A Putnam County jury convicted Caylen Deller, 32, of first-degree murder in the 2024 shooting death of her former boyfriend Chad Mullen, ending a three-day trial that gripped the horse community of San Mateo, Florida. After deliberating for roughly an hour on Thursday, October 15, 2026, jurors found Deller guilty on all three counts she faced: first-degree murder with a firearm, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to report a death.
TL;DR: Caylen Deller was convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend Chad Mullen at her Florida horse farm in September 2024 and hiding his body in a shallow grave. The jury rejected her self-defense claim after about an hour of deliberation. She received life in prison without parole for the murder, plus concurrent sentences on the other counts.
Photo: Putnam County Courthouse, Palatka, Florida. (Wikimedia Commons)
A Body in a Shallow Grave
Mullen, 52, was reported missing on September 15, 2024, after his family’s calls went unanswered. More than six weeks later, on October 28, 2024, investigators recovered his remains from a shallow grave on a farm near Hastings, Florida. The medical examiner determined he died from two gunshot wounds to the chest.
Prosecutors argued Deller lured Mullen to Stormy Stables, her horse property in San Mateo, under the pretext of letting him borrow or repair her truck. The state said she shot him twice, then worked with her friend Tina Marie Lee-Ellis to conceal the body — first sinking it in a nearby pond with a cinder block, then, when it floated up, hauling it in a horse trailer to the Hastings property, where Lee-Ellis used heavy equipment to dig and cover the grave. A Putnam County grand jury indicted Deller in November 2024.
Her Testimony: “I Shot Chad Twice in Self-Defense”
Taking the stand the day before the verdict, Deller admitted shooting Mullen but insisted she feared for her life. She testified that Mullen choked her against a truck and came toward her swinging a hammer during a confrontation about unproven claims that he had sexually abused her young daughter.
Deller said she grabbed a gun she had obtained after Mullen allegedly broke into her apartment weeks earlier. “I shot Chad twice in self-defense,” she told the court, adding that she was extremely afraid.
What the Prosecution Said Undermined Her Claim
Prosecutor Mike Willard countered that Deller deliberately brought Mullen to the stables to kill him, then enlisted Lee-Ellis to hide the evidence. Under cross-examination, Deller acknowledged a series of damning admissions: she lied to Mullen’s family, burned his phone, used a four-wheeler to drag his body to the water, and never called authorities.
Asked why she did not seek help, Deller replied that she was more concerned about getting in trouble. The state argued that her actions after the shooting — moving and concealing the body — showed an intent to hide the killing and destroyed the credibility of the self-defense claim.
A Daughter Confronts the Verdict
After the verdict was read, Mullen’s daughter, Holli Mullen, delivered an emotional victim-impact statement directly to Deller. “Why did you have to do this?” she asked. “Why did it have to be my dad?” She described her father as her best friend and the man who made her feel like “the most beautiful girl in the world.”
Life Behind Bars
Judge Alicia Washington moved to sentencing the same day. Deller received life in prison without parole on the first-degree murder count, 15 years for tampering with physical evidence, and five years for failure to report a death, with the sentences running concurrently, according to trial-coverage reports.
Defense attorney Brian Smith had maintained that Deller reasonably feared for her life and that her poor decisions after the shooting did not prove the shooting itself was murder.
Sources: St. Johns Citizen, New York Examiner News (Fox True Crime), trial coverage
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Caylen Deller?
Caylen Deller, 32, is a Florida horse farm owner who was convicted in October 2026 of the first-degree murder of her former boyfriend, Chad Mullen, in Putnam County, Florida.
What happened to Chad Mullen?
Mullen, 52, was shot twice at Stormy Stables in San Mateo, Florida, around September 9, 2024. His body was concealed and later recovered from a shallow grave near Hastings, Florida, on October 28, 2024.
How long did the jury deliberate?
Approximately one hour before returning guilty verdicts on all three counts: first-degree murder with a firearm, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to report a death.
What was Deller’s defense?
She claimed self-defense, testifying that Mullen choked her and advanced with a hammer. She admitted the poor decisions she made after the shooting but argued they did not make the killing murder.
What did prosecutors argue?
The state argued Deller lured Mullen to the property intending to kill him, then worked with a friend to hide the body — first in a pond, then in a shallow grave — which they said showed consciousness of guilt.
What sentence did Deller receive?
Life in prison without parole for first-degree murder, 15 years for evidence tampering, and five years for failure to report a death, all running concurrently.
Who helped conceal the body?
Prosecutors said Deller worked with her friend Tina Marie Lee-Ellis, who helped move the body and used heavy equipment to dig the grave at the Hastings farm.
What happened to Mullen’s body after the shooting?
According to the prosecution and Deller’s own testimony, the body was dragged to a pond and weighed down, later moved in a horse trailer to a Hastings farm, and buried in a shallow grave. His phone was burned.
Where was the trial held?
The trial took place in Putnam County, Florida, in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, in October 2026, with Judge Alicia Washington presiding.
Can Deller appeal?
Like any convicted defendant, Deller may pursue an appeal, though no appeal details were reported as of the verdict. An appeal would typically challenge legal rulings made during the trial, not re-argue the jury’s factual findings.
