Former "American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn sat in an Ohio courtroom this week while prosecutors read aloud text messages he allegedly sent his mistress days before his wife was shot twice in the back of the head — and the industry that put him on screen will never be called to account.

Flynn, 40, is on trial for the aggravated murder of his wife, Ashley Flynn, 37, who was killed inside the couple's Tipp City, Ohio, home on Feb. 16. Their two daughters, ages 12 and 9, were inside the house when it happened. Ashley's parents and sister now have custody of the girls.

Prosecutor Paul Watkins read texts Flynn allegedly sent his longtime mistress just days before the killing: "I was up until 4:00 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail." And: "If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat. That is how dark and how hateful I feel."

Defense attorney Emily Smith conceded that her client said "ugly, hurtful, selfish things about his wife" but told jurors he is not on trial for "being a bad husband." Flynn pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence. He claimed an intruder broke in and killed Ashley. The prosecution says there is no evidence of a home invasion.

The forensic evidence is stark. Dr. Bryan Casto, a forensic pathologist, testified that Ashley suffered two gunshot wounds to the back of the head at close range, according to Fox News. The entrance wounds overlapped and the bullets traveled nearly parallel paths through her skull. One round exited her head and re-entered her left arm near the elbow, where it was recovered during autopsy.

The murder weapon has never been found. Detective Adam Bernard walked jurors through the extraordinary lengths investigators took, Fox News reported: police searched the backyard and nearby woods, then went underground — removing storm drain covers, sweeping pipes with a high-powered magnet, and sending Bernard himself into accessible culverts with a flashlight. They placed both Flynn household vehicles on lifts. They rented equipment to strip attic insulation. They called nearly two dozen gun stores in South Carolina trying to trace a firearm purchase after Flynn said he'd bought a gun there, where he held a concealed-carry permit. Nothing.

Prosecutors noted that Flynn was known to keep a 9mm handgun in his car's center console, which investigators found open and empty after Ashley's murder. The bullets that killed her matched that caliber, NJ.com reported.

NJ.com led its coverage with the mistress texts and the marriage's disintegration. Fox News foregrounded the physical evidence — the exhaustive weapon search, the autopsy, the ballistics. Both noted the missing gun. Neither asked the question that hangs over the courtroom: who built this person, who profited from him, and who walked away?

Flynn appeared on season 12 of "American Idol" in 2013, where he made it to Hollywood week and told cameras: "I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty. I love her." Ashley had encouraged him to audition. The show got its story. The audience got its entertainment. Then Flynn went back to Ohio, and the machine moved on.

The trial continues. The daughters are expected to testify behind a partition. Flynn faces life in prison if convicted. "American Idol" will air another season.