Today in court
• Mistress on the stand: Alleigha Botner, Caleb Flynn’s mistress, returned to the stand to testify in his trial for the killing of his wife, Ashley Flynn. Botner first took the stand Wednesday and testified about her affair with Caleb Flynn, which she said began in spring 2024.
• The case: Flynn, a former “American Idol” contestant and worship leader, is accused of fatally shooting his wife in February and then staging the crime scene, with Ohio prosecutors pointing to his affair as a motive for the killing.
• The defense: Flynn has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. His attorneys acknowledged his affair but told jurors that while his behavior made him “easy to dislike,” the prosecution lacks key evidence, including the murder weapon.
Caleb Flynn and mistress used crude nickname for his wife in texts
Texts between Caleb Flynn and his mistress, Alleigha Botner, which she continued to read from the witness stand Thursday, showed they used a malicious nickname for Flynn’s wife, Ashley, in many of their communications: “douche.” Botner previously testified it was short for “douchebag.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t want to talk about douche. I’m not sure I can communicate any more clearly that I hate her,” Flynn wrote in a text that Botner read. “She has ruined my life. Any and everything that has to do with her makes me the most furious person in the world.”
Several texts referenced to finding a way to get Ashley Flynn out of their lives.
“You understandably hate douche,” Flynn wrote in one text, “and unless she dies, cheats again or we find a way to get rid of her, she will be around, and that will kill you in every single way.”
“Side note: I share your hatred for douche,” Flynn added. “Can guarantee I hate her more.”
“I don’t even want to say this in a joking way anymore,” Botner wrote in another message after discussing how to “get rid” of Ashley Flynn. “We need a solution, Caleb. We need it to be me and you forever.”
“I’ve never joked about it,” Flynn responded, according to the transcript Botner read in court.
Botner cries as she reads her own text saying, "I want to kill her"
Alleigha Botner cried on the stand as she read aloud text messages in which she expressed a desire last year to kill Caleb Flynn’s wife, Ashley Flynn.
“Do you know how badly I want to say, ‘F it,’ to any rules and any barriers and just love you with my entire heart for the rest of my life,” Botner wrote in a text to Caleb Flynn on July 10, 2025, according to a text she read aloud in court.
Botner then paused on the stand and began to cry.
“I just wish I didn’t say this,” she told the court. “I didn’t mean it.”
After the pause, she continued reading from the text messages: “I want to kill her, Caleb,” she wrote. “It’s so bad.”
“That makes two of us,” Flynn responded in the text, Botner read.
More: Botner’s attorney has previously declined to comment to CNN.
Alleigha Botner is back on stand and reading Flynn's "hateful" texts
Alleigha Botner, Caleb Flynn’s mistress, returned to the stand Thursday morning and resumed reading his texts about how much he hated his wife, Ashley Flynn.
“If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat. That’s how dark and hateful I feel,” Caleb Flynn wrote on May 16, 2025, according to a text Botner read from trial evidence.
Flynn and Botner exchanged over 100,000 texts during their affair, she testified Wednesday.
Court is in session
Court is back in session Thursday for the murder trial of Caleb Flynn, accused of fatally shooting his wife, Ashley Flynn.
Caleb Flynn has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
Alleigha Botner, Caleb Flynn's mistress, to return to the stand
Alleigha Botner is expected to continue her testimony this morning in the murder trial of Caleb Flynn, the former “American Idol” contestant and worship leader who is accused of killing his wife, Ashley Flynn, in February in their Tipp City, Ohio, home.
Botner, 24, took the stand Wednesday and testified about her affair with Caleb Flynn, which she said began in the spring of 2024 while the two served together on their church’s worship team. Flynn’s attorneys have admitted he had an affair but said in their opening statement he was not on trial for his infidelity or being a bad husband.
According to Botner’s testimony, Flynn frequently expressed hatred for his wife. The day ended with Botner reading scores of messages – prosecutors have said she and Flynn exchanged more than 100,000 in the year before Ashley Flynn ’s killing – in which Caleb Flynn wrote he wished for her death, writing at one point, “I just want her dead and gone.”
