Why Caleb Flynn’s Lawyers Called ZERO Witnesses at His Murder Trial

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This is HiddenKillers With Tony Brueski.

Tony Brueski (0:11)

It's been a show. It has been a show. Caleb Flynn, you could have had a completely different life if you were an American Idol, but you weren't, and you didn't. So we're here.

The end of the Caleb Flynn trial, and you may be watching this after a verdict is already rendered. It's going to be a tight window, I'm feeling, as us doing this wrap-up segment and a jury coming back with a verdict.

SPEAKER_1 (0:47)

I don't think it's going to take them long.

Tony Brueski (0:49)

I could be completely wrong. Who knows? But I want to talk about the very end of the trial. Itself. Because the Defense didn't bring anybody up. In fact, the Defense went on closing argument and ended up bringing up the Magna Carter and Rin Tin Tin, a silent movie era dog, in case you're playing along. And he brought it up as a pop culture reference when he was referencing the dogs barking about Rin Tin Tin. Yeah, did you have to Google that too? It's like, I feel like I'm Caleb Flynn's father-in-law. Can a good Christian man murder his wife? Who is Rin Tin Tin the dog? Oh, he's from the 1920s, silent era movie dog. Let's bring that up to the jury as a pop culture reference and closing arguments. If these are things that you're bringing up to be relatable to a jury, you know, the Magna Carter and the silent movie dog? You might not have a very strong case. Just saying. Also in the closing arguments, one of my favorite things that I saw was he was talking about the gunshot residue that was not on Caleb Flynn's hands because the police told him to wash his hands. That's why they didn't find it. That's literally what the defense said in the closing argument. It wasn't there because he washed his hands because the police told him. Are you insinuating it would be there if they didn't tell him to wash his hands? I mean, it was a dumb thing to wash his hands. But like, are you literally saying, oh, it would have been because it's not there, because he washed it off? That makes it a menace. Can't prove it.

It was interesting to say the least. Going to go to the limb here and guess that the defense of Caleb Flynn might have thrown the towel in a bit. I don't know.

Let's talk about how this thing ended. Who actually did take the stand? Who had evidence to prove? Who had points to make? Beyond Rin Tin Tin, the silent movie dog. The prosecution called 40 witnesses over seven days. They put 107,000 text messages in front of a jury and, oh, we got to see more of them. We got to see more of them on the last day of testimony, and we're going to go through some of them. We're going to go through some of the full sheets. I went and took screenshots of all of them because it was like, oh, here we go. I can't wait. I mean, when this is done and if this evidence is available to take a look at, which it should be at some point, all 107,000 pages, that's going to be fun. That might be my Christmas gift to you. Dramatic readings of the Caleb Flynn texts, just for fun. They put 107,000 text messages in front of the jury. They walked the jury through Caleb's house, his phone, his deleted apps, his affair. In the morning, his wife was found shot twice in the head while she slept. Then they rested. The defense called zero witnesses, not one person, not a forensic expert, not a character witness, not a neighbor who heard something strange that night. Caleb Flynn's attorneys looked at everything the jury had just seen and decided, single best thing we can do for our client is to do nothing. Sit there and say nothing. Closing arguments have taken place.

The only sentence the defense has given this jury to hold on to is this. A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer. Yeah, he can also be a murderer too. That's the whole case for Caleb Flynn. One sentence against 107,000 text messages. And by the time you hear what's in those messages, if you already haven't, you'll understand why his lawyers chose silence and why silence might be the most honest thing anyone in Caleb's side has said in this entire trial. The state's digital analyst organized the text between Caleb and his mistress, Alleigha Botner, into categories. The category names alone tell you what the prosecution was working with. One series was labeled Kill Ashley, Ashley Dead Slash Gone, Rid of Ashley. Another was titled About Hating Ashley. Ninety-five separate messages where Caleb told Botner he hated his wife not over a bad weekend, but for ten straight months. The jury read those 95 messages in sequence and watched the language harden across a full calendar year. In March, he wrote, I hate her ever living guts by October, I despise her. I want nothing to do with her. In December, he was calling her the witch. And his voice visibly turned demonic. Okay, no, it didn't, but, you know. 95 separate times, Caleb told the woman he wanted to be...