Alleigha Botner has emerged as a closely watched figure in the murder trial of former “American Idol” contestant Caleb Flynn , after prosecutors revealed that Flynn had been involved in a year-long affair before his wife Ashley was killed in Ohio.
When Flynn’s trial began, ChurchLeaders reported that Botner was included on the witness list as a potential witness. Botner was a worship leader at Christian Life Center in Dayton, the church where Flynn was also involved in worship ministry. She resigned from the church after Flynn’s arrest and is now listed as a potential witness in his trial. Online speculation has identified Botner as the woman Flynn was allegedly having an affair with. Prosecutors also alleged that, shortly before Ashley’s death, Flynn sent the woman he was having an affair with a message saying, “I choose you. I’m free.”
However court coverage has referred to Flynn’s affair and his “mistress,” but prosecutors have not publicly identified Botner by name. The report also said some people had speculated that she and Flynn were romantically involved before Ashley Flynn’s death. Prosecutors presented messages in which Flynn allegedly discussed killing Ashley and expressed a desire to be free of his marriage, according to Court TV’s trial report.
PEOPLE reported ahead of the trial that the woman alleged to have been Flynn’s mistress was among the witnesses expected to testify. The defense acknowledged that Flynn had an affair but argued that the relationship did not prove he murdered his wife.
His attorney told jurors that Flynn was not on trial for cheating and that the prosecution still had to establish that he committed the killing .
