Jurors spent hours Thursday listening to droves of messages exchanged between former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn and his former mistress, Alleigha Botner, before defense attorneys sought to recast the relationship as an emotionally volatile affair centered on divorce – not murder.
The day ended with an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation digital forensics expert beginning testimony about data recovered from Flynn’s cellphone.
Here are the biggest moments from Day 6 of testimony:
‘AMERICAN IDOL’ CONTESTANT’S 100K TEXTS WITH MISTRESS SHOW MOTIVE IN WIFE’S MURDER, PROSECUTORS SAY
Botner testified that she and Flynn exchanged messages about wanting his wife dead months before Ashley was killed.
“I just wish I didn’t say this,” she said as she became emotional on the stand.
Botner then read her message to Flynn: “I want to kill her, Caleb.”
She said Flynn responded: “That makes two of us.”
WATCH: Caleb Flynn had ominous response when mistress said ‘I want to kill her’
Prosecutors focused heavily on the final hours before Ashley Flynn was shot, walking jurors through messages exchanged the night before her death.
Botner repeatedly questioned whether Flynn was prepared to leave his wife.
‘AMERICAN IDOL’ CONTESTANT’S 100K TEXTS WITH MISTRESS SHOW MOTIVE IN WIFE’S MURDER, PROSECUTORS SAY
“I said, ‘Caleb, I’ve never felt anything as deep as I felt with you. I trusted you with my heart. I’m terrified. But thank you for saying all that. We will see if your actions finally match your words,'” Botner testified, reading from the messages.
She said Flynn responded: “I’ve never felt anything like it either. It’s why I know it’s actually real … I’m terrified as well, but tomorrow it all starts.”
‘AMERICAN IDOL’ CONTESTANT’S 100K TEXTS WITH MISTRESS SHOW MOTIVE IN WIFE’S MURDER, PROSECUTORS SAY
When Botner asked whether he was “more excited or scared,” Flynn allegedly replied: “Well, I got a pretty massive day tomorrow so I’m gonna head to sleep. Please be praying for me and I’ll update you the whole time.”
Later in the conversation, Botner testified she wrote: “You’re about to be free.”
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She said Flynn replied: “I choose you … You’re more than enough. Good night.”
Botner testified she later went to Ashley’s parents’ home, where church staff had gathered after the shooting.
She said Flynn hugged her shortly after she arrived.
“The first thing he said to me was, ‘It didn’t happen the way we thought it would, did it?'”
She testified she immediately questioned him about what happened and became increasingly suspicious as he described hearing a gunshot, finding blood inside the home and discovering Ashley.
Defense attorney Emily Smith sought to reframe the prosecution’s key evidence, arguing Botner understood Flynn’s messages to be about leaving his wife – not killing her.
Smith asked whether Flynn’s repeated references to becoming “free,” taking action and leaving Ashley meant he intended to divorce her.
“Yes,” Botner replied.
MISTRESS SAYS SHE GAVE ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ CONTESTANT ULTIMATUM BEFORE WIFE’S KILLING BLEW UP AFFAIR
Smith then asked whether she understood those same messages to mean Flynn was planning a murder.
“I did not,” Botner answered.
Smith also zeroed in on Botner’s ChatGPT research before Ashley’s death.
Botner testified she looked up divorce proceedings, deleting messages and digital evidence because she feared Ashley could discover their affair if Flynn followed through with a divorce.
She also said she was trying to keep the affair from becoming public – not cover up a homicide.
One of the defense’s most significant exchanges came when Smith questioned Botner about Flynn’s repeated statements that he wanted Ashley dead.
Botner acknowledged she did not believe he actually intended to carry out those statements.
“I did not believe that he meant it,” she said.
Asked why, Botner replied, “I don’t think he could ever be capable of doing something like that.”
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Smith then turned to Botner’s own messages, arguing she repeatedly pressured Flynn to leave Ashley.
“I’m so done with you,” Botner wrote in one of the texts she read in court. “You have murdered my heart.”
“I hope you’re glad you took my virginity and also my heart and stomped all over it,” she later continued. “Enjoy your marriage. I’m done.”
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Smith also walked Botner through months of messages in which she acknowledged giving Flynn four or five separate deadlines to leave Ashley after he failed to follow through on earlier promises.
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The defense also pointed to exchanges in which Botner demanded reassurance Flynn hated Ashley, questioned him whenever he spent time with his wife and threatened to end the relationship if he didn’t leave Ashley.
After Botner stepped down, prosecutors called Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Joseph Wilhelm, a digital forensics examiner who spent the remainder of the day walking jurors through evidence recovered from Flynn’s iPhone.
Wilhelm testified investigators ultimately extracted a full copy of Flynn’s phone after earlier attempts failed, then analyzed browser history, location data, health information, application activity and other digital records to reconstruct what the device was doing in the hours before Ashley Flynn’s death.
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Jurors heard testimony that ChatGPT was uninstalled from Flynn’s phone on Feb. 15, while GroupMe and Instagram were removed shortly after 1 a.m. on Feb. 16. Wilhelm also testified investigators found no text messages between Flynn and Ashley on the device.
Wilhelm also outlined phone location data, Apple Watch activity, AirPods connections and a timeline leading up to Flynn’s 911 call, which prosecutors are expected to revisit as the trial continues.
Before court adjourned, prosecutors played two AI-generated songs recovered from Flynn’s phone. Wilhelm testified the files were related to Flynn’s relationship with Botner and matched lyrics investigators found saved in the phone’s notes app.
Flynn’s attorney, L. Patrick Mulligan, declined to comment while the case is ongoing.
Botner could not immediately be reached for comment.
