Sept. 30, 2026
American Idol Murder Trial: Guilty On ALL Counts (Yes, He Cried)
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RSS Feed It took the jury less than three hours to convict 40-year-old former American Idol Contestant Caleb Flynn for the murder of his wife, Ashley, last February. During closing arguments the prosecution reminded the jury of the overwhelming evidence against Flynn, including his damning text messages about wanting to kill his wife. The defense spent nearly an hour trying to convince the jury there was reasonable doubt because no physical evidence connected Flynn to the murder. We have Ashley’s family reaction and Caleb’s parents comments after the guilty verdict was delivered.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, September 30th, and it didn't take long, but it still took a little longer than we thought it might for the jury to come back and say that Caleb Flynn is guilty, guilty, guilty. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Roach, he's on trial for murder. There were a bunch of counts against him, um, The only thing he heard yesterday was the word guilty.
00:00:29
Speaker 2: Guilty, yes.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: He was found guilty on all nine counts, including the big one, aggravated murder. And it took the jury, I believe it was about two and a half hours, to reach... Look, those are nine verdicts they had to go through. So I guess it makes sense from that perspective. Also, I thought this was interesting.
00:00:48
Speaker 2: I hadn't realized this. Remember, as we were watching the trial.
00:00:52
Speaker 3: We were expecting possibly his daughters to testify.
00:00:56
Speaker 2: They did not.
00:00:57
Speaker 3: And we recognized they weren't going to testify when earlier this week, the prosecution actually dismissed. There were two misdemeanor charges that Caleb Flynn had also been facing, including which were intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case because his two daughters.
00:01:15
Speaker 2: Did not testify.
00:01:16
Speaker 3: So They were initially charging him with basically intimidating them, and they were going to have to testify to what, and that's why we even heard the grandmother, Ashley Finn's mother, talk about how her granddaughters were nervous after coming back from a walk. They were setting it up and then decided they didn't need to, which I think is a good thing. We were hoping that those two young girls were not going to have to take the stand, age 10 and 12, so he could get two more misdemeanor guilty charges. That wouldn't have made a lot of sense.
00:01:47
Speaker 1: It was the right call. It wasn't necessary. It was Robes, I guess, to be expected. We'll see him one more time. He does have sentencing coming up, and he's going to appeal. Fine. It's the expectation. But, Robes, we got one last performance from him, and we have seen him. We were introduced to him performing all those years ago on American Idol. We were introduced to him in several moments during this trial, and Robes, once again, He was performative as these verdicts were being read.
00:02:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's being referred to in many, many headlines as the crybaby American idol murderer. But yes, he cried throughout the entire trial and closing arguments. And verdict yesterday, cried through the whole damn thing all day long. And the closing arguments were very interesting. The prosecution had a lot to say. They were very happy to highlight their 40 witnesses and seven days of testimony. And their big point was, this murder of Ashley Flynn was planned. This wasn't something he just came up with. And they actually laid out, it was really remarkable, the evidence that they presented throughout the week.
00:02:53
Speaker 2: But the big thing was, the position... that she was in when she was killed. She was sleeping.
00:02:59
Speaker 3: I mean, just the idea of that. I thought this was one of their lines. She was not killed during a struggle. She was executed during her sleep. And in terms of his planning, look, I hadn't realized this, but he turned off, they say he turned off the security cameras in his house 20 days.
00:03:18
Speaker 2: Before Ashley Flynn was murdered.
00:03:20
Speaker 3: That would suggest he had been planning this for quite some time. They also went over all of those text messages and they ended with one of the best ones in terms of just effective, the hours before his wife's death, I choose you, I am free. That's impossible to ignore.
00:03:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, this, given how salacious I suppose and some of the details are in this case and the connection to a very high profile show, the prosecution ended with a bit of a thud in terms of performance. Now, this is, you can say all day long that no attorney robes needs to be a performer, but they often are performative, and one of the most engaging real-life theaters we see is in a courtroom, period. So you got an American Idol contestant here. You have the fare. You have all these text messages, all this drama. Well, the prosecutor took 16 minutes in the closing statement. Didn't get upset. Didn't get animated. There were no histrionics. There was nothing. Went by point by point. He killed his wife. It took 16 minutes. Let's wrap this up, people.
