Well, the court is going to order a two million dollar blanket bond in this case covering all of your charges. Should you close bond in this case? The court will order that you be on pretrial services electronically monitored house arrest. Furthermore, the court will order that you will have no contact whatsoever directly or indirectly through a third party with you are not permitted to speak to them in any way, say, perform that includes electronic communications. You are not allowed to communicate through family members whatsoever. You understand all of that? Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. We're adjourned. Thank you, sir. I just find this whole, I just want to take care of my daughter's line to be such bullshit. And again, I know he's innocent and don't prove in guilty. I keep having to say that. But clearly, you do not care about your daughters if you killed your wife. If you are actually guilty, you do not care about them. Period. And it's just so difficult for me. And I'm sure the majority of you to understand how a parent especially could murder their spouse could murder the mother of their children who birthed them, who gave them to you, gave them life and take them away from your kids. I mean, that is just probably the worst possible thing you could do to your own children. And to do it while the kids were in the next room, allegedly, I mean, it's sick. And just seeing this shift, this very eerie shift from these old American idol clips, which I know I wasn't able to play, but I, you know, told you what he said. He is talking about how much he treasures his wife. And now he's accused of this. What happened? What motive would Caleb have to do something so evil? And of course, if we look at historical motives in cases involving a husband killing a wife or even the other way around of course, money and sex are the top two motives. Right now, their financial situation has not been made public, but I do know that's being looked into. And I'm sure we'll come to light at some point if there is anything going on there. And also to note in early March, Ashley's family began filing court documents digging into the couple's finances. This included looking into a life insurance policy with Caleb listed as the primary beneficiary. They also want access to the couple's bank accounts, retirement accounts, real estate and other financial records. And her family has said that Caleb quote, has the motive, opportunity and means to dissipate these assets to transfer them to third parties or to otherwise place them beyond the reach of the children and the estate. They're also asking the court to issue a domestic violence protection order against Caleb, which would stop him from accessing money from the couple's shared bank accounts. He could still access money for necessary living expenses, but nothing more than that. And it sounds like Ashley's family is really doing everything they can to protect her assets, especially because those assets deserve to go to her children of course. Their family has released a few statements, including the one about their opinion on Caleb's arrest. It reads, our hearts are shattered. Ashley brought endless light into our world. And we are trying to navigate this immense loss. Our family believes this arrest was made carefully and not without serious consideration. After speaking with both local and federal authorities, we trust the proper steps were taken and the process is being handled appropriately. We kindly ask for our privacy as we work through this complex situation. We are clinging to our faith just as Ashley did each and every day. Her family also changed her celebration of life from a public event to a private one in the wake of all the attention that her case is getting. And I can only imagine how truly devastating and shocking this time must be for them. And honestly, it's got to be really confusing in a way too. I mean, here was Caleb, someone that they thought they knew only to realize that he was a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. Or it's possible that they already knew or had some feelings that maybe Caleb was a bad person. You know, people that are collectively looking into this case, we have to remember that we don't know the ins and outs of their relationship in their family. We don't know what everything looked like behind closed doors, what was going on, what their family knew about what was going on. And we definitely don't know her family's opinion on Caleb before everything happened, which brings me to the other alleged motive in this case. Sex. Now, before I go any further, I need to give the disclaimer of all disclaimers in this episode. What I'm about to share with you is purely speculation. Okay, it has not been confirmed in any capacity by anyone associated with this case. That includes family members and law enforcement. And in most cases, I probably wouldn't even mention this given how speculative it is. I really try to stay away from things like this, but I know it has already really been making its rounds. It's brought up constantly in discussion on this case. It's something that I'm sure a lot of you already know about. So here it is. Within days of Ashley's murder, a rumor began circulating that Caleb was having an affair, which I'm sure we've put this together now, specifically that he was sleeping with a woman at their church. I won't be naming her, but she was a worship leader at the Christian life center, meaning the two of them spent a lot of time together. And I say that because it could very well just explain