A disturbing image allegedly saved on Ashley Flynn’s phone shortly before her death was shown to jurors on Monday as the murder trial of her husband, former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn, neared its conclusion.
The photograph showed Ashley posing alongside Caleb, but his face had been scratched out.
According to evidence presented in court, the image was saved to Ashley’s phone on February 2, just over two weeks before she was fatally shot.
Ashley, 37, was found dead in the couple’s Tipp City, Ohio, home on February 16 after suffering two gunshot wounds to the back of her head.
Caleb, 40, has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
Prosecutors allege that he killed his wife as he sought to pursue his relationship with 24-year-old Alleigha Botner.
Police were called to the home
Flynn contacted police early on February 16, telling them that someone had broken into the family home and shot his wife.
Officers arriving at the property found Ashley dead in her bedroom.
Flynn reportedly told investigators that he had been sleeping in another room with the couple’s daughters when he heard a gunshot.
He also said he noticed that a door leading toward the garage had been left open before discovering Ashley in bed.
Investigators, however, said they found no evidence that an intruder had fled the property.
Authorities also alleged that the damage to the garage-side door did not appear consistent with a conventional break-in.
Police further noticed that the centre console of Flynn’s truck was open.
Flynn had previously told investigators that this was where he kept his handgun.
Affair emerged during investigation
When questioned by police later that day, Flynn reportedly said that there had been no marital problems between him and Ashley “whatsoever.”
Investigators subsequently uncovered his relationship with Botner, with prosecutors presenting evidence of an affair that lasted roughly 18 months.
The prosecution has alleged that the relationship provided a motive for Ashley’s killing.
Flynn’s defence disputes the prosecution’s case and maintains that investigators focused on him prematurely.
More than 100,000 messages examined
Jurors have heard evidence about an extensive exchange of messages between Flynn and Botner.
The pair reportedly exchanged more than 100,000 messages during their relationship.
Prosecutors also presented messages in which Botner repeatedly urged Flynn to leave his wife.
In one message from September 2025, Flynn listed what he believed he could lose by choosing his relationship with Botner, including his daughters, his $250,000-a-year job, his home, his position at a church and his public reputation.
Botner, meanwhile, told him she would leave unless he separated from Ashley.
“Until she’s gone, I’m gone,” she reportedly wrote in one message.
Flynn made disturbing reference to Ashley
During the exchanges, Flynn allegedly wrote that he had stayed awake until 4am thinking about ways to kill Ashley without going to prison.
Botner responded by telling him that she was not asking him to kill his wife.
She instead urged him to make the divorce happen, according to the messages presented in court.
Flynn subsequently responded that he would work on “getting rid of her” before telling Botner that he loved her.
Botner later testified about the relationship and said she had repeatedly encouraged Flynn to leave Ashley rather than remain married to her.
Botner described how their relationship began
Botner told jurors that she met Flynn at Christian Life Center in Dayton in 2022, when she was 20 and working as an intern. Flynn was then in his mid-30s.
According to her testimony, their relationship eventually became romantic in early 2024.
Prosecutors have focused on the events immediately preceding Ashley’s death, arguing that the relationship between Flynn and Botner had reached a critical point.
The day before Ashley was killed, Botner allegedly sent Flynn information about divorce proceedings, child custody, deleting messages and ways Ashley might discover his infidelity.
‘I choose you, I’m about to be free’
Shortly before midnight on February 15, Flynn sent Botner a message indicating that he was going to bed because the following day would be significant.
“Good night, tomorrow’s a big day. I’ve got to get to bed,” he wrote, according to evidence presented to jurors. “I choose you, I’m about to be free.”
Hours later, Ashley was dead.
Botner testified that she became alarmed when she learned what had happened.
“Caleb, what’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?” she messaged him on the morning Ashley was killed.
She later deleted the message, telling the court that she was afraid investigators would examine Flynn’s phone and uncover their affair.
Botner said the timing troubled her
Botner also described her reaction after being told that Ashley had allegedly been killed by an intruder.
She testified that her “heart started pounding” and that the circumstances immediately appeared suspicious to her.
“In my mind, it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that, the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden,” she told jurors.
Flynn’s defence has maintained that he was asleep in another room with his daughters when an unknown intruder entered the home and killed Ashley.
His lawyers have also argued that investigators rushed to conclusions and that publicity surrounding Flynn’s affair has influenced the interpretation of the evidence.
Trial moves to closing arguments
Both the prosecution and defence rested their cases on Monday.
Prosecutors have also filed a motion seeking dismissal of misdemeanor counts involving alleged intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case, according to WHIO.
Closing arguments in the murder trial are scheduled for Tuesday morning.
