When a murder makes national headlines, we often hear more about the person accused of committing the crime than the person whose life was taken. This week on Pushing Up Lilies, I want to change that.

I’m talking about the murder of 37-year-old Ashley Flynn, a devoted mother of two, former elementary school teacher, and volleyball coach from Tipp City, Ohio. Ashley was a woman of faith who loved her family, her community, and the children whose lives she touched. On February 16, 2026, she was fatally shot while in bed inside the home she shared with her husband and daughters.

Her husband, Caleb Flynn, a former pastor and American Idol contestant, initially told investigators that someone had broken into their home. But as investigators examined the scene, questions began to emerge about the reported forced entry, the removal of security cameras, and the physical evidence surrounding Ashley’s death.

As a forensic nurse and former death investigator, I want to take you through some of the details that stood out to me. We’ll discuss the autopsy findings, bullet trajectories, blood evidence, digital records, and how investigators reconstructed what happened inside that bedroom, even though the murder weapon was never recovered.

We’ll also look at the evidence prosecutors presented concerning Caleb’s extramarital affair, the messages that became central to their case, and the trial that resulted in his conviction.

But beyond the investigation and courtroom proceedings, I want us to remember Ashley.

She was a mother whose daughters will grow up without her, a teacher who made a difference, and a woman whose life meant so much more than the circumstances of her death.

Join me as we examine the evidence, the investigation, and the heartbreaking story of Ashley Flynn, because behind every case file is a person with a life, a family, and a story worth telling.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

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Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. I just need to say before I start this week that the second annual Murder Mystery Dinner was absolutely amazing. It was so wonderful to finally meet Jan Bynum and to hear what she went through after Kelli Ann was abducted, raped, murdered, and then buried, and the years that she waited to find her body. The story is heartbreaking, and it’s live on my YouTube. I recorded live at the event, so feel free to go to my YouTube channel. It’s under Pushing Up Lilies or Brains, Body Bags, and Bedside Manner, and you can actually see, the interview live. It was amazing. I also played the song that I had written for her, and it was wonderful to finally meet her. I feel like sometimes God just puts people in your path, and

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I feel like that’s exactly what happened in this case. And so please, if you have not read it, I encourage you to go and listen to the song as well. We’ll be doing this again every year, every October. I don’t really have a date yet for next year because I try to make sure that it doesn’t interfere with other events in the area.

So as soon as I know, you will know. But, this week I wanna talk about The Flynn case, and I know we’ve all seen him crying online, and a lot of people wonder exactly what that case is about. we’ve heard over and over that he was on American Idol, and it’s like, what is the story? So, imagine going to sleep in your own bed in the home that you share with your husband and your two children, and you have no reason to believe that your life’s about to end. Your children are sleeping

[00:02:00] nearby. Your husband is someone you’ve trusted, somebody that you’ve built a family with, and someone who’s publicly devoted his life to serving God. But before morning, you’re dead. You’ve been shot twice in the head, and the person responsible for your death is the very person who promised to love and protect you. This is what prosecutors said happened to thirty-seven-year-old Ashley Flynn in Tipp City, Ohio, on February sixteenth of twenty twenty-six. And on September twenty-ninth, twenty- twenty-six, a jury agreed. Her husband, Caleb Flynn, a former pastor and American Idol contestant, was convicted of her murder. On October fifth, he received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. And just two days later, his attorney filed an appeal. So today we’re gonna talk about Ashley Flynn, the life she lived, the marriage that she thought she had,

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and the affair her husband was hiding, and the evidence that prosecutors used to convince a jury that her murder was planned. So, we’re also gonna discuss some of the forensic evidence in this case, because as a forensic nurse death investigator, there are several details that I find particularly interesting, and some of them tell us quite a bit about what happened inside that bedroom.