Court is expected to resume around 8:30 a.m. ET, with Botner back on the stand to face more questioning by prosecutors. Later, she’s expected to be cross-examined by Flynn’s defense.
Caleb Flynn’s mistress is testifying in his murder trial. Here’s what you should know
Alleigha Botner, the 24-year-old mistress of former worship leader Caleb Flynn, took the stand in his murder trial Wednesday and testified for several hours about their nearly two-year-long affair – which Ohio prosecutors say motivated him to fatally shoot his wife, Ashley, in February.
In her opening statement last week, Flynn’s defense attorney acknowledged the 40-year-old former “American Idol” contestant had an affair but told jurors, “A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer.”
Botner, the 34th witness to testify, told the court about how their relationship developed after meeting at church, Flynn’s purported hatred of his wife, and dozens of messages from their conversations in the months preceding Ashley’s death.
Botner is expected to return to the stand Thursday morning. Her attorney declined to comment when reached by CNN Wednesday.
Here are some of the highlights from her testimony so far:
- How they met: Botner first met Flynn at church in 2022 when she was a 21-year-old intern and he volunteered on the worship team, she said. Their relationship became intimate in the spring of 2024, she said, and the two began going on dates in other cities and using various messaging apps to conceal their relationship from his wife.
- Their messages: Prosecutors said Flynn and his paramour exchanged over 100,000 messages within a year, averaging about 300 a day. Botner read dozens of the texts aloud, including many where Flynn expressed how much he hated his wife and several where he wished for her death. “I just want her dead and gone,” he wrote in one message from 2025.
- ‘I want her dead’: Flynn said he wanted his wife to die about once a month, Botner testified. “At first, it was, ‘I want her dead’ and ‘I wish she was gone,’ and then it was, ‘If I could kill her and not go to jail I would,’” Botner said. “One night he was up really late thinking about – he told me he was thinking about ways to kill her.”
- Her reaction to Ashley’s death: Botner said she gave Flynn several deadlines to leave his wife, but he missed all of them, saying he didn’t want to hurt his two young daughters. Botner testified Flynn said he was going to get a divorce on February 16 – the same day his wife was fatally shot in bed inside the family’s Tipp City home. When she learned about Ashley’s death that morning, Botner said her 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 said.
- She feared for her reputation: Botner acknowledged she initially lied to investigators during her first interview with the FBI days after Ashley’s death, though she later told them the truth. “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.”
- ‘I hate him’: Botner said she thought she was in love with Flynn during their relationship, testifying she wanted him to be her husband. However, asked how she feels about Flynn now, Botner said, “I hate him … I believe that he murdered his wife.”
Videos shown in court show Flynn declaring love for his mistress
Prosecutors began playing videos in court that Caleb Flynn had sent to Alleigha Botner.
The first video showed dogs inside a home while Flynn’s voice could be heard declaring his love for Botner loudly.
“For anybody that’s listening, I love Alleigha Botner. I love her, and I’m home alone,” Flynn can be heard saying.
A second video shown was similar, with Flynn heard yelling in an apartment that he is alone and that he loves her.
Court is over for the day
Court in Caleb Flynn’s murder trial ended for the day at about 4:15 p.m. ET with Alleigha Botner still on the stand.
The jury will return Thursday morning, with Botner resuming testimony at about 8:30 a.m. ET, the judge said.
Caleb Flynn asked mistress to "kill her," messages show
In text messages on March 24, 2025, Caleb Flynn told his mistress Alleigha Botner that he hated his wife Ashley and loved Botner more than anything, according to messages read aloud in court.
Flynn said in the messages he had been crying.
“What can I do?” Botner wrote.
“Kill her,” Flynn responded.
ChatGPT messages show Flynn's mistress asked about divorce and recovering deleted messages
Prosecutors are walking Alleigha Botner through the screenshots of her ChatGPT messages, which include queries about whether deleted GroupMe messages could be recovered, infidelity and how these issues could emerge in a custody battle.
Botner asked about what would happen if Flynn’s wife Ashley refused to get a divorce. Other messages showed the chatbot walking Botner through the divorce process and how long a divorce would take. She said the bot answered that custody of the kids would be the biggest factor in terms of a divorce timeline.