00:04:44
Speaker 2: You were shocked.
00:04:44
Speaker 1: I appreciated it.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, you were like, wow, 16 minutes. That's it.
00:04:49
Speaker 3: But that's all he needed. And the defense got up and talked and talked and talked. It's interesting for them to have not put on a defense in the sense that they didn't call any witnesses to the stand. He certainly did talk in the end and tried to make his case to the jury in his closing arguments. Clearly, they were not effective. Their big point was, and I just thought it was strange, they kept referring to Aaliyah Botner, his mistress, as his side piece. that was like a drug to him. I just thought it was interesting that, and clearly they were suggesting that perhaps there was more to her story, her missing laptop, her damaged phone. They were possibly just suggesting that she could have been more involved. There was no investigation into her and her role. They were just grasping at straws.
00:05:45
Speaker 1: If you wanted to call his closing rambling, I would support that. He was all over the place and Robes, this is one of those things. Caleb Flynn could not have felt good. And this is no offense. These folks are trained. They do this. And it doesn't have to be a great performance. Robes, but the guy was, it was bizarre.
00:06:05
Speaker 3: It was.
00:06:05
Speaker 1: That this is, after not putting on a defense, you got to come strong in this closing. And he did. He rambled. And sometimes, Robes, it was kind of a, seriously, guys? I mean, come on. It He said it was a little interjecting in little ways like that that didn't make you feel like he was confident even in what he was saying. It was an odd closing, and his went 40-plus minutes, I believe.
00:06:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the weird thing about it, to your point, he was kind of dismissive of the prosecution's evidence. Like, that's all they got? And that almost made me laugh because, yeah, they had a lot. Yes, they didn't have the gun. And they didn't have blood on Caleb, but they had everything else that you could ever imagine would point directly at his client.
00:06:52
Speaker 2: And for him not to acknowledge that was just bizarre. Yeah, I don't know.
00:06:57
Speaker 1: It was almost like he wasn't prepared. In all seriousness, you and I have watched this case every day. You could have gone up there and more passionately at least tried to make an argument about something. And there was no energy there.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: That was.
00:07:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was not a good way to end things. And the prosecution, they took 16 minutes. They could have taken 15 seconds. They could have gone up and said, come on, guys. Who are we kidding? Nothing further, Your Honor. And sat down.
00:07:23
Speaker 2: Like you said, they could have just played the song and sat down.
00:07:25
Speaker 1: Nothing to do.
00:07:26
Speaker 2: They really didn't need to.
00:07:27
Speaker 3: I did think the way the defense ended the closing arguments was so strange. He said, bottom line, the evidence in this case does not rise to beyond a reasonable doubt in any way, shape, or form.
00:07:40
Speaker 2: That's why we didn't need to put on a case.
00:07:44
Speaker 3: I wonder if he's rethinking that last statement in his closing argument.
00:07:49
Speaker 1: I mean, he's trying to make the point that, guys, we didn't even need to. You did. You desperately needed to have somebody up there to explain a lot to me.
00:07:59
Speaker 2: Woulda, coulda, shoulda, and yes.
00:08:01
Speaker 1: Wouldn't you even put an expert up to say how the door could have been broken and that way? Like, all kinds of stuff. There are other reports in the area of intruders over the past two years, even. I don't know something.
00:08:15
Speaker 3: Or get more into the Aaliyah Botner connection, that she could have been the one who wanted to get rid of her.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: Like, you could have absolutely.
00:08:23
Speaker 1: Same trip, lost laptop and cell phone.
