Alleigha Botner took the stand in a Miami County, Ohio courtroom to read aloud the messages she exchanged with Caleb Flynn, the former “American Idol” contestant now on trial for murdering his wife.
Botner, 24, testified that her relationship with Flynn, 37, turned sexual in May 2024 and that the pair eventually discussed marriage. She told jurors she gave him an ultimatum: leave his wife by January 11 or she would end their affair and move on. Flynn, who competed on the singing competition’s 12th season in 2013, had once publicly proclaimed he loved Ashley Flynn “more than anything.”
The court was shown messages in which Flynn allegedly spoke about wanting Ashley dead. In one from May 2025, he allegedly wrote: “If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat.” Two days later, he allegedly messaged: “That’s why I constantly tell you I hate her, loathe her. I want her dead.”
Botner became emotional reading another exchange from July 2025, telling the court: “Sorry, I just wish I didn’t say this.” She then read her own message, which allegedly said: “I want to kill her, Caleb.” She testified that Flynn replied: “That makes two of us.”
By February 15, the day before Ashley was killed, Botner claimed Flynn was discussing plans to leave his wife. He allegedly wrote: “I just want to be free of her, have my girls, and have a chance to start a life with you.” Botner also testified that the pair discussed deleting messages, as Flynn is said to have told her: “Okay, actions will come tomorrow.”
The pair also appeared to message about Flynn obtaining a burner phone; he allegedly wrote: “I think I should pay cash for this so it’s not in my bank account.” After midnight, Flynn was said to have sent a message saying: “It’s happening, Ilya.” Another alleged message read: “February 16th day I’ll never forget.”
Botner said she learned Ashley had died after someone from church sent her a news report. She testified that she then messaged Flynn: “What is going on right now? Were you behind this?” She said that she later deleted the message.
Botner subsequently saw Flynn at Ashley’s parents’ home, where relatives and church staff had gathered following the killing. She told jurors: “The first thing he said to me was, ‘It didn’t happen the way we thought it would, did it?'” Botner said she became “very suspicious” and questioned Flynn about what had happened. She testified that he told her he had been sleeping on the couch before waking to a gunshot and finding “blood everywhere” in Ashley’s bedroom.
The court also heard that Botner initially lied to the FBI when investigators questioned her about her relationship with Flynn. She testified: “I was selfishly afraid that my reputation was going to be ruined and that I was going to lose my job. And now that there was a murder attached, I didn’t want to be attached to that in any way,” She said she began disclosing more about the affair after investigators told her they had found messages on Ashley’s phone.
During cross-examination, she said that by a second FBI interview on February 26, she believed Flynn had killed his wife. Botner told the court: “I simply thought that it was way too much of a coincidence that she was all of a sudden dead on the day that he was going to divorce her.”
Ashley Flynn, 37, was shot dead inside the couple’s Tipp City home in the early hours of February 16 while their two daughters were asleep. Flynn, who was once a pastor, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors allege he killed Ashley before staging the scene to look as though an intruder had broken in. The defense has argued there is no direct evidence, including a recovered firearm, tying Flynn to the killing and says the prosecution’s case is built around the affair and his messages.
Flynn is expected to stand trial in Miami County.