Botner also asked ChatGPT if Venmo transactions could be requested as part of divorce proceedings. She said she was concerned because she and Caleb had exchanged many transactions over the mobile payment app.
And on the evening of February 15, the two communicated over GroupMe. Caleb said he was going to leave Ashley and that he was going to delete the GroupMe app from his phone. Botner said she asked Caleb to protect her through the divorce because she didn’t want to lose her job due to the affair, to which Caleb said he’d protect her at all costs.
That same day, she said Caleb had called February 16 “a day I’ll never forget” and said that actions would come tomorrow. Botner said she understood him at the time to mean divorce.
The last thing he said was: “Good night, tomorrow’s a big day,” Botner says. He said he chose Botner and that he would be free. She said that she thought he meant from the relationship.
Flynn said he needed his wife "to die" a year before her death, messages show
Caleb Flynn messaged his mistress about needing his wife to die in February 2025 – roughly a year before she was fatally shot in their Tipp City, Ohio, home.
“I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave,” Flynn texted his mistress, Alleigha Botner, on February 11, 2025, according to phone records read aloud in court. “I need you.”
In other texts the same day, the two expressed their love for each other and entertained the idea of Flynn leaving his wife, Ashley.
“I want to take my girls and run away and never come back,” Flynn wrote in one of the messages.
“Please, baby, I’ll do this in a heartbeat,” Botner wrote in a text. “Freaking leave it all.”
In other conversations that month, Flynn repeatedly wrote about his hatred for his wife and often said he couldn’t stand her.
“What do you want me to do?” Botner wrote in a text on February 19, 2025.
“Marry me,” Flynn responded, before adding, “kill douche” – which Botner testified was one of their nicknames for his wife.
In an emotional text conversation in March 2025, Flynn wrote he was worried he hurt Botner too much and wanted her to be happy.
“I want you as my wife and the mother of my kids but what do I do?” he wrote, according to messages read aloud in court. “How do I escape this?”
“I don’t know Caleb, you have to find a way,” Botner responded.
“I want her dead and gone,” Flynn said in the messages.
Botner describes her reaction to Ashley Flynn's death
Alleigha Botner said she was expecting to hear from Caleb Flynn on the morning of February 16 when she received a message from a church congregant saying, “Did you hear about Mrs. Flynn?”
She responded, “What are you talking about?” and he sent her a news article about Ashley Flynn’s death.
“My heart started pounding,” Botner said. “It seemed like too much of a coincidence that the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden.”
Botner called her boss at the church, who invited her over to be with other staff. Botner said she messaged Caleb Flynn, asking him what was going on, whether he was involved and if it was real. He did not respond, and she later deleted the messages, she testified.
“Since there was a murder involved, I knew that they would probably be searching his phone, and if they saw any messages between us anywhere, the affair would be found out,” she said.
Botner was house-sitting when Ashley Flynn was killed, videos show
Alleigha Botner was house-sitting at a church pastor’s home during the hours when prosecutors say Caleb Flynn’s wife Ashley was killed, according to her testimony and a neighbor’s Ring camera videos.
Botner, Flynn’s mistress, arrived in her vehicle at the pastor’s house just after midnight on February 16 and left the house at about 10 a.m. on the 16th, the videos show.
What it means: Ashley Flynn was found dead from gunshot wounds in her home in the early hours of February 16.
Flynn said he was going to get a divorce the day his wife was killed, mistress says
Caleb Flynn’s mistress testified he said he was going to get a divorce on February 16 – the day his wife, Ashley, was fatally shot in her bed.
“He told me he was going to divorce Ashley on February 16, and he was walking through the steps of what he was going to do in the morning,” his mistress, Alleigha Botner, testified. “And he told me that he actually was going to do it this time.”
In the days leading up to the fatal shooting, Flynn allegedly told Botner he was going to discuss the divorce with his wife’s family and his two young daughters the morning of February 16.
He was also planning on booking a hotel and looking for a new job, since at the time he worked for a business owned by Ashley’s family, Botner said.
Caleb Flynn said he was "finally free" days before wife's killing, mistress says
Two days before Ashley Flynn’s death, Caleb Flynn told his mistress Alleigha Botner that he was “finally free” of his wife, Botner testified at his murder trial.
