Caleb Flynn, a 39-year-old former "American Idol" contestant and church music pastor, was charged with murder and tampering with evidence after authorities say he shot his wife in the head and then staged the scene to look like a home invasion.

The New York Post reported that Ashley Flynn, 37, a teacher and volleyball coach, was found dead in her bedroom. Their two daughters were asleep in their own rooms throughout the entire incident.

Flynn called 911 around 2:30 a.m. Monday, frantic and pleading:

"Oh my god, somebody broke into my home, somebody broke into my home and shot my wife."

"My wife, she's got two shots to her head, there's blood everywhere. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my God."

Responding officers found signs of a break-in, which triggered a massive search involving drones and K-9 units. But investigators were ultimately led astray "by the staging of the crime scene," according to a criminal complaint filed Friday. The supposed burglary that Caleb Flynn described to the dispatcher never happened.

The 911 call and the unraveling story

Dispatch logs obtained by WHIO paint a picture of confusion in the early moments. A dispatcher relayed that "someone broke into the RP's house, unknown if they are still there. Garage door is open." The dispatcher also reported that "there was apparently a female shot in the head. Is not responding currently."

Initially, Flynn was described as locked in a bedroom with a juvenile daughter. That detail quickly changed. A dispatcher corrected the report: "Just a correction, the juveniles are going to be in their own rooms asleep currently."

According to court records, the two children in the home had not woken up and were still in their bedrooms throughout the incident. A first responder confirmed only one person was present at the scene beyond the children.

Authorities allege Flynn shot his wife in the head with a 9mm handgun before attempting to make it look like a stranger had broken in. He was hit with multiple felonies on Thursday and booked into a Miami County Jail late that night.

A not guilty plea and a $2 million bond

Flynn pleaded not guilty during a video arraignment Friday morning before Judge Samuel Huffman. Bond was set at $2 million.

His attorney, Patrick Mulligan, called the bond "unnecessarily high" and vowed to fight to get it reduced. Mulligan argued:

"It denies him the opportunity to be at the funeral for his wife, which is an unspeakable tragedy."

Flynn himself told the judge he wanted to be released, saying, "I just want to take care of my daughters." He added: "I'm not a risk."

The man accused of murdering his wife wants to attend her funeral. The man charged with staging a crime scene to deceive police describes himself as no risk at all.

The public image and the accusation

Caleb Flynn appeared on "American Idol" in 2013, where he described himself as a devout Christian who loved singing and loved his wife. During that appearance, he told cameras:

"I absolutely love the Lord. I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty. … I love her."

He also said he was "just a normal person who absolutely loves to sing more than anything in the world." He was a former church music pastor. The portrait he painted for a national television audience was one of wholesome faith and family devotion.

None of that squares with what prosecutors now allege happened in that Ohio home in the early hours of Monday morning.

What this case reveals

Stories like this one resist easy political framing, and they shouldn't be forced into one. What they do reveal is something more uncomfortable: the gap between curated public identity and private reality.

A man can stand on a stage and profess love for God and his wife. He can serve as a church music pastor. He can project an image so complete that an entire community accepts it as truth.

And then a 911 call comes in at 2:30 in the morning, and the story starts falling apart before the sun rises.

Ashley Flynn was 37 years old. She was a teacher. She coached volleyball. She was a mother of two girls who slept through the night their mother was killed. Whatever the legal process determines about her husband's guilt or innocence, she deserved better than to become a headline.

Her daughters deserved to wake up to a world that still had their mother in it.