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‘American Idol’ Murder Trial Descends Into Chaos As Chilling Testimony Emerges
The murder trial of former pastor and onetime “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn took a dramatic turn Thursday as his former mistress returned to the witness stand and read a string of disturbing messages exchanged before his wife was shot to death.
Flynn, 40, is on trial in Miami County, Ohio, for the killing of his 37-year-old wife, Ashley Flynn.
He called 911 in the early hours of Feb. 16 to report a burglary and shooting at the family’s Tipp City home, north of Dayton.
Prosecutors say Flynn actually shot his wife twice in the back of the head while their two daughters were asleep inside the house, then allegedly manipulated the crime scene to make it appear an intruder had broken in.
Flynn was arrested days later and charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. He has pleaded not guilty.
His former mistress, 24-year-old Alleigha Botner, testified for a second straight day Thursday and became emotional while reading portions of more than 100,000 messages exchanged between the two during their relationship.
NOW: Testimony is underway in the Caleb Flynn murder trial after jurors heard from his former mistress and listened to AI-generated songs prosecutors say he made for her.
Flynn’s mistress, Alleigha Botner, testified she became immediately suspicious after Ashley Flynn was killed… pic.twitter.com/rKC3fRLzx6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 25, 2026
Botner previously testified that she met Flynn in 2022 while interning at his church and that their relationship became sexual in May 2024, even though she knew he was married.
Prosecutors highlighted numerous messages in which Flynn allegedly expressed hatred toward his wife.
“If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Caleb Flynn said in one message from May 2025, she testified.
“That’s why I constantly tell you I hate her, loathe her. I want her dead,” he said in another sent two days later, she testified.
“We have to get rid of douche. I need you. You’re my everything,” he said a month later, she testified.
Botner began crying while reading another exchange from July 2025.
“I said, ‘Do you know how badly I want to say eff it to any rules and any barriers and just love you with my entire heart for the rest of my life?'” she testified.
She paused before continuing.
“Sorry, I just wish I didn’t say this.”
“I didn’t mean it,” Botner continued before reading the message. “It says, ‘I want to kill her, Caleb.'”
“Who said that?” the prosecutor asked.
“Me,” she said.
She testified that Flynn replied, “That makes two of us.”
Shocking moment in the Caleb Flynn trial this morning as his mistress choked up reading text messages between the two of them about Ashley Flynn, Caleb’s wife.
“I just wish I didn’t say this. I didn’t mean this, Alleigha Botner said on the stand. Then she read a message she… pic.twitter.com/4YAqhNprPv
— Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) September 24, 2026
Botner also testified about messages sent after Flynn and his wife returned from a 15th anniversary cruise in August 2025, during which Ashley allegedly discovered the affair.
“All I want is you. I’m sorry I hurt you. I was up till 4 a.m. last night crying and literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail,” Caleb Flynn messages Botner after the cruise, according to Botner’s testimony.
Botner testified that she responded, “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. But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.”
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In the weeks before Ashley Flynn was killed, Botner repeatedly pressed Flynn about leaving his wife.
“I said, ‘Do you know how many times you’ve said you’re going to fast and then leave her? This will literally be your fourth time you’ve prayed protection or fasted about how,'” she said, reading a message from early January.
“I said the same day, ‘As Jesus is my witness right now. I swear on absolutely everything that I love, if you do not leave her next week, I don’t want this anymore for the rest of my life,'” she testified.
Botner said she believed Flynn planned to confront his wife about divorce on Feb. 16, the same day prosecutors say Ashley was killed.
“I just want to be free of her, have my girls, and have a chance to start a life with you,” Caleb Flynn messaged his mistress on Feb. 15, Botner testified while reading a long exchange that discussed deleting their text messages and him leaving his wife and finding a new place to live.
“He said, ‘Okay, actions will come tomorrow,” she testified.
After learning Ashley was dead, Botner said she immediately became suspicious.
She testified that she sent Flynn a message on Feb. 16 asking, “What is going on right now? Were you behind this?”
When the two later met in person, Botner said Flynn told her, “It didn’t happen the way we thought it would, did it.”
“I said, ‘Caleb, how did this happen?'” she testified.
Botner later told FBI agents she believed Flynn had killed his wife.
“I simply thought that it was way too much of a coincidence that she was all of a sudden dead on the day that he was going to divorce her,” she said.
Under cross-examination, Botner acknowledged that the pair frequently argued and that some of Flynn’s comments may have been intended to appease her.
“His would be about me going to young adult events, and mine would be about him being around Ashley,” she testified regarding their arguments.
Asked by the defense if Caleb Flynn would say he hated his wife “as a lie to make you feel better,” Botner testified, “He might have been.”
Prosecutors argue Flynn killed Ashley so he could keep his mistress, retain custody of his daughters, preserve his employment with Ashley’s family business and maintain his position as a worship leader while presenting himself as another victim of the crime.
“He’d get to keep his mistress, have his daughters all the time,” Miami County prosecuting attorney Paul Watkins said during opening statements last week. “He would benefit financially, get to keep his lucrative job working for Ashley’s family business, and he’d get to keep his position as a worship leader.”
The defense has admitted Flynn sent damaging messages but argues that the affair and the ugly language do not prove murder.
“A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer, and a man can make selfish decisions without committing a crime,” defense attorney Emily Smith said during opening statements.
Defense attorneys have also argued that prosecutors lack direct physical evidence, including a murder weapon, tying Flynn to his wife’s death.