I’m Julie Matson. I’ve been a registered nurse for more than thirty years, and I’ve spent much of my career investigating deaths, examining bodies, and working alongside law enforcement and medical examiners. Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. So, before we discuss Caleb Flynn, I wanna spend some time talking about Ashley, because when cases like this make national headlines, it seems that the person that’s accused of committing the murder often becomes more recognizable than the person whose life was taken, and that’s not fair. I don’t like it that way.

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Ashley Flynn was 37 years old. She lived in Tipp City, Ohio, which is a community actually north of Dayton. So, she was a wife, a mother of two daughters, a former elementary school teacher, and a volleyball coach. Very active in her community. People who knew Ashley described her as devoted to her family, her faith, and the children she worked with. She was involved quite a bit in her community, and she’d built a lot of relationships through her work in education and athletics. And her Christian faith was an important part of her identity. After her husband’s conviction, Ashley’s family released a statement describing how deeply she loved Jesus and how her faith influenced the way she lived. They actually described a woman who prayed for her family, loved her children, and tried to treat people with kindness. Her family emphasized that being a mother was actually one of the most important

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parts of her life, and I think that’s something worth remembering. Ashley wasn’t simply the wife of a former pastor who appeared on American Idol.

She had her own identity, and she had students who looked up to her. She had young athletes who depended on her encouragement, and she had two daughters who expected their mother to be there for the milestones that they hadn’t even experienced yet. Think about like the school dances and the graduations and weddings and maybe even grandchildren someday. All of those possibilities ended on February 16th, and the circumstances surrounding her death would eventually expose a completely different side of the life her husband had been living. Caleb Flynn was 40 years old when he was sentenced. He had previously worked as a pastor and a worship leader. And in 2013, he, he was actually a contestant on American Idol. He was involved in Christian ministry and maintained a public identity closely

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associated with religion. Now, from the outside… the Flynn family appeared to have many of the things that people associate with a stable, successful life, a marriage, two children, a home, community involvement, professional opportunities. But prosecutors would eventually argue that Caleb had become increasingly focused on a relationship outside his marriage. And that relationship became central to the state’s theory of why Ashley was killed. So, during Caleb Flynn’s trial, prosecutors presented evidence of an affair between Caleb and a younger woman named Alleigha Botner. Now, Botner was only twenty-four at the time of the proceeding. She testified for the prosecution. So according to testimony, the two had exchanged more than one hundred thousand messages. Think about that number, one hundred thousand messages. That represents an

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extraordinary amount of communication. I have been with my husband now for almost five years, and I’m pretty sure that we have not sent each other that many text messages over a period of five years investigators had access to conversations that prosecutors believed demonstrated Caleb’s growing desire to end his marriage without experiencing the consequences of a divorce. Now, during testimony, Botner read messages exchanged between her and Flynn, and one message reportedly sent by Caleb in May of twenty twenty-five was particularly disturbing. He wrote, “If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat.” I have to stop here because as someone who’s investigated deaths, I understand why prosecutors consider this message significant.  People sometimes say terrible things, and they say them when they’re angry, but an isolated

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statement does not automatically establish an intention to commit murder. But investigators examine statements like this within the larger context of someone’s behavior. They look at timing and subsequent actions, and they look for evidence of planning, and they look at whether the person’s behavior changed as the relationship continued to progress. That’s a big one. Now, in this case, prosecutors argued that Caleb’s messages were part of a larger pattern. They weren’t asking the jury to convict him just because he had an affair or made disturbing statements. They were asking the jury to consider those statements alongside physical evidence, electronic records, and what happened inside the Flynn home. And there was another message that became important during the trial. Shortly before Ashley’s murder, prosecutors said Caleb sent Botner a message, and it said, “I choose you.