00:08:25
Speaker 3: Yes, there were holes in there that you could have poked... through and certainly at least threw some doubt into it. I mean, there was no attempt to put on a defense whatsoever.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: You know, that was one point that we thought, two points that I thought were legit. One, her losing the laptop and the cell phone the same trip. That's just doesn't seem likely. And it happens to be a woman who's involved with a guy who's going to end up on trial for murder. Okay, I will listen to that point. They didn't go too far with that. The other Rhodes was exploring this idea that maybe he was saying a lot of stuff to her because he was just trying to keep his side piece, as they put it, happy. I was like, huh, explore that a little more. And it didn't seem like they did. But I was willing to listen to those points.
00:09:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he actually made one more argument that you and I both were interested in, but he didn't go far enough with it. But he basically said if Aaliyah was telling him in these text messages that he had to choose between her and his daughters and she wanted her own family with him.
00:09:27
Speaker 2: She wanted to become the new Mrs.
00:09:29
Speaker 1: Flynn.
00:09:29
Speaker 2: She wanted her own kids with him. Why would he have taken out the mother?
00:09:34
Speaker 3: Because now he's going to have the daughters with him full time, which is what Aaliyah clearly didn't want. There were several moments where he could have started a defense plan. And then just suggested.
00:09:44
Speaker 2: It and moved on.
00:09:45
Speaker 3: And again, the first we even heard any of this from the defense was in their closing arguments. And clearly it was not effective. The jury started deliberating at 1 p.m. Eastern time by 3.30. Caleb Flynn learned he was going to go to prison. and he will learn for exactly how long next week. When we come back, we will tell you what Ashley Flynn's family had to say about the verdict and what Caleb Flynn's parents had to say about it as well.
00:10:23
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ.
00:10:25
Speaker 3: Yes, nine guilty verdicts for former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn. Man, he went from a video gushing about how much he loved his wife and how pretty she was to now facing the rest of his life behind bars for her murder. And Ashley's family, they took... I thought they were pretty remarkable on the stand. They testified early on in this trial, and... That had to be excruciating to be staring down this person who you welcomed into your home, into your family, who you worked with, who you vacationed with, and just to see it all end the way it did. I mean, this still has to be shocking. It's only been, what, eight months since the murder itself? That's not that much time.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: Oh, no. From crime to conviction, we don't see this a whole lot. This is a murder case. So swift justice. They didn't have to wait for a long time. But yeah, this is... I mean, imagine anybody in your family right now who married into your family that's close enough that you call them a brother or a sister or even your father or your mother. Use those labels and the Thanksgivings and the Christmases and the kids and all this stuff. And that person sat right next to you, prayed with you.
00:11:39
Speaker 2: You paid that person.
00:11:41
Speaker 3: $ 200, 000 a year to work alongside you.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: And you're looking at that person. That's a shock for a family. One thing, yes, losing the family member in the way they did. But dealing with the person now, Robes has been in their home for 15 years. There's no way they were thought capable maybe of him even raising his hand to her and to think they're here now.
00:12:02
Speaker 2: No.
00:12:03
Speaker 1: And those kids.
00:12:04
Speaker 2: They're raising those two girls now.
00:12:06
Speaker 1: Those kids, those are your victims. Those are your victims. They lost both parents.
00:12:12
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
00:12:13
Speaker 3: So they did have the district attorney or some folks read aloud their family statement following the verdict. They said today's verdict brings justice and accountability for Ashley's death. And our family is deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring us to this moment. However, no verdict can bring Ashley back, give the girls back their mother or erase the pain. Our family has endured the cruelty of what happened to Ashley and the things we've been forced to hear and relive have at times felt unbearable. I thought that was just, it's so true to, to sit through court, to hear Ashley, Those text messages, to know they exist is one thing, but to hear them read aloud by the woman who was calling your daughter a douche, that had to just be excruciating. The only moment of levity was that damn song that they played. That was the only time I saw Ashley's family not look deeply in pain.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: You know, and it gave us, you know, that was a human moment that we could relate to. So much of it we couldn't relate to, the pain of losing a family member the way they did at the hands of someone that you loved and had in your home. We can't relate to that. But to see a moment of levity and shoulders relaxed from a collective punishment they could give him, which was shame in that moment. This is all we can do. is just look at him and laugh at you idiot.
