What Caleb Flynn's Defense Conceded Before Witnesses

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This is The Big Breakdown, a long look back at some of the biggest stories we're covering for you at the Hidden Killers podcast and True Crime Today. This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke.

Tony Brueski (0:17)

We've looked at how investigators tour through Caleb Flynn's crime scene, but now we have to look at the uphill battle his defense is facing in Miami County. Caleb claims a phantom burglar broken to his Ford pickup. Stole his 9mm handgun and then broke into the house to execute Ashley while leaving him and his daughters completely untouched, with the judge ruling that his alleged mistress will take the stand.

How does this alibi hold up under cross-examination? I mean, continuing our panel discussion here, former FBI chief of the behavioral analysis program, Robin Dreeke, and former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer with us. Let's start with the gun. Jen, you know your weapons and the stories of them. How often is it that someone goes and not only takes the weapon from the home to use in said crime, but actively finds a hidden one in a vehicle, parked in the garage? It's not like it's in the gun cabinet over here or sitting on the counter, you're like, oh, I'll pick this up and use it. It's like, oh, I don't know. I don't know how many people put 9mm in their center console. I'm sure some do, but it's kind of a luck of the draw, I would think, as to whether you're going to find one or not.

What are the odds?

Jennifer Coffindaffer (1:40)

Well, that's the thing. People bring the tools they need to commit their crime. They don't go into a house and say, boy, I hope there's a 9mm gun here, and let's check the glove compartment just in case it might be there.

No one does that. It's so ludicrous. I say that too. Sorry, you're not going to like this, maybe. But Ramsey, John Benet, everything used in her crime was from the house. So, okay, I'm not going to digress. All I'm going to say is people do not hope that their murder weapons and their weapons to commit their crimes are at the house. They bring them with them. So, it's ludicrous to think that.

Tony Brueski (2:25)

Can we think of any where we actually have that happening, where someone and it was like, no, they actually did that. I can't. I mean, maybe it exists somewhere in the ether.

Robin Dreeke (2:35)

I'll see if there is. But just with burglaries gone sideways with murder committed along the act, it's under 1 percent. It is 0.004 percent of burglaries end in homicide. That's not even counting. That's what people who bring the weapon with them. So let me see you on the other one. It's like that's why people with one marble or half a marble rolling around upstairs doing stupid shit like this. I'm sorry. It's going to be the end of the day and this case is done.

Tony Brueski (3:02)

Well, I'm going to take a wild guess here. And I mean, it's a Ford pickup truck. I think it's an F-150.

I don't know the year of it, but I would imagine that there's going to be the infotainment system on it, like we've seen in so many cases, it's basically the computer that can tell you a lot of things. When the doors were open, when probably even when the glove box or the middle console was probably open, there's probably something that tracks that electronically. The timing of that, I think, is going to be interesting. If they pulled it. I don't know if they did. I mean, would you imagine that the vehicle data that exists of those sort of things being accessed, being a part of the trial in the case against him in this case, Jen?

Jennifer Coffindaffer (3:49)

Oh, yeah. I would pull it, absolutely. It doesn't necessarily mean that information is going to be there, but you 100% have a specialist. Again, this is a very unique area that people are very specialized in, and I would definitely have a subject matter expert go through that module and pull every bit of evidence there is from that vehicle.

Tony Brueski (4:16)

You got something there, Robin?

Robin Dreeke (4:17)

Yeah, so the data is going to be a little skewed on this, because when you look up amount of burglaries that turn to homicides, that number is low.

But if it's a burglary for the intent of stealing weapons, that actually goes a little higher, but it's still extremely low. So again, it's hard to differentiate in the data on it, because if people are actually going there looking for weapons, that actually has a higher percentage. Which grant higher percentage was it? It's 4%.