The former lover of ex-American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn told jurors Wednesday that she now despises him because she believes he killed his wife.
“I hate him,” Alleigha Botner, 24, testified, according to CNN. “When we were in our relationship, I thought I was in love.”
When asked what caused her feelings to change, Botner answered, “Because I believe that he murdered his wife.”
Flynn, 40, is accused of shooting Ashley Flynn to death inside their Ohio home in February and then manipulating the scene to make the killing appear different from what prosecutors say occurred.
Prosecutors allege that Flynn’s affair with Botner provided a possible motive in the case.
Botner testified that she met Flynn when she was 21 and working as an intern at a nearby church.
At the time, she served as worship leader at the Christian Life Center in Dayton, where Flynn worked as a music pastor.
She left the church soon after Flynn’s arrest, according to ChurchLeaders.com.
Botner also told the court that her cellphone and laptop went missing several weeks before Ashley Flynn’s death, though she said both incidents had ordinary explanations.
She said her phone fell into the water while she was kayaking during a trip to Florida, while she mistakenly left her laptop on an airplane.
“Anyone who knows me knows I lose things,” Botner said.
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According to her testimony, the relationship became romantic in March 2024 and ended in December 2025.
“It started with small things. He would ask to come over just to hug me,” she said, according to The Dayton Daily News.
Flynn eventually told her that Ashley had been unfaithful two years earlier and that the couple were effectively living together as roommates, Botner testified.
She said Flynn told her he hated his wife and remained with her only because of their daughters.
“He would say that he hated her, that he wanted her dead. He would say so many awful things about hating her,” Botner told jurors.
Flynn allegedly told Botner that Ashley did not deserve to be addressed by name and suggested they instead refer to her as “douchebag,” she testified.
Botner also said Flynn used slurs and insults to describe his wife, including “bitch,” “whore,” “slutt” and “spawn of Satan.”
Botner testified that on the night before Ashley’s death, she messaged Flynn information about how divorce cases can proceed when there is evidence of an affair.
“He was worried about custody of the kids. I was sending him those screenshots about custody,” she said.
He later texted her “actions will come tomorrow,” which Botner said she thought meant divorce.
“I choose you. I will be free,” he texted, according to prosecutors.
Botner said she first learned of Ashley Flynn’s death from a message she got from a fellow church member, who sent her a news article about it.
“My heart started pounding. In my mind it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that the day he’s divorcing her, she’s dead,” Botner said.
Flynn has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges and claimed an unnamed intruder was responsible.
