Mistress of American Idol contestant accused of murdering his wife made chilling internet searches after her death
The mistress of an American Idol contestant who is accused of murdering his wife made chilling Google searches about unsolved homicides in the days after her death.
Caleb Flynn, 40, is currently standing trial over the death of his 37-year-old wife Ashley Flynn, who was fatally shot at their home in Ohio in February.
Flynn, who appeared on American Idol in 2013, told investigators that his wife of 16-years was killed by an intruder who broke into their home in the early hours of the morning.
But prosecutors have alleged that Flynn shot and killed his wife.
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During opening statements last Friday (19 September), Miami County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Watkins told the court that Flynn had been involved in a ‘years-long affair’ with Alleigha Botner, 24, and said he had written her 100,000 messages, including some in which he allegedly spoke about killing his wife.
On Thursday (24 September) Botner told the court she had been in a relationship with Flynn for around 18-months after meeting him while she was an intern at the church where he was a music pastor.
During cross-examination, Botner revealed that she had conducted several internet searches in the days after Ashley was killed.
On 19 February she searched 'homicides in America that still remain unsolved' and 'more recent homicides in America that still remain unsolved.'
She also admitted that she searched her own name and Ashley's name.
On the stand, Botner became tearful when she spoke about ‘hateful’ messages she and Flynn had exchanged about his wife prior to her death.
“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,” Flynn wrote on May 16, 2025.
In another message shared in court, Botner wrote: “I want to kill her, Caleb,” on July 10, 2025, to which Flynn replied, “That makes two of us.”
Botner told the court that on 15 February, Flynn sent her a flurry of text messages telling her he was going to leave Ashley and ask for a divorce the following day.
The following day Botner learnt that Ashely had been killed.
“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.”
Speaking to CNN, Botner’s lawyer Nicholas Gounaris said it had been hard for her to take the stand because it ‘brought up a time in her life that she’s not proud of’.
“She was younger, she was a lot more naïve, and she said a lot of things that obviously no one would ever expect would be publicized to the world,” he said. “She’s not proud of what she said and she’s not proud of how she acted.”
Flynn has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence.
If the jury finds him guilty of the most serious charge, he could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The trial, which is expected to run for around two to three weeks, continues.
Claire Reid