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I’m free.” Now, think about that statement. It became part of the prosecution’s argument about his intentions. The defense, of course, disputed the state’s interpretation of the evidence and maintained that Caleb was completely innocent. But prosecutors believe that the messages helped explain why a husband would kill his wife rather than just leave the marriage. Now, during closing arguments, prosecutors described several possible benefits that Caleb would receive if Ashley died. They said that he would be able to keep his employment with Ashley’s family business. he would potentially benefit from her life insurance, and he would avoid the public consequences of divorcing his wife while working in the Christian ministry. According to prosecutors, Ashley’s death would allow Caleb to pursue his relationship with Botner without

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the financial, professional, and reputational consequences of ending his marriage and these were the motives presented by the prosecution. They weren’t independently established facts about what Caleb was thinking, but they provided the jury with a possible explanation for the murder, and the state argued that the events leading up to February sixteenth supported that explanation. Now, one of the details that prosecutors emphasized involved the family’s home security system. According to them, Caleb, and get this y’all, Caleb removed security cameras from the home about twenty days before Ashley’s murder. And one of those cameras had actually previously covered an area where an intruder supposedly entered the house. Now go figure that. And that became significant because Caleb would later report that someone had broken into the home. And investigators

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naturally, we’ve talked about cameras many times, they wanted to know why cameras that might have recorded an intruder were no longer operating. Now, again, you know, removing a security camera is not evidence of murder by itself. People remove cameras for many legitimate reasons. They replace equipment. They change security systems. They move cameras to different locations, but timing matters here, and when investigators reconstruct events leading up to a homicide, they definitely examine changes in the environment that might have made the crime easier to commit or conceal. Now, prosecutors argued that the camera removal was part of Caleb’s preparation. And of course, the defense challenged the prosecution’s interpretation. Ultimately, you could say that the jury considered this evidence along with everything else presented during the trial. Now, in the early morning

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hours of February sixteenth, police were dispatched to the Flan residence on Cunningham Court in Tipp City.  The call came in at about two thirty-one AM, and Caleb reported that someone had broken into the home and that his wife had been shot. Their two daughters were inside the house, and when officers got there, they found Ashley in the couple’s bedroom, and she had suffered gunshot wounds to her head. She was pronounced dead on scene, and the initial report just suggested a home invasion.  But investigators began examining the physical scene, and several details raised questions about whether an intruder had actually entered the house. So, investigators examined damage to a side door near the garage, and according to testimony from Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation personnel, the damage was inconsistent with what they say Was expected from a genuine, forced entry. Now, there were

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no corresponding pry marks. The latch and deadbolt mechanisms were functional. Investigators also found wood chips inside the garage. Their location suggested that the door had been damaged while it was open. Now, that detail matters because when someone forces entry through a door, the resulting damage often reflects the direction of the force and the position of the door. But wood fragments, damaged hardware, and tool marks actually help investigators reconstruct what happened. A damaged door doesn’t automatically establish a burglary. Investigators have to determine how that damage occurred, and in this case, the prosecution actually argued that the garage door had been deliberately damaged to create the appearance of an intruder.  Now, of course, again, the defense disputed the state’s conclusions, but the physical condition of the door became an important part of the prosecution’s

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case. This is where I wanna discuss the investigation from my perspective. as a forensic nurse death investigator, I spent years responding to deaths where the circumstances initially appeared pretty straightforward. And sometimes the information provided by a caller matched perfectly to what we found on the scene, but other times, the physical evidence told a completely different story. So, one of the most important things I learned was to avoid making assumptions based solely on that initial report. When somebody calls 911 and says that a loved one has been shot during a burglary, investigators have to consider that possibility.

But they do also have to examine whether the physical evidence supports it. And in Ashley’s case, investigators had several important questions. Where was her body positioned? I mean, just what injuries were present? What did the blood evidence show? Where were the cartridge casings?