00:13:43
Speaker 2: Like, you pathetic man. You pathetic, pathetic man.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: It was that song. And again, I was hoping for it in the closing, but.
00:13:50
Speaker 2: It was not to be.
00:13:52
Speaker 3: Now, Caleb Flynn's parents. This probably isn't that shocking. No one wants to believe their child is capable of murder. And Caleb Flynn's parents are clearly on that side of the fence. They continue to maintain his innocence. They said his defense team did not do the best job. They said they're still going to do what they can to try and help him. Their quote, we couldn't get ahead of the media. He didn't do it.
00:14:15
Speaker 2: He's innocent. I guess you kind of have to believe that if that's your kid.
00:14:19
Speaker 1: Your best chance now is to go solve the crime. Go find, hire a detective, a private investigator, and say go track down the person who killed Ashley Flynn. That's your best chance because we are not going to believe it. Any other story. Just won't. An intruder randomly comes in and kicks in a door backwards.
00:14:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:42
Speaker 1: Finds a gun that has no way of knowing where it is, steals that gun, shoots that woman, and leaves.
00:14:49
Speaker 3: Doesn't take one thing with him. Her purse was sitting right by the bed. So this burglar breaks in to just target Ashley Flynn, who apparently was beloved by all, didn't steal a damn thing, the dogs didn't bark, didn't wake up anyone, and the neighbor's camera.
00:15:09
Speaker 2: He must have also been invisible.
00:15:10
Speaker 1: I'm listening. Look, I'm listening to you. If you're telling me somebody else did it, you've got to go find that person. You can't just keep telling me to believe Caleb Flynn's story.
00:15:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, his parents probably will, though, until the day they die.
00:15:23
Speaker 3: And his lawyers have already said that they will appeal the verdict. But Caleb Flynn will most likely be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole next week, October 5th.
00:15:35
Speaker 2: That is his sentencing hearing.
00:15:36
Speaker 1: Did he get victim impact statements?
00:15:38
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:15:39
Speaker 1: I think that's going to be tough.
00:15:40
Speaker 3: It's going to be a hell of a day next week. It certainly will. We, of course, will be following that and the rest of the day's headlines for you. So please check out our feed as always. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, September 30th, and it didn't take long, but it still took a little longer than we thought it might for the jury to come back and say that Caleb Flynn is guilty, guilty, guilty. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Roach, he's on trial for murder. There were a bunch of counts against him, um, The only thing he heard yesterday was the word guilty.
00:00:29
Speaker 2: Guilty, yes.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: He was found guilty on all nine counts, including the big one, aggravated murder. And it took the jury, I believe it was about two and a half hours, to reach... Look, those are nine verdicts they had to go through. So I guess it makes sense from that perspective. Also, I thought this was interesting.
00:00:48
Speaker 2: I hadn't realized this. Remember, as we were watching the trial.
00:00:52
Speaker 3: We were expecting possibly his daughters to testify.
00:00:56
Speaker 2: They did not.
00:00:57
Speaker 3: And we recognized they weren't going to testify when earlier this week, the prosecution actually dismissed. There were two misdemeanor charges that Caleb Flynn had also been facing, including which were intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case because his two daughters.
00:01:15
Speaker 2: Did not testify.
00:01:16
Speaker 3: So They were initially charging him with basically intimidating them, and they were going to have to testify to what, and that's why we even heard the grandmother, Ashley Finn's mother, talk about how her granddaughters were nervous after coming back from a walk. They were setting it up and then decided they didn't need to, which I think is a good thing. We were hoping that those two young girls were not going to have to take the stand, age 10 and 12, so he could get two more misdemeanor guilty charges. That wouldn't have made a lot of sense.
00:01:47
Speaker 1: It was the right call. It wasn't necessary. It was Robes, I guess, to be expected. We'll see him one more time. He does have sentencing coming up, and he's going to appeal. Fine. It's the expectation. But, Robes, we got one last performance from him, and we have seen him. We were introduced to him performing all those years ago on American Idol. We were introduced to him in several moments during this trial, and Robes, once again, He was performative as these verdicts were being read.
