A former music pastor and 2013 "American Idol" hopeful was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole this week after a jury convicted him of murdering his wife while he was having an affair.

Caleb Flynn, 40, maintained his innocence at sentencing, apologizing to his two daughters in court before insisting, "I did not kill my wife." The judge wasn't swayed, telling Flynn he had used his Christian faith to manipulate the people around him and showed no remorse for the killing.

A staged break-in, prosecutors said

Prosecutors told jurors that Flynn shot his wife, 37-year-old schoolteacher and volleyball coach Ashley Flynn, while she slept in their Ohio home in February, then staged the scene to look like a burglary gone wrong and called police to report that an intruder had killed her. The couple's two daughters were home at the time, according to reporting carried by Hawaii News Now and dozens of other outlets via the Associated Press wire.

I DID NOT KILL MY WIFE

Flynn did not testify at his own trial, and no other witnesses took the stand on his behalf. Jurors convicted him on all counts after prosecutors laid out what they described as a carefully staged crime scene that unraveled under forensic scrutiny.

A brief brush with reality TV

Flynn appeared on "American Idol" in 2013 but did not advance past the audition rounds to the show's Hollywood competition. Friends and church members had previously described him as a talented worship leader, a characterization prosecutors argued he exploited to present himself as a devoted husband even as he carried on an affair.

Flynn's attorneys have not publicly indicated whether they plan to appeal the conviction or the sentence. He will serve his sentence without the possibility of parole.