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And was there evidence of movement or any kind of struggle? Also, did the physical evidence actually support the account that Caleb Flynn provided? And did the apparent point of entry make sense at all? Those questions are so important because a death investigation involves reconstructing events from the physical findings. A person’s statement is one source of information, but the body and that surrounding environment provide additional information that’s very important when you’re doing an investigation. And sometimes they don’t match. Many times, they don’t match. So according to trial testimony, investigators found Ashley lying on her left side in bed, and she was wearing black pajamas. Now, her positioning was consistent with someone who had been sleeping when she was shot, and that is an important distinction because when examining a death scene, we look

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for evidence of defensive activity. We look at the hands and the arms and the body for any injuries that might indicate that there was a struggle or that someone put up a fight. And we look for disturbances in the bedding and objects nearby. And we also have to consider whether the victim actually appears to have changed position after the injury.  But the absence of defensive injuries, remember, does not automatically mean that someone was asleep. Someone might be incapacitated, or they might have been caught off guard and been surprised, or they were just simply unable to react. But in this case, investigators considered Ashley’s body position alongside the gunshot wounds and other evidence. Now, prosecutors argued that she’d been shot while sleeping the autopsy was performed on February 17th by forensic pathologist Dr. Brian Casto. The cause of

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death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Now, Dr. Casto described two closely positioned entrance wounds on the back right side of Ashley’s head. The wounds were close enough to share an entry margin, and the projectiles traveled along approximately parallel paths. One bullet exited the head and subsequently entered Ashley’s arm. So, investigators recovered a Full Metal Jacket bullet near her left elbow, and this is an interesting forensic detail. When people think about gunshot wounds, oftentimes they just imagine a bullet entering the body and remaining there. But bullets frequently travel through tissue, and they will exit and sometimes enter another body part. So, the resulting injuries actually depends a lot on the victim’s position, the

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trajectory of the projectile, and the surrounding anatomy.  But a bullet passing through the head and entering an arm provides information about the relationship between those two body parts at the time of the shooting Now, information like that actually helps forensic pathologists and investigators evaluate the possible positions that her body was in at the time she was shot.  Doesn’t necessarily establish every detail of the shooting, but it becomes a big part of the reconstruction. Now, another detail worth discussing involves the distance between the firearm and Ashley’s head. According to the autopsy testimony, the range of fire was classified as indeterminate. The pathologist did not identify soot or stippling or any kind of thermal burns that would establish a close-range discharge. So let me explain why that’s

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important. When a firearm is discharged or fired, material other than the bullet actually exits the barrel. and this was hard for me to learn at first when I started investigating because I’m not a gun person. I knew very little about guns when I started in this field. So, if you are considering death investigation and you don’t know about weapons, don’t let that keep you from pursuing your dream. Now, depending on the distance, the ammunition, and the circumstances, soot and unburned powder particles might actually be deposited on the skin. Soot sometimes indicates a relatively close discharge. Stippling is gonna occur when the powder particles actually strike and abrade the skin, and thermal effects might also be present in certain circumstances. But the absence of these findings doesn’t establish that a shot came from a long

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distance. So intermediate materials like clothing or bedding sometimes actually interfere with the deposition of gunshot residue, and the characteristics of the firearm and ammunition definitely influence that resulting pattern. And in Ashley’s case, the forensic pathologist really couldn’t determine a specific firing distance from the wound characteristics. That is an appropriate forensic conclusion. Sometimes the evidence does not support a more precise answer, and a good forensic investigator needs to recognize those limitations. Now, investigators recovered two fired nine-millimeter cartridge casings from the bedroom floor. They also recovered bullet material from the bedding Now, according to testimony, a fired bullet and jacket fragments were located actually inside the pillow, and these findings

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really helped investigators evaluate where the shots occurred and how the projectiles traveled. The relationship between the casings and the bullet fragments, bedding, and Ashley’s injuries is very important, but investigators actually really faced a significant challenge. The murder weapon was never recovered. Police conducted a pretty extensive search for the firearm, and investigators also pursued records involving possible firearm purchases. But despite those efforts, they did not locate the gun that was used to kill Ashley. Now People sometimes assume that a murder case cannot be proven without actually recovering the weapon, and that’s not true. A firearm is very valuable evidence. It allows forensic examiners to actually compare the cartridge cases and bullets with test-fired samples. But a murder conviction doesn’t require