why they spent time together. It could be as innocent as that. But the rumors themselves are obviously not innocent. And images of these so-called court documents have began circulating, which of course has made people believe this rumor even more. Of course, just to be really, really clear, there is no verification that these images are real. In fact, they come from websites that are known to pump out fake news. And I know I keep saying this, but we truly do live in the day and age where anything can be doctored. And until actual investigators confirm this to be real, I ask you to please use your discretion with what I'm about to say. Take it with a grain of salt. But in these alleged documents, there are hundreds of messages between Caleb and this woman. And in one message sent at 1242 AM on February 16th, he allegedly text her, it's almost done. Now, if this is real, if that would have been sent before he called 911, which looks a hell of a lot like premeditation. And clearly investigators and prosecutors have a lot more evidence than we are aware of at this point. And maybe some of this is it if it is real. However, I will play the 911 call for you from this woman's mom. And this is a real call that was made. And I do think it's worth sharing. And she's been there with me just to see if they see and just fear seeing home and stuff. And whoever it is, they just won't leave my door. And they're just banging in the door that I see like a man and a woman. They're not uniform, they're in pain. Okay, and they're white, black, yeah, white, white, white male, white male, yeah, okay. Yeah, they just can't stop. How long have they been there? Um, for like five minutes, which has been gone, no one says that long and the people ringing and knocking. You guys go to the bedroom and you don't recognize who they are. I'm sorry. You don't recognize them. No, I don't recognize them at all. I would check my window, though. Okay, what is your name? And there's a quarter of them. I get our church and stuff like that too. So I could be. No, no, no, no. Come on. What was your phone number, ma'am? Did you see what kind of video they came in? No, I looked at my other camera. I had another angle and I don't even be a car out there. Okay, but everyone just think they're like nervous. and on edge. Okay. And you said there's someone that goes to that church staying with you and that's why you think they're there? Yeah, my daughter. Because look for like flint case, please. Okay, my daughter is the worship leader at the church. And that's too much. And so there's like a bunch of gossip on the end of like accusing my daughter of like being involved with the husband and stuff, you know, lies. So you think they're there anyway? Yeah, probably. Maybe I'm not sure, but I just feel afraid. And that's why she's staying at my house right now because of all this gossip online. I mean, people are still at the door just standing there. Okay. Hold on for me just one second. I'm going to meet you for just a second, okay? Okay. Okay, one of the officers just said that he's out there. Do you see him? No, okay. It's got back in there. Okay. Yeah, it's going to be the police department. So is that the police department? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. Bye. So as you can hear in the call, the mom is saying it's gossip. It's rumors. So who knows? Now on the subject of alleged motives and court documents, there is something else I should mention. There have also been allegations that Ashley was pregnant. In the criminal complaint that was released, it said that Caleb quote did purposely cause the death of another or the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy. Now, of course, I am not an attorney and I encourage anyone with a legal background to chime in on this. Maybe leave a comment, but I did do some research and this doesn't necessarily mean what you may think it means. From my understanding, prosecutors will often use the exact phrasing of a statute in the charging documents. And in Ohio, aggravated murder or murder statutes often do include fetus protection clauses. So to my understanding, basically they could have included that part in there because that's just how the statute is written. The medical examiner says that they will not be releasing any information from Ashley's autopsy until all this is over. So that's not something I expect will be getting confirmation on anytime soon. But if that is true, that is incredibly disturbing. And of course, because this case has gotten so much attention, there's so much discussion online, that's not where the theories and speculation ends. If you have been a listener or watcher of my show for a while now, you might remember the case of Amanda Blackburn, which I covered back in 2024. I'm going to link that episode in the description and show notes of this episode because I won't be doing a full deep dive on it today, of course. But I do bring it up for a very specific reason. The premise of Amanda's case was that she was murdered while in her home during a horrific but totally random home invasion. She had a young son and she was currently pregnant with her second when it happened and her body was discovered by her pastor husband, Davie Blackburn. After he returned home from the gym on November 10, 2015, and in the aftermath of her murder, Davie wrote a book and made it one of his life missions to tell her story through the church, in a way that focuses on forgiveness, healing and redemption. And at face value, these cases, of course, look similar, pastor husband loses wife