Print
Close
Mistress says she gave ‘American Idol’ contestant ultimatum before wife’s killing blew up affair
By Greg Wehner
Published September 24, 2026
Former "American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn repeatedly talked about wanting his wife dead and once told his mistress he was "thinking about ways to kill her," the woman testified Wednesday in his Ohio murder trial.
Alleigha Botner, who testified she had an affair with Flynn for roughly a year and a half and had given him an ultimatum about their relationship just weeks before the killing, told jurors his comments about Ashley Flynn grew increasingly disturbing in the months before she was fatally shot inside the couple’s Tipp City home.
"At first it was, ‘I want her dead. I wish she was gone,’" Botner testified.
TEACHER FOUND DEAD WITH THROAT SLIT; DETECTIVES SCRUTINIZE HUSBAND’S SHIFTING STORY
She recalled Flynn later telling her, "If I could kill her and not go to jail, I would."
Caleb Flynn becomes emotional in court during his murder trial in Ohio. Flynn is accused of killing his wife, Ashley Flynn, in February 2026 and staging the scene to look like a break-in. (COURTESY: WKEF)
Then, she told jurors, his comments escalated further.
TEEN PLANNED MIDDLE SCHOOL MASSACRE BEFORE MAKING DEADLY ‘LAST-MINUTE CHOICE’ TO KILL MOM: OFFICIAL
"One night he was up really late thinking about — told me that he was thinking about ways to kill her," Botner said.
The comments about wanting Ashley to die came at least once a month, Botner testified.
Prosecutors later walked Botner through thousands of messages recovered from the relationship, including one attributed to Flynn from February 2025 that read, "I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave."
Other messages attributed to Flynn included, "I want her dead and gone" and, after Botner asked what she could do for him, "kill her."
CALIFORNIA MOM BEGGED FOR HELP BEFORE EX GUNNED HER DOWN IN FRONT OF THEIR 4-YEAR-OLD SON: DA
Alleigha Botner testifies Wednesday in the Ohio murder trial of former "American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn. Prosecutors say Botner had an affair with Flynn before his wife, Ashley Flynn, was killed. (CREDIT: WKEF)
Flynn is accused of fatally shooting Ashley in the back of the head inside their home Feb. 16 before staging the scene to look like an intruder had broken in. He has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges.
Botner also placed a gun in Flynn’s possession before the killing, telling jurors he once showed her a firearm he kept inside the center console of his truck.
"He showed me a gun," she testified.
Flynn told her he kept the firearm in the console, though Botner could not remember what it looked like because she only saw it once.
Caleb Flynn in a 2013 "American Idol" Hometown Interview. Caleb is the husband of Ashley Flynn, who was shot and killed in her Ohio home on Monday, February 16, 2026. (YouTube/American Idol)
SUSPECT IN MICROSOFT EXECUTIVE JARED BRIDEGAN'S MURDER CONVICTED IN ROADSIDE AMBUSH
Investigators have never recovered the gun prosecutors allege Flynn used to kill Ashley despite extensive searches of the family home, nearby woods, storm drains and other areas.
Jurors also heard that Flynn and Botner routinely deleted messages throughout their relationship.
Asked when she advised Flynn how to delete data from his devices, Botner responded, "Multiple times."
"One of them being the night before Ashley was murdered," she testified.
Ashley and Caleb Flynn in an undated photo with their two children. (GoFundMe)
Botner later testified that she used ChatGPT that night to research whether messages documenting the affair could be permanently deleted and sent Flynn screenshots of the results.
She told jurors she feared the affair could surface during a divorce and cost her her job. Prosecutors established that Botner sent the screenshots about 5:47 p.m. Feb. 15, hours before Ashley was killed.
FLORIDA PLASTIC SURGEON ACCUSED OF KILLING ATTORNEY IN HIS OFFICE DEFENDS HIMSELF IN MURDER TRIAL
Their relationship began turning personal in March 2024 and became sexual roughly two months later, Botner told jurors. She recalled Flynn telling her he hated Ashley, viewed his wife as little more than a "roommate" and remained in the marriage because of their two daughters.
Botner acknowledged knowing Flynn was married when the relationship became sexual and admitted she knew what they were doing was wrong.
"I never morally justified it," she testified. "I just did it. Even while I knew it was wrong."
Caleb and Ashley Flynn are pictured in an undated photo. (Ashley Flynn/Facebook)
The two exchanged roughly 107,000 messages over about a year — nearly 300 per day on average — while routinely deleting their conversations.
By January, Botner testified, she had grown tired of waiting and gave Flynn a final deadline: leave Ashley by Jan. 11 or she would move on with her life and end their relationship.
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
He did not leave.
Botner stopped communicating with Flynn until Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day and two days before Ashley was killed.
Ashley Flynn, a Tipp City Schools substitute teacher and volleyball coach, was found dead in her Ohio home. (Tipp City Schools)
That day, she testified, Flynn told her he was "filing [for divorce] from Ashley" and was "actually leaving her this time."
SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS
The two later met at Christian Life Center, where they had initially met through the church’s worship ministry. During that conversation, Botner recalled Flynn telling her he had already spoken with Ashley and told his wife he was divorcing her.
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE
By the following night, Botner testified, Flynn was still telling her he planned to end the marriage Feb. 16.
"He said it'll be a day I never forget," she recalled.
Their communications continued past midnight, with Flynn allegedly telling her, "Tomorrow is a big day," "I choose you" and that he was "about to be free." Hours later, Ashley was dead. Botner told jurors she understood those comments at the time to mean Flynn was finally going through with the divorce.
Botner expected to hear from Flynn first thing that morning but instead received an Instagram message from a fellow church congregant asking whether she had heard about Ashley.
The congregant sent her a news story about Ashley's death.
"My heart started pounding," Botner testified. "It just seemed like too much of a coincidence that the day he's divorcing her, she's just dead all of a sudden."
Botner testified that she immediately messaged Flynn.
"I said something like to Caleb, ‘What's going on? Were you involved? Is this real?’" she recalled.
Flynn did not respond, Botner testified. She acknowledged deleting the message because she believed investigators would search his phone and feared they would discover the affair.
Botner admitted Wednesday that she initially lied to the FBI about her relationship with Flynn when investigators interviewed her days after the killing.
LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST
"I was selfishly afraid that my reputation was going to be ruined and that I was going to lose my job," she testified. "And now that there was a murder attached, I didn't want to be attached to that in any way."
She began revealing more about the relationship after investigators told her they had found text messages on Ashley’s phone, Botner testified.
Prosecutors asked Botner how she feels about Flynn today, and she said, "I hate him."
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
When asked why, Botner responded, "Because I believe that he murdered his wife."
Fox News Digital reached out to Flynn's attorney. Botner is expected to return to the stand on Thursday.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/mistress-gave-american-idol-contestant-ultimatum-before-wife-killing-blew-up-affair