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investigators to recover the weapon. Other physical evidence, witness testimonies, digital records, and circumstantial evidence might establish what happened. in this case, prosecutors built their case without producing the murder weapon, and it happens. Investigators also examined areas of the home for possible blood evidence. Crime scene technician Holly Ryczek testified about collecting DNA samples and actually performing presumptive blood testing. Investigators tested surfaces in the primary bedroom and in the bathroom. A bedroom light switch produced a presumptive positive result for blood. Tests of the sink and shower drains were negative. Now, I wanna explain what a presumptive blood test means. That indicates a substance might be blood. It does not by itself conclusively establish the presence of human blood, so additional testing is often necessary to really

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confirm the finding and determine whether biological material is even suitable for DNA analysis. And that distinction really matters in forensic investigations. We should never treat a presumptive result as more definitive than it is. investigators also collected touch DNA samples, and I know we’ve talked about touch DNA before. If you touch somebody, your skin cells are there. They came from several locations, and so they got those from door handles, bathroom fixtures, and the console of a vehicle. And this touch DNA analysis actually examines biological material transferred through contact. But identifying someone’s DNA on an object doesn’t really establish when the person touched it. So, Caleb lived there, so it would not be abnormal for his DNA to be on light switches or doorknobs that are in the residence And that’s real important

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when, you know, you share a home with somebody. A husband and wife routinely touch the same surfaces. So, investigators have to consider the expected presence of household members’ DNA when they interpret these results. one of the most significant parts of this investigation involved electronic records. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation analyzed digital information from devices connected to the case. Special Agent Samantha Reeb actually helped reconstruct a timeline of Caleb’s electronic activity during the early morning hours of February sixteenth. Investigators examined phone activity, messages, and other electronic records, and prosecutors argued that the resulting timeline actually conflicted with Caleb’s account. Now, they also presented evidence suggesting that he deleted applications and attempted to remove messages. So

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digital evidence is particularly interesting because people sometimes don’t realize how much information your phone actually retains. A phone can… I mean, I know I’ve heard the police talk about this a lot. A phone might contain records of messages, application activity, connections, and other events, and those records sometimes help investigators establish a sequence of activity. But they do require, really careful interpretation. Now, a timestamp doesn’t necessarily identify who was holding a device, and a deleted message doesn’t automatically establish a criminal intent. So, investigators really have to correlate those findings with physical evidence and some of the other information. But in the Flynn case, prosecutors believe the digital timeline supported their theory that Caleb had planned Ashley’s murder. And they also argued about his communications after her death,

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saying that they demonstrated his awareness of exactly what had happened. Now, during closing arguments, prosecutors referred to a communication that Caleb allegedly made to Botner after Ashley’s death. According to the prosecution, he told her, “It didn’t happen the way we thought it would.” Now, that statement is a little bit significant to the state’s argument. Prosecutors presented it as evidence suggesting that prior expectations about how events would unfold. The defense challenged the prosecution’s interpretation of the message and said that Caleb was not responsible for Ashley’s death. The jury ultimately accepted the state’s case And Caleb was arrested on February 19th of 2026, just three days after Ashley’s death. Now, he was subsequently indicted on multiple charges, including aggravated murder, he pleaded not guilty. The case attracted national

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attention because of, number one, Caleb’s religious background, his previous American Idol appearance, and the circumstances of Ashley’s death. But the investigation itself involved a combination of traditional death scene examination and modern digital forensic analysis. Investigators examined the home, they documented physical evidence, they reviewed electronic communications, interviewed witnesses, and they completely reconstructed events leading up to the shooting. Caleb’s trial actually took place in Miami County, Ohio, in September 2026. The prosecution presented evidence over several days. Witnesses, including investigators, forensic specialists, and Alleigha Botner’s testimony provided jurors with details about her relationship with Caleb and their extensive communications. the state