On Valentine’s Day, Flynn messaged Botner to meet with her because he was “actually leaving her this time,” referring to his wife Ashley.
At an in-person meeting, Flynn said he had told Ashley he was divorcing her, Botner told the court. Flynn said Ashley wasn’t happy with the news but he was going to do it, according to Botner.
Botner said she did not want to be with him despite the news.
“I told him that I don’t trust him and that I’m moving on with my life,” she said.
The killing: Ashley Flynn was found dead of gunshot wounds in her bed in the early hours of February 16, just two days later.
Flynn missed several deadlines to leave his wife, mistress testifies
Caleb Flynn’s mistress set several deadlines for him to leave his wife, she said, but he missed all of them.
Every time Flynn would miss a deadline, he would say he didn’t want to hurt his two daughters, she said.
Botner gave Flynn his “last chance” in January 2026, she said.
“If he didn’t leave her by – I think it was January 11 – then I’m going to move on with my life and live a life of purity and that I was going to be completely done,” she testified.
Flynn again said he would leave his wife by the date, but didn’t, Botner said. The two didn’t speak again until February 14.
Flynn apologized to mistress following anniversary cruise with his wife
Alleigha Botner said she was upset when Caleb Flynn and his wife went on a cruise in 2025 to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary.
“I was really hurt that he was going on that cruise, and he said that he was going to send a fake letter in the mail to have the cruise canceled,” she said.
While the Flynns were on the cruise, Botner said Ashley found conversations between her husband and the mistress. Ashley then reached out to Botner asking to meet up once they were home, but Botner said she made excuses to avoid a conversation with her.
“I didn’t think I could face her knowing that I was having a relationship with her husband,” she testified. “I didn’t think I could compose myself for that.”
Shortly after the cruise, Flynn apologized to Botner in an audio message, in which he expressed his “sheer, absolute, massive love” for her.
“I was wrong for going on the cruise, I was wrong for hurting you, and I am literally crying in front of thousands of people but I don’t care,” Flynn said in the audio message, which was played in court. “I am sorry for hurting you. I am sorry for everything.”
Caleb Flynn said he wanted his wife to die, mistress testifies
Caleb Flynn, now on trial for the murder of his wife Ashley, said he wanted her to die about once a month, according to Alleigha Botner, Flynn’s mistress.
“He said that he wishes he – if he could kill her and not go to jail or get arrested – I forget exactly what he said – that he would do it,” Botner testified.
Flynn first made that statement last August of last year and those statements “definitely continued” and “got worse,” she said.
“At first it was, ‘I want her dead’ and ‘I wish she was gone,’ and then it was, ‘If I could kill her and not go to jail I would,’” Botner said. “One night he was up really late thinking about – he told me he was thinking about ways to kill her.”
Botner and Caleb Flynn got matching tattoos during affair
Alleigha Botner described her more than 1.5-year affair with Caleb Flynn, saying the two saw each other at least once a week and would discuss wanting to get married.
When Flynn’s wife Ashley went away to Bible camp, Botner and Flynn would see each other every day in what they called their “marriage weeks,” she testified. They went on dates in Columbus or Cincinnati where people didn’t know them and had intimate relations at her apartment and in his truck, she said.
On one date, Flynn showed her the gun he kept in the center console of his truck.
The two got matching lightning bolt tattoos because they initially bonded over Harry Potter, she said. Her tattoo is on her arm, while his is in his armpit because “he didn’t want Ashley to see.”
Flynn and mistress averaged about 300 messages a day
Alleigha Botner and Caleb Flynn were “constantly” texting, Botner said, confirming the two exchanged more than 100,000 messages over a year, averaging about 300 messages a day.
The two would exchange photos and videos nearly every day, including photos of his children and nude pictures of themselves, Botner said. They switched messaging platforms several times to try and hide their messages from his wife Ashley, she testified.
One time in 2025, Ashley used her husband’s iPad and found their conversations, which included a photo of Botner’s hand with a ring drawn over it, the mistress said.
Botner testified she and Flynn had been “discussing how I wanted him to be my husband – I wanted to get married to him.”
