Alleigha Botner broke down on the witness stand Wednesday as she read her own words back to the court.
The 24-year-old former church intern, who had an affair with “American Idol” alum Caleb Flynn, 40, sobbed while reciting a text message she sent him about his wife Ashley, according to Court TV footage. Botner wailed between tears as prosecutors pressed her to acknowledge what she had written.
“I just wish I didn’t say this,” Botner cried out in court.
The message itself was brief and brutal. “It says, ‘I want to kill her, Caleb,'” she read aloud, her voice cracking. She then revealed Flynn’s reply: “He said, ‘That makes two of us.'”
Botner testified that her feelings toward Flynn have completely reversed since the February killing. She told the court she now hates him because she believes he murdered his wife.
Flynn stands accused of fatally shooting Ashley Flynn in her Ohio home, then staging the crime scene to cover his tracks. Prosecutors have built their case around the affair as the driving motive, highlighting the relationship that began at the church where Flynn served as music pastor and Botner worked as a 21-year-old intern.
The text exchange read in court Wednesday offers a window into the hostility both Flynn and Botner apparently directed toward Ashley Flynn before her death. Botner’s emotional reaction on the stand suggested she had not anticipated the weight of hearing her own words in open court, nor the prosecution’s strategy of using them against Flynn.
Flynn gained national recognition as a contestant on “American Idol,” though his music career later pivoted to church work. His position as a music pastor placed him in regular contact with younger volunteers and staff, including Botner, whose internship began when she was 21.
The affair produced what prosecutors describe as roughly 100,000 text messages between Flynn and Botner, a volume of communication that investigators have mined for evidence of motive and intent. Wednesday’s testimony focused on a fraction of that correspondence, but one prosecutors clearly considered damning.
Botner’s testimony also served to distance herself from Flynn’s alleged actions, her stated hatred of him now marking a sharp break from their earlier intimacy. Whether the jury will view her as a co-conspirator, a manipulated figure, or simply a witness with relevant context remains to be seen as the trial continues.
Flynn was charged after investigators determined Ashley Flynn’s death was not the home invasion it was initially staged to appear. Evidence reportedly linked him to the shooting, and his relationship with Botner quickly emerged as central to the prosecution’s theory of the case.
The former “American Idol” contestant has been held in custody since his arrest, with reports indicating he was placed in solitary confinement at one point during his detention. He has appeared emotional in court, holding back tears as evidence and testimony unfold.
Flynn’s trial is expected to continue in Ohio as prosecutors present additional evidence from the extensive text archive and other witnesses.