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also presented evidence including the damaged garage door, the removal of the security cameras, the digital timeline, and the autopsy findings. as we would expect the defense argued that the evidence was circumstantial. Caleb’s attorney was L. Patrick Mulligan, and he maintained that prosecutors had established an affair, but they did not prove that Caleb actually committed the murder. The defense did not call witnesses. Caleb did not testify. Neither decision is actually evidence of guilt. A defendant actually has the constitutional right to remain silent, and the burden of proof remains with the prosecution. After closing arguments, the jury began deliberating, and on September twenty-ninth, after approximately two and a half hours, the jurors returned guilty verdicts on all nine counts submitted to them Now, let’s talk

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a little bit about those convictions. Aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence. Now, on October fifth, twenty twenty-six, Caleb returned to court for his sentencing, and Judge Janine Pratt presided. Now, the hearing included very emotional victim impact statements from Ashley’s family, and some of the most heartbreaking statements actually came from Ashley and Caleb’s daughters. Their words describe the devastation of losing their mother and the betrayal that they felt towards their father. One of the daughters actually questioned why her father had chosen to destroy their family. The other expressed the pain of losing her best friend. And as you can imagine, both of these statements really demonstrated how deeply Ashley’s death affected their lives. During the hearing, and we all saw this on TV, Caleb cried. He apologized for his decisions

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and acknowledged that he had failed the vows he made to Ashley, but he continued to deny killing her. He told the court that although he had lied about a lot of things, that he wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t murder her. And he maintained that he intended to continue fighting to establish his innocence. Now, Judge Pratt rejected the defense request for a sentence that preserved the possibility of parole, and she sentenced Caleb to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She described his actions as exceptionally cruel, and she did emphasize the harm caused to the children and the family. Now, the sentence reflected the seriousness of the aggravated murder convictions and the court’s assessment of his conduct. here’s where the case stands as of today. On October seventh, just two days after sentencing, Caleb’s attorney filed a notice of appeal with Ohio’s Second District Court

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of Appeals. The filing challenged the judgment entered against him. His attorneys identified potential issues involving jury instructions and the trial court’s refusal to move the proceedings outside Miami County. The appeal process still remains in early stages, and a notice of appeal does not mean that this conviction has been overturned. So don’t mistake it for that. It means that the defendant has initiated a request for an appellate review Appellate judges generally examine whether legal errors occurred during a trial, and they do not conduct an entirely new trial with an entirely new jury. And depending on their findings, they might uphold the conviction Order additional proceedings or grant other relief. But Caleb has also requested appointed counsel for the appeal. But meanwhile, he’s

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in the Ohio State Prison system, and as of October eighth, officials confirmed that he was at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio. Now, that facility actually handles the initial intake and classification of incarcerated individuals. There they will carry out the identification procedures. They’ll do medical eval-evaluations, mental health screening, and determine an appropriate long-term placement based on the results of all of those things. But his final prison assignment has not been publicly confirmed in the reporting that’s available right now. So, for now, his conviction and life sentence remain in effect. And there are a lot of things, again, I always have to put my two cents in. I wanna discuss this from my perspective as a forensic nurse death investigator. The first one is the importance of separating what someone reports

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from what the physical evidence actually demonstrates. Investigators were initially responding to what they thought was a home invasion, because that’s how it was reported to them. But the damaged garage door raised a lot of questions about forced entry. The physical evidence inside the bedroom helped investigators reconstruct the shooting, and the electronic records provided information about activity before and after Ashley’s death. So, no single piece of evidence should be evaluated in isolation. Now, the second thing that stands out to me is the victim’s position. Ashley was lying on her side in bed, and the gunshot wounds were locate-located on the back right side of her head. And those findings were consistent with the prosecution’s argument that she was shot while sleeping. As an investigator, I’d wanna understand the relationship between her injuries and the bedding and the recovered

