An affair that started as a secret romance at a church. More than 107,000 messages exchanged over about 1.5 years. Matching Harry Potter lightning-bolt tattoos. Disturbing conversations about wanting a wife dead and an alleged plan to make her murder appear to be the work of an intruder.
These details are central to the murder trial of former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn, 40, who is accused of killing his wife Ashley at their Ohio home in February and staging the crime scene to make it appear that an intruder was responsible, CNN reported.
Flynn has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in Ashley's death. Prosecutors allege that he was unhappy with his marriage and discussed killing his wife with his younger mistress, Alleigha Botner. Flynn told police that an intruder entered the house, took a handgun from his truck, shot Ashley and then escaped.
Prosecutors have disputed that version of events, highlighting the absence of evidence that anyone forcibly entered the home. The alleged murder weapon has also not been recovered.
During the trial, Botner spent nearly seven hours on the witness stand this week reading messages exchanged during their roughly 18-month affair. The pair sent more than 107,000 texts to each other.
One exchange brought Botner to tears. In July 2025, she wrote about Ashley, “I want to kill her, Caleb.” Flynn responded, “That makes two of us.”
A SECRET CHURCH ROMANCE
Botner was 21 when she met Flynn at their Ohio church in 2022. She was working as an intern, while Flynn was a volunteer on the worship team. According to CNN, their romantic relationship began in March 2024.
The affair was secretive but intense. Botner testified that they met at least once a week, travelled to nearby cities where they were less likely to be recognised and talked about getting married.
They also got matching Harry Potter lightning-bolt tattoos. Botner's tattoo was on her forearm, while Flynn's was concealed in his armpit because, she said, “he didn't want Ashley to see”.
The two exchanged around 300 messages every day through iMessage, WhatsApp and GroupMe.
Their relationship began to deteriorate after Ashley discovered the affair in August 2025, when she saw their messages during a cruise celebrating her and Flynn's 15th wedding anniversary.
Botner repeatedly urged Flynn to leave his wife, but he refused, pointing to his daughters, his job with his in-laws and his reputation.
In January, Botner gave Flynn a final deadline. “It’s time for me to put my big girl pants on, be strong and officially move on from you and us,” she wrote to him.
AI-GENERATED LOVE SONGS FOR BOTNER
The affair also became part of Flynn's music.
Prosecutors played two AI-generated love songs Flynn had created for Botner as evidence during the trial.
One of the songs included the emotional line, “If somewhere you feel this, if somewhere you’re whole, know that you still own every piece of my soul.”
The song later mentioned “the third” and “the us that we lost”, apparently referring to the date Flynn and Botner first met. “The third of every month I still say your name,” the AI-generated song said.
‘I JUST WANT HER DEAD AND GONE’
As Ashley learned about Flynn's affair, his messages about his wife became increasingly disturbing. He repeatedly referred to Ashley by the crude codename “douche” and wrote, “I just want her dead and gone.”
On March 24, 2025, Botner asked him, “What can I do?”
“Kill her,” Flynn replied.
In another message, Flynn wrote, “If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat.” Botner later wrote, “I want to kill her, Caleb.”
“That makes two of us,” Flynn responded.
Botner became emotional as she read the exchange in court, saying she regretted sending the message and did not mean it literally. In another message, CNN reported, Botner made it clear that she wanted Flynn to divorce Ashley rather than kill her.
“I’m not asking that you take her life, obviously, because that’s not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn’t,” she wrote.
‘I’M NOT SCARED TOMORROW’
Then came February 15, one day before Ashley was killed.
Flynn sent Botner several messages saying that he intended to tell his wife the following day that he wanted a divorce. “It’s kind of crazy. I’m not scared tomorrow,” he wrote, adding that the situation would be a “crap-fest”.
That night, Botner was house-sitting at a pastor's home. The next morning, a church member messaged her asking whether she had heard “about Mrs. Flynn”. She was then sent an article reporting Ashley's death, according to CNN.
“My heart started pounding. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden,” Botner testified.
Ashley was found fatally shot at the couple's home in Tipp City, Ohio, on February 16.
BOTNER ADMITS LYING TO FBI
Botner's testimony has also provided the defence with an opportunity to question her credibility. She admitted that she deleted messages after Ashley's death and initially lied to the FBI about the affair because she was worried that her reputation and job would be affected.
“I was selfishly afraid that my reputation was going to be ruined and that I was going to lose my job,” she testified.
She later hired an attorney and told the FBI the truth, CNN reported.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Emily Smith focused on Botner's messages and her admission that she initially did not think Flynn was capable of killing his wife.
“I did not believe that he meant it,” Botner said about his messages concerning Ashley's death. “I don't think he could ever be capable of doing something like that.”
The defence has argued that having an affair and sending angry messages do not establish that Flynn committed murder. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have presented the messages as evidence supporting their claim about Flynn's alleged motive.
Botner has not been charged in connection with Ashley's death and testified that she was not offered anything in exchange for cooperating with investigators.
Flynn remains on trial for Ashley's murder. The proceedings are expected to continue for another week.
