Mistress says she gave ‘American Idol’ contestant ultimatum before wife’s killing blew up affair

Former "American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn repeatedly talked about wanting his wife dead and once told his mistress he was "thinking about ways to kill her," the woman testified Wednesday in his Ohio murder trial.

Alleigha Botner, who testified she had an affair with Flynn for roughly a year and a half and had given him an ultimatum about their relationship just weeks before the killing, told jurors his comments about Ashley Flynn grew increasingly disturbing in the months before she was fatally shot inside the couple’s Tipp City home.

"At first it was, ‘I want her dead.

I wish she was gone,’" Botner testified.

TEACHER FOUND DEAD WITH THROAT SLIT; DETECTIVES SCRUTINIZE HUSBAND’S SHIFTING STORY She recalled Flynn later telling her, "If I could kill her and not go to jail, I would." Then, she told jurors, his comments escalated further.

TEEN PLANNED MIDDLE SCHOOL MASSACRE BEFORE MAKING DEADLY ‘LAST-MINUTE CHOICE’ TO KILL MOM: OFFICIAL "One night he was up really late thinking about — told me that he was thinking about ways to kill her," Botner said.

The comments about wanting Ashley to die came at least once a month, Botner testified.

Prosecutors later walked Botner through thousands of messages recovered from the relationship, including one attributed to Flynn from February 2025 that read, "I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave." Other messages attributed to Flynn included, "I want her dead and gone" and, after Botner asked what she could do for him, "kill her." CALIFORNIA MOM BEGGED FOR HELP BEFORE EX GUNNED HER DOWN IN FRONT OF THEIR 4-YEAR-OLD SON: DA Flynn is accused of fatally shooting Ashley in the back of the head inside their home Feb.

16 before staging the scene to look like an intruder had broken in.

He has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges.

Botner also placed a gun in Flynn’s possession before the killing, telling jurors he once showed her a firearm he kept inside the center console of his truck.

OHIO MAN CONVICTED AFTER TRYING TO SHOOT EX-WIFE AT POINT-BLANK RANGE INSIDE RESTAURANT IN CHILLING VIDEO "He showed me a gun," she testified.

Flynn told her he kept the firearm in the console, though Botner could not remember what it looked like because she only saw it once.

SUSPECT IN MICROSOFT EXECUTIVE JARED BRIDEGAN'S MURDER CONVICTED IN ROADSIDE AMBUSH Investigators have never recovered the gun prosecutors allege Flynn used to kill Ashley despite extensive searches of the family home, nearby woods, storm drains and other areas.