to murder during a random home invasion. The difference is though, Davie was not charged with his wife's murder. And the reason I'm even mentioning this at all is because guess where Davie Blackburn gave one of his inspirational speeches only three months before Ashley's murder? At the Christian Life Center where she and Caleb were members. Now listen, of course, I cannot say that he went to church that day that he was even there or if he had any idea who Davie even was. But in my opinion, I think it's interesting because it's not impossible that he could have been there or at least have been aware of Davie and his story. And I'm definitely not the only one who thinks this. The whole idea that Caleb may have been inspired by Davie is a discussion that's been happening online for quite some time now. And of course, this speculation again, it definitely doesn't make it true, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about this. Davie has gained a lot of notoriety for his story. And when you think about the fact that Caleb wanted notoriety, I mean American Idol being a great example of that, it just makes me question if he did know about his story. And if maybe it served as some kind of sick inspiration for him because it wouldn't surprise me if that's the kind of attention that Caleb would really like. But let's switch gears now. Let's talk about the legal proceedings, the criminal complaint, all of that jazz. I did mention the criminal complaint a little bit earlier when we were talking about the pregnancy speculation. And that document outlines the criminal charges against him, including the single count of murder and two counts of felonious assault and tampering with evidence. And I was curious what specifically was said about the tampering with evidence charges. And it's not too detailed, but it reads, "Caleb Flynn murdered his wife in the morning hours of February 16th, 2026. Officers were led astray by the staging of the crime scene." And it never specifically said what was staged, but I think we can reasonably assume here that they're probably talking about things like the garage door being left open and the same with the truck's center console. But I am curious if there's anything else in the house that this might reference. And also, the complaint never mentions anything about the weapon besides the fact that it was a nine millimeter handgun. And I am very interested to hear if that was ever found. Now, when it comes to hearings and all that, this case has had its fair share of delays, which is always frustrating. The preliminary hearing that was set for February 26 was postponed by a month to March 26th at the request of the defense. And in addition to that, Caleb also waived his right to a speedy trial. And all that means is that he and his lawyers agree that this case does not have to be tried within 90 days. In the waiver of time that he and his attorney filed, there appeared to be several new charges outlined, including two counts of intimidation of a witness, one count of obstructing justice and two firearms specifications. This does not mean that he is facing those charges, though. Basically, what this means is if the prosecution wanted to later add on these charges, the waiving of the speedy trial still would apply. Now, as for the delay of the hearing itself, that was something that his attorney had asked for. He was very disturbed at how much attention this case was getting online, specifically the social media aspect. So he wanted to push it back to ensure that no mistakes were made. New developments at five, a delay in the court case of a man accused of killing his wife and trying to hide the evidence. Police arrested Caleb Flynn days after they found Ashley Flynn dead in their home. Due to the intercept and spline cable has covered this murder since the start and Mike, you spoke with Caleb Flynn's lawyer. He asked for this delay. Gabrielle, I spoke with Patrick Mulligan, a well-known defense lawyer in Dayton. He says everyone has seen coverage of what happened here at this house. And he says everyone's heard and read a lot of social media comments as well. But he says that's all been a one-sided story and a delay is necessary to make sure that mistakes aren't made. I have not experienced this level of publicity on any case that I've had in my 41 years as a lawyer. Patrick Mulligan told me it feels like a feeding frenzy on his client, Caleb Flynn. It always amazes me at the stupid statements that are made on social media. Mulligan told me Caleb Flynn's case is not ready for a preliminary hearing just a week after his arrest. Mulligan said there is a lot of hate and other emotions being directed at his client. Caleb Flynn's lawyer is trying to slow down what he calls a runaway rush to judgment. People who are hungry for any information are liable to believe anything that they hear. Mulligan told me he has talked to Caleb Flynn but did not share details of those conversations. He said a delay is also good for police and prosecutors waiting for test results and information. That's the question when you go to court. What can they prove? And there has to be real evidence rather than rumors and speculation. And in addition to all of that, his attorney also moved to limit public access to this case. Similarly to pushing the hearing, he said the publicity of the case wouldn't make it fair for his client so the public shouldn't have access to anything until the case is resolved. That, however, was denied on March 16th. And then only two days later, Caleb was indicted by a grand jury on multiple