True Crime News: The Podcast · True Crime News

‘American Idol’ contestant charged with shooting wife while daughters slept

March 10, 2026·1 hr 8 min·3 clips

True Crime News host Anna Garcia and law enforcement expert Rich McHale dissect the case of Caleb Flynn, a 39-year-old music pastor and former American Idol contestant from Tip City, Ohio, charged with murdering his wife Ashley while their two young daughters slept nearby. The episode walks through the suspicious 911 call, released body cam footage, forensic evidence gaps (including the question of gunshot residue testing, a refrigerator blocking the supposed entry point, and silent dogs), the rapid arrest and five-count indictment, community fallout, and the unresolved legal battle over the couple's assets — with an independent attorney fighting to protect the children's financial future under Ohio's Slayer statute.

As heard by us

A grim, procedural true crime case that stays grounded in the evidence.

True Crime News takes a grim case and keeps its focus where it belongs: on the police work. The episode moves through the shaky 911 call, the parts of the account that do not add up, and the forensic questions that keep pulling investigators back in, from the removed door to the…

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Why you'd press play

You want a case that opens with a hysterical 911 call and police trying to make the story add up.

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