Alleigha Botner described an affair, divorce plans and disturbing messages exchanged before Ashley Flynn was found fatally shot.
TROY, OH — The former mistress of Caleb Flynn spent nearly seven hours over two days testifying in his murder trial, reading messages that prosecutors say show Flynn repeatedly talking about wanting his wife dead before she was fatally shot at their Tipp City home.
Alleigha Botner, 24, testified Wednesday and Thursday in Miami County as prosecutors presented messages exchanged during her relationship with Flynn, 40, a former pastor and former “American Idol” contestant. Flynn is accused of killing his 37-year-old wife, Ashley Flynn, on Feb. 16 and staging the scene to resemble a break-in. He has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys have argued that investigators focused too quickly on him and that his offensive messages about his wife do not prove he killed her.
Botner told jurors that she met Flynn while interning at his church in 2022 and later began a sexual relationship with him. She said the two exchanged more than 100,000 messages during the relationship and discussed a possible future together. Prosecutors used binders containing the communications to take jurors through months of exchanges about Flynn’s marriage, Botner’s frustration that he had not left his wife and increasingly disturbing comments about Ashley Flynn.
In one message from May 2025 that Botner read in court, Flynn said that if he could kill his wife without going to hell, he would do it. Other messages presented by prosecutors contained similar statements about wanting Ashley Flynn dead. During another exchange, Botner herself wrote that she wanted to kill Ashley. Botner became emotional before reading that message and told the court she wished she had not written it. Flynn responded in the exchange that the feeling was mutual. Botner later testified that when she discussed wanting Ashley gone, she meant she wanted Flynn to get a divorce.
Another exchange presented to jurors concerned a message Flynn allegedly sent after an anniversary trip with his wife in August 2025. Botner testified that Flynn said he had stayed awake until 4 a.m. thinking about ways to kill Ashley without going to jail. Botner responded by telling him she was not asking him to take Ashley’s life and that he should instead make the divorce happen. The defense suggested during cross-examination that Flynn sometimes made statements about hating his wife to satisfy Botner during their turbulent relationship. Asked whether that could have happened, Botner acknowledged that it might have.
The testimony also focused on the days immediately before Ashley Flynn’s death. Botner said she had grown tired of waiting for Flynn to leave his marriage and previously gave him a deadline to do so. She testified that Flynn eventually told her he intended to discuss divorce with Ashley on Feb. 16. On the day before the shooting, the two exchanged messages about his plans to leave the marriage and about deleting messages from their phones. Botner said she was concerned that disclosure of the affair during a divorce could damage her reputation and cost her job.
According to testimony, Flynn sent Botner messages shortly after midnight on Feb. 16 referring to the date as one he would never forget. In the final exchange before Ashley Flynn’s death became known, Botner told him he was about to be free, and Flynn told her he chose her. Police were called to the Flynn home around 2:30 a.m. after Flynn reported that someone had broken in and shot his wife. Prosecutors allege that Flynn killed Ashley while their daughters were sleeping in the home and then manipulated the scene to make it appear an intruder was responsible.
Botner testified that after learning Ashley Flynn was dead, she sent Flynn a message asking what had happened and whether he had been involved. She later recalled seeing Flynn at the home of Ashley’s parents, where she said he told her that events had not happened the way they thought they would. Botner said the timing made her suspicious because Flynn had told her he planned to discuss divorce with his wife that day. Asked by prosecutors how she now felt about Flynn, Botner said she hated him and testified that she believed he had murdered his wife.
Her credibility also came under scrutiny. FBI testimony showed that Botner initially denied having a sexual or intimate relationship with Flynn when agents interviewed her four days after Ashley’s death. Botner later acknowledged the affair and told investigators she believed Flynn had killed his wife. She testified that she initially concealed information because she wanted to protect her reputation. Her attorney told WHIO-TV that she had not been offered immunity in exchange for her testimony, and Botner has not been charged with a crime.
The defense also questioned investigators about their handling of evidence connected to Botner. Testimony showed that investigators obtained security video from a home where she was house-sitting on the night Ashley died, but they did not search that property or Botner’s vehicle. Investigators also testified earlier in the trial that searches around the Flynn home did not locate the firearm prosecutors allege was used in the killing. The defense has emphasized the absence of a recovered weapon or other direct evidence that it says would tie Flynn to the shooting.
Prosecutors contend the affair and messages help establish a motive and timeline, while Flynn’s attorneys say the state is trying to turn evidence of marital infidelity and cruel statements into proof of murder. The defense has argued that a person can be unfaithful and make reprehensible statements without committing homicide. Flynn remains presumed innocent unless proved guilty, and testimony in the Miami County trial is continuing.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 25, 2026.