A message sent hours before Ashley Flynn was killed has become a focus of her husband's murder trial. "I choose you. I'm free. Actions will come tomorrow," Caleb Flynn allegedly texted Alleigha Botner, a woman with whom he had been having an affair. What did he mean by "actions"-and what can prosecutors prove about the message?
Botner took the stand Wednesday in Miami County, Ohio, where Flynn is on trial in the February killing of his wife. The former pastor and American Idol contestant has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors allege that he shot Ashley twice while she was in bed, then arranged the scene to suggest an intruder had entered their Tipp City home. Their two daughters were asleep in the house.
Botner told jurors she understood Flynn's message to mean he intended to speak to Ashley about a divorce the following day. But when she learned Ashley had died, she said the timing struck her as too much of a coincidence. Asked how she feels about Flynn now, Botner testified, "I hate him," adding that she believes he murdered his wife. Her belief is testimony, however, not a finding by the jury.
The affair was only part of what jurors heard. Botner testified that she and Flynn had discussed marriage, exchanged more than 100,000 messages and even got matching lightning-bolt tattoos. She said Flynn repeatedly spoke about wanting his wife "gone" or "dead." According to her testimony, she had grown tired of waiting for him to leave Ashley and had told him she was moving on.
The day before Ashley's death, Botner said she sent Flynn screenshots about divorce proceedings and how to delete phone messages. She testified that she was concerned about her own reputation and job if the affair's messages surfaced during a divorce. Prosecutors may ask jurors to consider those exchanges alongside Flynn's final message to her, but the defense disputes the conclusion they are drawing.
Flynn's attorneys acknowledge that he said cruel things about his wife. They argue that he lied to appease Botner and that the affair does not establish he committed murder. The defense has also pointed to the absence of direct evidence, including a firearm, tying him to the killing.
Botner's testimony was set to continue Thursday. As jurors hear more of the messages, the central question remains whether they reveal a plan to kill Ashley Flynn or a man making promises about a divorce he had repeatedly delayed. The court has yet to decide what happened in the Flynn home that night.
