Mistress testifies ex-'American Idol' contestant Flynn talked of killing wife months before shooting

Alleigha Botner told an Ohio murder trial that Caleb Flynn repeatedly said he wanted his wife dead. Flynn is accused of shooting Ashley Flynn in February 2026.

Mistress details Flynn's escalating threats against wife in Ohio murder trial

Caleb Flynn, a former "American Idol" contestant on trial for the fatal shooting of his wife Ashley, repeatedly told his mistress he wanted his wife dead — and once said he was "thinking about ways to kill her," according to testimony reported by foxnews.com.

Alleigha Botner took the stand Wednesday in the Ohio murder trial and told jurors that Flynn's comments about Ashley grew increasingly alarming over the months before Ashley was fatally shot inside the couple's Tipp City home on 16 February 2026.

"At first it was, 'I want her dead. I wish she was gone,'" Botner testified. She said his statements then escalated to: "If I could kill her and not go to jail, I would." Eventually, she told jurors, Flynn told her he had been up late "thinking about ways to kill her."

Botner said such comments came at least once a month throughout their relationship.

Thousands of messages recovered by prosecutors

Prosecutors walked Botner through thousands of messages retrieved from the pair's communications. A message attributed to Flynn from February 2025 read: "I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave." Other messages attributed to him included "I want her dead and gone" and, in response to Botner asking what she could do for him, simply: "kill her."

Botner also told jurors that Flynn had shown her a firearm he kept in the centre console of his truck prior to the killing. She said she only saw it once and could not remember what it looked like. Investigators have not recovered the gun prosecutors allege was used to shoot Ashley, despite extensive searches of the family home, nearby woods, storm drains and surrounding areas.

Affair lasted roughly a year and a half

Their relationship began turning personal in March 2024 and became sexual approximately two months later, Botner testified. She said Flynn told her he hated Ashley, described his wife as little more than a "roommate" and stayed in the marriage because of their two daughters. Botner acknowledged she knew Flynn was married when the relationship became sexual.

"I never morally justified it," she testified. "I just did it. Even while I knew it was wrong."

The two exchanged roughly 107,000 messages over approximately a year — an average of nearly 300 per day — while routinely deleting their conversations. Botner told jurors she had advised Flynn on how to delete data from his devices on multiple occasions, including, she said, "the night before Ashley was murdered."

ChatGPT search and message deletion

Botner testified that on the night of 15 February — hours before Ashley was killed — she used ChatGPT to research whether messages documenting the affair could be permanently deleted, then sent Flynn screenshots of the results. She said she feared the affair could surface during a divorce and cost her her job. Prosecutors established that the screenshots were sent at approximately 5:47 p.m. on 15 February.

Ultimatum and Valentine's Day reunion

By January, Botner said she had grown tired of waiting and gave Flynn a final deadline: leave Ashley by 11 January, or she would end the relationship and move on. She stopped communicating with him until 14 February — Valentine's Day, two days before Ashley was shot dead.

On that date, Botner testified, Flynn told her he was "filing [for divorce] from Ashley" and was "actually leaving her this time." The two later met in person at Christian Life Center, the church where they had originally met through the worship ministry. During that conversation, Botner recalled Flynn telling her he had already spoken with Ashley and informed his wife he intended to divorce her.

Charges and plea

Flynn is accused of shooting Ashley in the back of the head inside their Tipp City home before staging the scene to appear as though an intruder had broken in. He has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and related charges. Ashley Flynn was a substitute teacher and volleyball coach at Tipp City Schools.

Flynn had appeared on "American Idol" in 2013. He became visibly emotional in court during portions of the trial proceedings.

Source: Google News MT