The mistress of a former American Idol contestant has denied allegations that she helped the singer plan his wife's murder, despite sending disturbing messages saying she wanted her 'gone.'
asserted
her → deny → messages
An attorney for Alleigha Botner told Fox News Digital that his client's messages were not evidence that she was an accomplice to Caleb Flynn.
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she → tell → Flynn
Flynn, 40, was convicted on September 29 of murdering his wife, Ashley, who he shot in the head while sleeping in their marital bed at their Ohio home on February 16.
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he → convict → February
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Monday.
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He → sentence → Monday
Flynn, a former pastor, murdered Ashley after having an affair with Botner, who worked at the church where they both served on the worship team.
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they → murder → team
Messages between the lovers became a key part of the trial, where jurors heard from more than 100,000 texts exchanged during their roughly 18-month affair.
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jurors → become → affair
'Look, she'll take full responsibility for her actions,' Botner's lawyer, Nick Gounaris, told Fox News Digital.
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lawyer → look → Digital
'The truth is that she had an affair with a married man and she said terrible things about that man's wife.
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she → have → wife
That's what she did.
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she → do → what
'What the public has wrong is that she was somehow involved in the planning or execution of the murder that Caleb did on the 16th of February 2026.
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Caleb → involve → February
That's what the public has wrong.
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public → have → what
She takes full responsibility for her actions, but not what he was convicted of,' he continued.
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he → take → what
An attorney for Alleigha Botner (Pictured) told Fox News Digital denied allegations that she helped Caleb Flynn murder his wife
Flynn, 40, was convicted on September 29 of murdering his wife, Ashley, who he shot in the head while sleeping.
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he → picture → head
He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole
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He → sentence → parole
During the trial, Botner broke down in tears as she was forced to read one chilling exchange aloud.
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she → break → exchange
'Do you know how badly I want to say, "F it" to any rules and any barriers and just love you with my entire heart for the rest of my life,' she wrote to Flynn in July 2025.
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she → know → July
Then came the chilling admission: 'I want to kill her, Caleb.
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I → come → her
Flynn replied: 'That makes two of us.'
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That → reply → us
Another exchange showed Flynn allegedly telling Botner: 'Please hire someone to take douche out.
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Flynn → show → douche
I need you,' using a derogatory nickname they had given Ashley.
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they → need → Ashley
'So tempting,' Botner responded.
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Botner → respond → ?
Flynn allegedly told his mistress in August that he had spent much of the night contemplating how Ashley could be killed without him ending up behind bars.
uncertain
him → tell → bars
'I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail,' he wrote.
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he → cry → jail
Botner responded by explicitly telling him not to kill Ashley.
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Botner → respond → Ashley
'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,' she wrote.
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she → ask → what
'But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.'
Flynn is pictured as a contestant in the 2013 season of American Idol.
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Flynn → make → Idol
He passed initial auditions but was knocked out in the Hollywood round of the contest
Flynn responded: 'I'll work on getting rid of her.
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I → pass → her
Until then, I love you.'
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I → love → you
In another September 2025 message, Flynn listed what he was prepared to sacrifice to be with his mistress, including his daughters.
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he → list → daughters
He said he was willing to risk his 'daughters, a quarter-million-dollar salary job, a place to live, possibly a church I serve at, public shame and humiliation, and way more.
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I → say → daughters
Botner, meanwhile, repeatedly demanded that he leave Ashley.
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he → demand → Ashley
'Until she's gone, I'm gone,' she wrote in one ultimatum.
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she → go → ultimatum
But under questioning from Flynn's defense, Botner insisted the ominous language was about ending the marriage.
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language → insist → marriage
'I always meant divorce,' she testified.
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she → mean → divorce
'I think the reason that she wasn't charged is just because you say something, you still have to show that that person was somehow involved,' Gounaris told Fox.
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Gounaris → think → Fox
'The evidence that was reviewed, the evidence that was developed, the evidence that they secured through all of these different avenues did not suggest anything that involved Alleigha Botner in the death of Ashley Flynn.'
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that → review → Flynn
Botner testified that she was just 20 when she met Flynn at Christian Life Center in Dayton in 2022, where she was an intern and he was in his mid-30s.
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he → testify → mid-30s
Their relationship became romantic in early 2024, she said.
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she → become → 2024
Botner performs on state at the CLC church in September 2023.
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Botner → perform → September
Her once married lover is seen behind her on the guitar
By the night before Ashley's death, prosecutors said the secret relationship was reaching a decisive moment.
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relationship → see → moment
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
