Former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn’s former mistress Alleigha Botner told jurors that she gave him an ultimatum to leave his wife weeks before Ashley Flynn was killed. Botner, who said she had been involved with Flynn for about a year and a half, testified that his comments about Ashley became increasingly disturbing before her death.
She said Flynn repeatedly talked about wanting his wife dead and later told her he was “thinking about ways to kill her.” Flynn is accused of killing Ashley inside their Tipp City, Ohio, home on February 16, 2026. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Alleigha Botner says Caleb Flynn talked about killing Ashley Flynn
Botner told jurors that Flynn’s comments about Ashley changed over time. She said he initially told her, “I want her dead. I wish she was gone.”
She later recalled him saying, “If I could kill her and not go to jail, I would.”
Botner said Flynn eventually told her, “One night he was up really late thinking about - told me that he was thinking about ways to kill her.”
According to testimony reported by WLWT, the comments about Ashley dying came at least once a month. Prosecutors also showed jurors messages allegedly exchanged between Flynn and Botner. One message from February 2025 read, “I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave.”
{{/usCountry}}According to testimony reported by WLWT, the comments about Ashley dying came at least once a month. Prosecutors also showed jurors messages allegedly exchanged between Flynn and Botner. One message from February 2025 read, “I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave.”
{{/usCountry}}Other messages included, “I want her dead and gone” and, after Botner asked what she could do for him, “kill her.”
Alleigha Botner gave Caleb Flynn a deadline to leave Ashley Flynn
Botner said their relationship began in 2024 and became a serious secret relationship over time. She told jurors that Flynn said he hated Ashley and described his wife as more like a “roommate.”
By January, Botner said she was tired of waiting for Flynn to leave his marriage. She gave him a deadline of January 11 and told him she would move on if he did not leave Ashley.
Flynn did not leave.
Botner said the two stopped communicating for a period before reconnecting on Valentine’s Day, February 14. She testified that Flynn then told her he was “filing [for divorce] from Ashley” and was “actually leaving her this time.”
The next night, Botner said Flynn continued talking about February 16.
“He said it’ll be a day I never forget,” she testified.
Caleb Flynn sent ‘I choose you’ message before Ashley Flynn’s death
Botner said Flynn later sent messages that included, “Tomorrow is a big day,” “I choose you” and that he was “about to be free.”
She said she understood those messages as meaning Flynn planned to end his marriage.
Ashley was killed the following day. After learning about Ashley’s death from another church member, Botner said she messaged Flynn asking, “What’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?”
She testified that Flynn did not respond. Botner also acknowledged deleting the message because she feared investigators would discover their relationship.
She admitted that she initially lied to the FBI about the relationship after Ashley’s death.
“I was selfishly afraid that my reputation was going to be ruined and that I was going to lose my job,” Botner testified. “And now that there was a murder attached, I didn’t want to be attached to that in any way.”
When prosecutors asked how she feels about Flynn now, Botner answered, “I hate him.”
When asked why, she said, “Because I believe that he murdered his wife.”
Flynn is accused of fatally shooting Ashley and staging the home to look like a break-in. The alleged murder weapon has not been recovered.