felonies. His charges now include one count of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, three counts of tampering with evidence, and two counts of intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case. Curious about that one. He also was a rain the next day where he pleaded not guilty and his new bond was set at 3.5%. five million dollars. And because of this indictment, the preliminary hearing set for March 26th was bypassed. And instead, he returned to court on March 30th for a pretrial hearing. And then during that hearing, the initial trial date was set for April 28th. Now, looking at Caleb's charges, a few things stand out to me. And one of the biggest things, like I just mentioned, were the two counts of intimidation. It doesn't specify who this was in reference to, but some people online have wondered if maybe this was about their two daughters. After all, they were inside the home when all of this happened. Reportedly, they were asleep through everything, including the commotion after the fact, but there is some chatter and all be real clear. This is chatter online about the possibility of Caleb having given the girls something the night before to ensure they didn't wake up. And I just have to be so, so, so clear here. I am not stating this as fact. This has just been widely circulated. And there's absolutely no evidence of this. This is just what people are thinking because it doesn't make sense to a lot of people that they could have slept through all of this, but I don't know. My kids can sleep through anything. It seems even my three-month-old baby. I mean, the things he sleeps through blows my mind, same with my daughter. So I don't know. But anyways, leading up to the initial trial date, Caleb's defense attorneys once again filed a motion to limit the public's access to court records. Although, they actually withdrew their own motion, as for the state of Ohio and Miami County prosecutors, they filed their own motions in mid-April, specifically asking for a four-day continuance of the trial. They wanted more time to review and turn over evidence, which sounds like they have a lot of. Prosecutor Paul Watkins said that they have supplied two terabytes of data for this case so far and they're receiving new evidence every day. And a judge ruled in favor of this, pushing back the trial to May 4th. However, it was delayed again, and it's currently slated to start on September 17th, 2026. In the witness list for both the prosecution and the defense have already been submitted, so we do have a glimpse at the people who we can expect to hear from. The state's witness list has 172 names on it and the defense has 128. I can't imagine that many people are actually going to take the stand. Maybe, but that's a lot. But what's really interesting here is Ashley's two daughters are on the list. I don't know if they'll end up taking the stand and I don't know how I feel about that because that would be so incredibly traumatizing for them. I feel ultimately it's their decision and their family's decision and they were the only other people in that house that night, so I could see it happening. And just when you scroll through the rest of the names, it makes me think there's going to be a lot of digital evidence. For example, on the state's list, we see things like Instagram, WhatsApp, Group Me, Snap, Gmail, things like that. So there's clearly a lot we don't know. There's a lot more to this case than what we've been told. And it does make me think more about the affair. And that really possibly being part of this because to have all of these social media apps being part of it and all these digital communication platforms, it makes you think of what was leading up to this murder. And what's also interesting, which brings me back to the possibility of financial motive, is there are a bunch of banks listed like Wells Fargo, Ally Bank, Citibank, Fifth Third Bank, JP Morgan Chase. We even see Ring LLC on there. So maybe there's ring footage from the neighborhood that proves nobody broke in. I mean, I don't know, but that seems like it could certainly be a possibility. I mean, so many people have ring cameras or some type of security camera these days, but especially because Ring specifically is named, it makes you think maybe there's that sort of digital evidence here as well. And another name on this list, of course, caught my attention as well. And adds a little bit more credibility to that rumor of the affair. But it is the name of the woman associated with this alleged affair and her name appears on both the state and the defense list. Another interesting name that's on there is the church's pastor, Jordan Hanson, but his name only appears on the state's witness list. Now, Jordan has been vocal about his support of Ashley's entire family, which isn't surprising. She was a beloved member of that church and he is the pastor there. Now, he did say something back in March, though, that definitely turned some heads. This was interesting. Okay, so this happened during one of his sermons. He mentioned that woman, the alleged mistress and how she resigned without explanation, which is odd for him to mention in a sermon, right? And I actually do have a clip of this to play for you. And I'm interested to hear you guys think. Okay, listen to this. I want to thank you, our church family, for the prayers, support, and love that you've shared with me and our staff. We are deeply grateful to rely on God's comfort, abundant grace, and wisdom during these past few emotionally challenging days. I also want to