Footage shows moments after former American Idol contestant claimed someone killed his wife
By Todd Dykes
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TIPP CITY, Ohio (WLWT) — Caleb Flynn, a former “American Idol” contestant, is in jail on a $2 million bond after his wife was murdered in their Tipp City home, north of Dayton, two weeks ago.
Flynn called police to report that someone had broken into his family’s home and shot his wife to death. When officers arrived, they were uncertain of what they would find. An unidentified police officer announced as he entered the Flynns’ garage, “Police department, if you’re in here.”
Flynn, 39, appeared hysterical as he clung to a piece of furniture in the blurred body camera footage.
“Oh my God,” Flynn said.
An officer asked, “OK. Do you want to sit down?”
Flynn replied, sniffling, “No.”
The officer said, “OK.”
Flynn then asked, “Is she, is she gone?”
The officer responded, “Look at me. Look at me. Take a breath.”
A few days after the incident, a judge set Flynn’s bond at $2 million for allegedly shooting his wife, Ashley, while their two daughters were asleep nearby. Flynn claims someone broke into the house through a garage door and killed his wife.
Body camera footage captured exchanges between Flynn and officers that could explain why Flynn is in the Miami County Jail.
An officer asked, “Were there any firearms in this house?”
Flynn responded, “Ah, I have, like, a shotgun. A shotgun and a 22 and, like, a pellet gun.”
The officer asked, “OK, where?”
Flynn replied, “And I have a, I have a handgun in my truck.”
The officer said, “OK.”
Flynn added, “In the glove box.”
A few minutes later, an officer noticed something unusual outside the house.
“The back door is open. There’s, like, a door on the side right there. It’s open, so,” said the officer whose body camera was rolling.
Another officer asked, “You guys clear the garage and everything?”
The first officer replied, “Yeah. We didn’t – the truck, the center console of the truck’s open. And that’s where he said he keeps his gun, so.”
Flynn faces five felony counts, including murder and tampering with evidence.
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