He sang on American Idol; now he will spend life in prison for murder.

There are stories that unfold like parables, and then there are stories that resist every lesson we might try to draw from them. The case of Caleb Flynn belongs to the second kind—a life that once carried the sound of music and the language of faith, now defined by a verdict that will keep him in prison for the rest of his days.

On Monday, Flynn, 40, a former Ohio music pastor who appeared briefly on American Idol in 2013, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife, Ashley Flynn, a 37-year-old schoolteacher and volleyball coach . A jury convicted him last week of multiple counts, including aggravated murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence, after rejecting his claim that an intruder broke into their Tipp City home and shot his wife as she slept .

Prosecutors said Flynn staged the scene to appear as though someone had broken in through the garage. In reality, they argued, he shot his wife while she slept—with their two young daughters, ages 9 and 11, in the house . He was having an affair with a 20-year-old church intern, Alleigha Botner, who testified during the trial that Flynn told her he hated his wife and had thoughts of killing her .

The evidence against Flynn was extensive. Prosecutors presented text messages sent to Botner, including one on the night before the shooting: “I choose you. I’m free. Actions will come tomorrow” . Another message read: “I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail” . His fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene, and data from his devices showed he was moving around the house despite claiming he was asleep at the time of the shooting .

Flynn did not testify in his own defense, and his legal team called no witnesses . At his sentencing, he sobbed as letters from his daughters were read aloud. “Mommy was the perfect person,” one letter said. “The absolute perfect person. What did she ever do to you to make you hate her so much?” . Another daughter, who addressed her letter “Dear Caleb” rather than “Dear Daddy,” said she would never visit him in prison .

Judge Jeannine Pratt called Flynn an “extreme” risk to the public and described his actions as marked by “layers of deceit, manipulation and cruelty” . She said he had used his Christian faith to manipulate others and showed no remorse. Flynn, in his own statement, apologized to his family but maintained his innocence. “As I stand here before God, who is my ultimate judge, I am not lying when I say I did not kill my wife,” he said .

Ashley Flynn’s family said they had forgiven Flynn because they did not want her legacy to be hatred. Her sister, Kayla Keyt, said the murder had shattered their church community, prompting children to run into their parents’ bedrooms to make sure their fathers had not killed their mothers . For the family, the sentence brings a measure of closure, though not of healing. The music has stopped, and what remains is a silence that no verdict can fill.

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Sources: ABC News (Australia), BBC, CBC News