00:02:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's being referred to in many, many headlines as the crybaby American idol murderer. But yes, he cried throughout the entire trial and closing arguments. And verdict yesterday, cried through the whole damn thing all day long. And the closing arguments were very interesting. The prosecution had a lot to say. They were very happy to highlight their 40 witnesses and seven days of testimony. And their big point was, this murder of Ashley Flynn was planned. This wasn't something he just came up with. And they actually laid out, it was really remarkable, the evidence that they presented throughout the week.
00:02:53
Speaker 2: But the big thing was, the position... that she was in when she was killed. She was sleeping.
00:02:59
Speaker 3: I mean, just the idea of that. I thought this was one of their lines. She was not killed during a struggle. She was executed during her sleep. And in terms of his planning, look, I hadn't realized this, but he turned off, they say he turned off the security cameras in his house 20 days.
00:03:18
Speaker 2: Before Ashley Flynn was murdered.
00:03:20
Speaker 3: That would suggest he had been planning this for quite some time. They also went over all of those text messages and they ended with one of the best ones in terms of just effective, the hours before his wife's death, I choose you, I am free. That's impossible to ignore.
00:03:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, this, given how salacious I suppose and some of the details are in this case and the connection to a very high profile show, the prosecution ended with a bit of a thud in terms of performance. Now, this is, you can say all day long that no attorney robes needs to be a performer, but they often are performative, and one of the most engaging real-life theaters we see is in a courtroom, period. So you got an American Idol contestant here. You have the fare. You have all these text messages, all this drama. Well, the prosecutor took 16 minutes in the closing statement. Didn't get upset. Didn't get animated. There were no histrionics. There was nothing. Went by point by point. He killed his wife. It took 16 minutes. Let's wrap this up, people.
00:04:44
Speaker 2: You were shocked.
00:04:44
Speaker 1: I appreciated it.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, you were like, wow, 16 minutes. That's it.
00:04:49
Speaker 3: But that's all he needed. And the defense got up and talked and talked and talked. It's interesting for them to have not put on a defense in the sense that they didn't call any witnesses to the stand. He certainly did talk in the end and tried to make his case to the jury in his closing arguments. Clearly, they were not effective. Their big point was, and I just thought it was strange, they kept referring to Aaliyah Botner, his mistress, as his side piece. that was like a drug to him. I just thought it was interesting that, and clearly they were suggesting that perhaps there was more to her story, her missing laptop, her damaged phone. They were possibly just suggesting that she could have been more involved. There was no investigation into her and her role. They were just grasping at straws.
00:05:45
Speaker 1: If you wanted to call his closing rambling, I would support that. He was all over the place and Robes, this is one of those things. Caleb Flynn could not have felt good. And this is no offense. These folks are trained. They do this. And it doesn't have to be a great performance. Robes, but the guy was, it was bizarre.
00:06:05
Speaker 3: It was.
00:06:05
Speaker 1: That this is, after not putting on a defense, you got to come strong in this closing. And he did. He rambled. And sometimes, Robes, it was kind of a, seriously, guys? I mean, come on. It He said it was a little interjecting in little ways like that that didn't make you feel like he was confident even in what he was saying. It was an odd closing, and his went 40-plus minutes, I believe.
00:06:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the weird thing about it, to your point, he was kind of dismissive of the prosecution's evidence. Like, that's all they got? And that almost made me laugh because, yeah, they had a lot. Yes, they didn't have the gun. And they didn't have blood on Caleb, but they had everything else that you could ever imagine would point directly at his client.
00:06:52
Speaker 2: And for him not to acknowledge that was just bizarre. Yeah, I don't know.
00:06:57
Speaker 1: It was almost like he wasn't prepared. In all seriousness, you and I have watched this case every day. You could have gone up there and more passionately at least tried to make an argument about something. And there was no energy there.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: That was.
