The former mistress of ex-American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn has told a jury that he repeatedly expressed hatred for his wife and discussed killing her during their affair. This was revealed during the Caleb Flynn murder trial.
According to CNN, Alleigha Botner testified over two days at Flynn’s murder trial, reading from messages exchanged during their roughly 18-month relationship linked to the Caleb Flynn murder trial.
Prosecutors presented 34 books containing transcripts of about 107,000 messages between Flynn and Botner, which they say help establish a possible motive in the killing of his wife, Ashley Flynn. These messages form a crucial part of the Caleb Flynn murder trial evidence.
Flynn, 40, has pleaded not guilty. His defence accepts that he had an affair and sent the messages but argues prosecutors have not produced key physical evidence, including the murder weapon, linking him to the killing.
Flynn allegedly wrote about killing wife
Botner told the court that Flynn frequently complained about his wife and at times spoke about wanting her dead.
“I just want her dead and gone,” Flynn wrote in one message in early 2025.
In another exchange on March 24, Botner asked, “What can I do?”
“Kill her,” Flynn replied, referring to his wife.
Two months later, he allegedly wrote: “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.”
Botner also admitted sending a message in July saying, “I want to kill her, Caleb.”
“That makes two of us,” Flynn responded.
She became emotional while reading the exchange in court and said she regretted writing it.
“I didn’t mean it,” she testified. This was a pivotal moment in the Caleb Flynn murder trial.
Affair began after church meeting
Botner said she met Flynn at their Ohio church in 2022 when she was 21 and working as an intern, while Flynn volunteered with the worship team.
Their romantic relationship began in March 2024 and continued until around early 2026.
Botner testified that the pair met regularly, travelled to places where they were unlikely to be recognised and discussed getting married.
They also exchanged hundreds of messages each day through iMessage, WhatsApp and GroupMe.
Their relationship reportedly began to deteriorate after Ashley discovered the affair during a cruise marking the couple’s 15th wedding anniversary.
Botner said she later pushed Flynn to leave his wife, but he repeatedly refused, citing his daughters, employment and reputation.
She eventually told him to stop contacting her.
“I’m not scared tomorrow,” Flynn allegedly wrote
Botner also testified about messages Flynn sent on February 15, the day before Ashley was killed.
Flynn allegedly told her he planned to inform his wife that he wanted a divorce.
“It’s kind of crazy. I’m not scared tomorrow,” he wrote.
“I mean, I’m not looking forward to it, and it’s about to be a crap-fest here moving forward, but I’m not scared of it.”
Botner said she learned about Ashley’s death the following morning after a church member contacted her.
“My heart started pounding,” she told the court.
“It seemed like too much of a coincidence that the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden.”
Botner questions Flynn after wife’s death
Botner said she later met Flynn at his in-laws’ home, where church members had gathered.
“It didn’t happen the way we thought it would, did it?” Flynn allegedly told her.
She testified that she became suspicious and questioned him about what happened.
Flynn allegedly told her that he had been sleeping on a couch when he heard a gunshot, noticed a garage door open and later found Ashley dead in a bedroom.
However, prosecutors said that account differed from what Flynn allegedly told investigators, when he said he had been lying in his daughters’ bedroom.
Botner admits lying to FBI
Botner also admitted deleting messages and initially lying to the FBI because she feared the affair would become public.
“Since there was a murder involved, I knew that they would probably be searching his phone,” she said.
She added that she feared losing her job and damaging her reputation.
“I was selfishly afraid that my reputation was going to be ruined and that I was going to lose my job,” Botner testified.
She said she later hired an attorney and gave investigators a fuller account on February 26.
Defence challenges Botner’s testimony
During cross-examination, Flynn’s lawyers questioned whether his violent messages reflected genuine intent.
Botner admitted that she was not always convinced Flynn truly hated his wife.
She also said she believed some of his comments may have been intended to reassure her during moments of jealousy or insecurity.
“I didn’t think he could ever be capable of doing something like that,” she said.
However, when prosecutors questioned her earlier, Botner said her view had changed following Ashley’s death.
“I hate him,” she told the court. “Because I believe that he murdered his wife.”
The trial is continuing, and Flynn remains presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the charges against him beyond a reasonable doubt. To conclude, ongoing developments in the Caleb Flynn murder trial are being closely watched by the public.