inform you that one of our worship leaders submitted her resignation without explanation. We do not know why. Pastor Josh Bonslar will continue to oversee and lead weekend services, tech and worship, as he has for these past few years. We continue to support, care, and pray for Ashley Flynn's family. She and her extended family meet a lot to me personally and to our church. Her life and faith have impacted thousands, maybe tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. We will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as they carry out their difficult work during this ongoing investigation. And the one thing I respectfully ask from each of you is to guard, hearts, to resist the temptation to speculate or gossip. Much of this is fueled by social media posts from individuals with no direct knowledge or facts. Unfounded rumors only make the situation worse, and each of us are called to love, mourn, care, and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Certainly interesting, right? The timing in which he stated that, I think, is the oddest part. I removed her name if you didn't notice for privacy reasons, but I can see why her abrupt leave has definitely caught people's attention and this pastor stating it in front of everybody. However, on the other hand, I can see a possibility where she could have left due to the sheer amount of attention she was getting from all of this and maybe for fears of her safety. I really want to try and reserve judgment here until there's legitimate proof of anything, so I'm not going to rehash that conversation again, but I thought it was worth mentioning because it has been a huge part of the conversation of this case, and I do understand why. And that, you guys, is about where all of this stands as of now. I will have my eyes on the trial, of course, if it even happens in September. I mean, given how everything has been going, I would not be shocked if it keeps getting pushed. But what matters more than anything here, and I hope what people keep at the front of their minds is Ashley and the justice that she deserves. This was an innocent, loving, well-respected mother, a friend, a daughter, a community member who should have never been taken from the world. And through everything that's been done in her honor, it's very obvious how big of an impact she really did make on so many people. She was killed just eight days before her 38th birthday, and I can only imagine how difficult the first birthday was without her. I do know that her family and friends still celebrated, though. So before I leave you today, I want to read one final message that was written on behalf of her family. It reads, "Today our Ashley would have turned 38. With broken hearts, we choose to celebrate only because Ashley was first to celebrate the people she loved. Her girls blow out candles on chocolate cupcakes, their mom's favorite, as neighborhood friends gathered to sing happy birthday and sent balloons with messages from all of us, drifting gently towards heaven. Heaven. That's where her two girls know their mommy is now, watching over them every day. We miss her in ways words can't capture, but we hold tightly to this. Ashley's life was about pointing people to Jesus and showing them his love. And her legacy will live on in her daughters, in her parents, in her sister, and in the many lives she touched and influenced along the way. The way this community has rallied behind us and blessed our family is beyond comprehension. We are so grateful they walk with us as we take one day at a time trusting God with every step. As a reminder, I will link the GoFundMe that was set up to support Ashley's kids in the description box and show notes of this episode. And I know any support they receive from you guys, whether that's monetary or not, we'll go a long way. I also wanted to put it out there to anyone connected to Ashley and her family that might see this, that we would love to support you guys through my foundation, higher hope, and offer a hope grant. So if you're interested, please reach out to us through our website, which is hirehope.org. You guys, please keep her family in your thoughts. They're going through an incredibly difficult time, especially her daughters. I just cannot imagine. And they're going to need that support going into the trial whenever that does happen, because that, you know, just brings up a lot. And I'm sure they will find out about a lot. And it's just going to be very, very difficult and heavy for them. I will certainly be thinking of them as they, you know, continue on this path towards getting justice for Ashley. And I am feeling pretty confident that that is going to happen and happen soon. And another thing I wanted to mention is my company, my alarm media, we have launched new summer merch. And we have created some really cute, beautiful, fun pieces that is all launching Friday, June 19th. So it will actually already be out by the time that this episode goes up. But all proceeds 100% of our merch from any of our shows, literally anything on our website, 100% of that money goes towards the hirehope foundation. That is it for me today. You guys, I definitely want to hear your thoughts on this case. And let me know if you would like additional coverage on it around the time of the trial, or maybe right before even depending on what comes out before then, which I don't think will be much. So it'll probably be post trial. But yeah, let me know. And I will see you guys next week. I will be back to discuss another case. But until then, stay safe out there. [MUSIC]