00:07:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was not a good way to end things. And the prosecution, they took 16 minutes. They could have taken 15 seconds. They could have gone up and said, come on, guys. Who are we kidding? Nothing further, Your Honor. And sat down.
00:07:23
Speaker 2: Like you said, they could have just played the song and sat down.
00:07:25
Speaker 1: Nothing to do.
00:07:26
Speaker 2: They really didn't need to.
00:07:27
Speaker 3: I did think the way the defense ended the closing arguments was so strange. He said, bottom line, the evidence in this case does not rise to beyond a reasonable doubt in any way, shape, or form.
00:07:40
Speaker 2: That's why we didn't need to put on a case.
00:07:44
Speaker 3: I wonder if he's rethinking that last statement in his closing argument.
00:07:49
Speaker 1: I mean, he's trying to make the point that, guys, we didn't even need to. You did. You desperately needed to have somebody up there to explain a lot to me.
00:07:59
Speaker 2: Woulda, coulda, shoulda, and yes.
00:08:01
Speaker 1: Wouldn't you even put an expert up to say how the door could have been broken and that way? Like, all kinds of stuff. There are other reports in the area of intruders over the past two years, even. I don't know something.
00:08:15
Speaker 3: Or get more into the Aaliyah Botner connection, that she could have been the one who wanted to get rid of her.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: Like, you could have absolutely.
00:08:23
Speaker 1: Same trip, lost laptop and cell phone.
00:08:25
Speaker 3: Yes, there were holes in there that you could have poked... through and certainly at least threw some doubt into it. I mean, there was no attempt to put on a defense whatsoever.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: You know, that was one point that we thought, two points that I thought were legit. One, her losing the laptop and the cell phone the same trip. That's just doesn't seem likely. And it happens to be a woman who's involved with a guy who's going to end up on trial for murder. Okay, I will listen to that point. They didn't go too far with that. The other Rhodes was exploring this idea that maybe he was saying a lot of stuff to her because he was just trying to keep his side piece, as they put it, happy. I was like, huh, explore that a little more. And it didn't seem like they did. But I was willing to listen to those points.
00:09:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he actually made one more argument that you and I both were interested in, but he didn't go far enough with it. But he basically said if Aaliyah was telling him in these text messages that he had to choose between her and his daughters and she wanted her own family with him.
00:09:27
Speaker 2: She wanted to become the new Mrs.
00:09:29
Speaker 1: Flynn.
00:09:29
Speaker 2: She wanted her own kids with him. Why would he have taken out the mother?
00:09:34
Speaker 3: Because now he's going to have the daughters with him full time, which is what Aaliyah clearly didn't want. There were several moments where he could have started a defense plan. And then just suggested.
00:09:44
Speaker 2: It and moved on.
00:09:45
Speaker 3: And again, the first we even heard any of this from the defense was in their closing arguments. And clearly it was not effective. The jury started deliberating at 1 p.m. Eastern time by 3.30. Caleb Flynn learned he was going to go to prison. and he will learn for exactly how long next week. When we come back, we will tell you what Ashley Flynn's family had to say about the verdict and what Caleb Flynn's parents had to say about it as well.
00:10:23
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ.
00:10:25
Speaker 3: Yes, nine guilty verdicts for former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn. Man, he went from a video gushing about how much he loved his wife and how pretty she was to now facing the rest of his life behind bars for her murder. And Ashley's family, they took... I thought they were pretty remarkable on the stand. They testified early on in this trial, and... That had to be excruciating to be staring down this person who you welcomed into your home, into your family, who you worked with, who you vacationed with, and just to see it all end the way it did. I mean, this still has to be shocking. It's only been, what, eight months since the murder itself? That's not that much time.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: Oh, no. From crime to conviction, we don't see this a whole lot. This is a murder case. So swift justice. They didn't have to wait for a long time. But yeah, this is... I mean, imagine anybody in your family right now who married into your family that's close enough that you call them a brother or a sister or even your father or your mother. Use those labels and the Thanksgivings and the Christmases and the kids and all this stuff. And that person sat right next to you, prayed with you.