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projectiles and the position of her body, because that reconstruction is essential. I mean, it’s such an important part of the investigation. The third issue involves the actual firearm. It was never recovered. So, the murder weapon, we don’t know where it’s at. But they recovered cartridge casings and projectiles, and that demonstrates why proper documentation and evidence collection are so important because a missing weapon kinda creates a lot of limitations, but it doesn’t eliminate the value of the evidence that was left behind. The fourth issue involves the digital records. We’ve talked a lot about cell phones and cameras. Modern death investigations frequently extend beyond the scene, and phones and other electronic devices sometimes contain information that help establish timelines and relationships. And in this case, very much

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so in this case, prosecutors used digital evidence to support their theory of planning and motive. And then finally, I wanna discuss the importance of objectivity. So again, we’ve talked about this many times, but forensic investigators have to remain focused on the evidence. It doesn’t matter if the person involved is a pastor or a police officer or a doctor or somebody with no public profile at all. Their occupation does not establish guilt or innocence. Their emotional response doesn’t establish guilt or innocence, and their reputation really shouldn’t influence how the evidence is interpreted. The goal is to determine what happened using reliable investigative methods. One of the most painful aspects of this case is what happened to the daughters. They were home when their mother was killed. They lost the person they

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depended on for love and comfort and guidance. And then they watched their father become the focus of a murder investigation. Now, during sentencing, prosecutors also alleged that Caleb had attempted to influence what his daughters said during forensic interviews. According to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum, the children actually described being instructed by their father about what to say. And that allegation really raises some serious concerns about the additional emotional pressure placed on the children already experiencing trauma forensic interviews involving children require very specialized training. You don’t just wanna send anybody in there to interview these children. These interviewers work hard to obtain information without suggesting, you know, without introducing suggestions or influencing their recollection. When children

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experience traumatic events, protecting the integrity of their statements is so important, I remember this from my sexual assault days. Protecting their emotional wellbeing is equally important, and these girls have definitely experienced an extraordinary loss, and their grief will continue long after these court proceedings end. Now, after Caleb’s conviction, Ashley’s family released a statement emphasizing that they did not want her murder to define her life. They wanted people to remember her faith and her kindness and her devotion to her kids, and I think that’s really important because when we tell stories about homicide victims, we have a huge responsibility to remember the people behind the investigations. Ashley had a life before February 16th. She had relationships and goals and people who loved her, and she had two daughters who really deserved to grow up with their

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mother. Her family’s statements make clear that they intend to preserve those memories which I love. I’ve investigated deaths for many years, and one thing I’ve learned is that the circumstances surrounding a death often reveal things about a person’s life that nobody expected. And in this case, prosecutors presented evidence of a secret relationship, disturbing messages, suspicious activity, and a death scene that they believed had been deliberately manipulated. We gotta remember that the jury considered that evidence and convicted Caleb Flynn of murdering his wife, and he continues to maintain his innocence. His appeal is pending, but Ashley Flynn is gone, and no court proceeding will change that. What remains is the responsibility to tell her story accurately. Now, to recognize the work of the investigators who examined the evidence and to remember the family left behind.

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Ashley Flynn was only thirty-seven She was someone whose life mattered to a lot of people, and her story deserves to be remembered for more than the circumstances of her death. So now you kinda know the background behind the story. I just remember every time I turned on the TV; I saw him crying, and I really didn’t have any sympathy because we do have to remember that all of that evidence has to be put together to determine what’s gonna happen in the case. And again, you can’t assume that just because someone was having an affair, was sending messages to another woman, that that was a motive. But in most of the cases, I think, where there is a spouse that murders the spouse, that’s been the case. And again, people try to delete things from their phone, and the police can still find

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it. It looks suspicious when you’ve moved stuff right before the murder, 20 days. So, I’m gonna continue watching this appeal process and any significant developments. Do me a huge favor. If you enjoyed today’s episode, follow Pushing Up Lilies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen, and share this episode with someone interested in true crime, forensic nursing, or even death investigation. And remember, behind every case file is a person who had a life, a family, and a story worth telling. Bye y’all. See y’all next week.