00:11:39
Speaker 2: You paid that person.
00:11:41
Speaker 3: $ 200, 000 a year to work alongside you.
00:11:44
Speaker 1: And you're looking at that person. That's a shock for a family. One thing, yes, losing the family member in the way they did. But dealing with the person now, Robes has been in their home for 15 years. There's no way they were thought capable maybe of him even raising his hand to her and to think they're here now.
00:12:02
Speaker 2: No.
00:12:03
Speaker 1: And those kids.
00:12:04
Speaker 2: They're raising those two girls now.
00:12:06
Speaker 1: Those kids, those are your victims. Those are your victims. They lost both parents.
00:12:12
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
00:12:13
Speaker 3: So they did have the district attorney or some folks read aloud their family statement following the verdict. They said today's verdict brings justice and accountability for Ashley's death. And our family is deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring us to this moment. However, no verdict can bring Ashley back, give the girls back their mother or erase the pain. Our family has endured the cruelty of what happened to Ashley and the things we've been forced to hear and relive have at times felt unbearable. I thought that was just, it's so true to, to sit through court, to hear Ashley, Those text messages, to know they exist is one thing, but to hear them read aloud by the woman who was calling your daughter a douche, that had to just be excruciating. The only moment of levity was that damn song that they played. That was the only time I saw Ashley's family not look deeply in pain.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: You know, and it gave us, you know, that was a human moment that we could relate to. So much of it we couldn't relate to, the pain of losing a family member the way they did at the hands of someone that you loved and had in your home. We can't relate to that. But to see a moment of levity and shoulders relaxed from a collective punishment they could give him, which was shame in that moment. This is all we can do. is just look at him and laugh at you idiot.
00:13:43
Speaker 2: Like, you pathetic man. You pathetic, pathetic man.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: It was that song. And again, I was hoping for it in the closing, but.
00:13:50
Speaker 2: It was not to be.
00:13:52
Speaker 3: Now, Caleb Flynn's parents. This probably isn't that shocking. No one wants to believe their child is capable of murder. And Caleb Flynn's parents are clearly on that side of the fence. They continue to maintain his innocence. They said his defense team did not do the best job. They said they're still going to do what they can to try and help him. Their quote, we couldn't get ahead of the media. He didn't do it.
00:14:15
Speaker 2: He's innocent. I guess you kind of have to believe that if that's your kid.
00:14:19
Speaker 1: Your best chance now is to go solve the crime. Go find, hire a detective, a private investigator, and say go track down the person who killed Ashley Flynn. That's your best chance because we are not going to believe it. Any other story. Just won't. An intruder randomly comes in and kicks in a door backwards.
00:14:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:14:42
Speaker 1: Finds a gun that has no way of knowing where it is, steals that gun, shoots that woman, and leaves.
00:14:49
Speaker 3: Doesn't take one thing with him. Her purse was sitting right by the bed. So this burglar breaks in to just target Ashley Flynn, who apparently was beloved by all, didn't steal a damn thing, the dogs didn't bark, didn't wake up anyone, and the neighbor's camera.
00:15:09
Speaker 2: He must have also been invisible.
00:15:10
Speaker 1: I'm listening. Look, I'm listening to you. If you're telling me somebody else did it, you've got to go find that person. You can't just keep telling me to believe Caleb Flynn's story.
00:15:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, his parents probably will, though, until the day they die.
00:15:23
Speaker 3: And his lawyers have already said that they will appeal the verdict. But Caleb Flynn will most likely be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole next week, October 5th.
00:15:35
Speaker 2: That is his sentencing hearing.
00:15:36
Speaker 1: Did he get victim impact statements?
00:15:38
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:15:39
Speaker 1: I think that's going to be tough.
00:15:40
Speaker 3: It's going to be a hell of a day next week. It certainly will. We, of course, will be following that and the rest of the day's headlines for you. So please check out our feed as always. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you soon.