Caleb Flynn Case Updates

Mistress Testifies: Affair, Secret Messages and Flynn’s Statements About Wanting Ashley Dead

The prosecution presented some of its most significant evidence yet when Alleigha Botner, the woman who had been having an affair with Caleb Flynn, took the stand.

Botner testified that she met Flynn at Christian Life Center in 2022, when she was 20 and he was approximately 36 or 37. Their relationship remained professional until March 2024, when they began communicating more frequently. By May 2024, she said, the relationship had become sexual.

According to Botner, Flynn told her his marriage to Ashley was essentially over. He claimed Ashley had cheated on him, that he viewed her as a roommate, that he hated her, and that he remained in the marriage because of their daughters. Botner acknowledged that she knew Flynn was married and said she knew the affair was wrong.

The affair continued for approximately a year and a half and involved an extraordinary volume of communication. Botner testified that she and Flynn exchanged approximately 107,000 messages through GroupMe alone — nearly 300 messages per day on average. They regularly deleted their communications and moved between messaging platforms in an effort to keep the relationship hidden.

Botner said Flynn repeatedly expressed hatred toward Ashley during those communications.

She testified that he said he wanted Ashley “gone” at least weekly and made statements about wanting her to die approximately once a month. According to Botner, those statements escalated over time — from saying he wished Ashley were dead or gone to saying that, if he could kill her without going to jail, he would. She also testified that Flynn once told her he had stayed awake thinking about ways to kill Ashley.

The prosecution then began walking Botner through Flynn’s actual messages. Among them was a February 11, 2025 exchange in which Flynn wrote that he needed Ashley “to die, to cheat again, to leave.” Five days later — exactly one year before Ashley’s death — Flynn wrote that he hated her and did not want to be near her.

Other messages introduced in court included statements attributed to Flynn such as:

• “Kill douche.”
• “I want her dead and gone.”
• “I want her gone so bad.”
• “I hate her with everything in me.”
• “I want her dead and gone.”

In a March 10, 2025 exchange, Flynn wrote that he wanted Botner as his wife and the mother of his children and asked, “How do I escape this?” Botner responded that he had to find a way. Flynn then wrote, “I want her dead and gone.”

Caleb allegedly told Botner that Ashley was not even “worthy” of being called by her first name. Instead, he said they would refer to her as “douchebag.” Botner acknowledged that she participated in the cruelty, telling jurors that she used most of the same names for Ashley, including “Spawn of Satan”, “bitch”, “whore”, “Slut” and other insults.

Botner also testified about the increasingly serious future she and Flynn discussed together. They talked about marriage, took trips and dates outside the area where they were less likely to be recognized, and even got matching Harry Potter lightning-bolt tattoos. Flynn placed his tattoo in his armpit, Botner testified, because he did not want Ashley to see it.

The Ultimatum

By late 2025, Botner said she was tired of waiting for Flynn to leave his wife. She began giving him deadlines. Each time, Flynn promised he would leave Ashley, but according to Botner, he failed to follow through.

Finally, in January 2026, Botner gave him what she described as his last chance: leave Ashley by approximately January 11 or she was moving on with her life.

Flynn did not leave.

Botner stopped communicating with him and said the two had essentially no contact until February 14 — two days before Ashley Flynn was killed.

February 14: Flynn Says He Is Finally Leaving Ashley

On Valentine’s Day, Flynn contacted Botner again. Botner testified that Flynn told her he was finally going to leave Ashley. The two met at Christian Life Center after services that evening. According to Botner, Flynn told her that he had already spoken to Ashley and told her he was divorcing her.

Botner remained skeptical. She reminded him that he had promised to leave before and had never done it. She also told Flynn she had a date with another man scheduled for March and warned him that if he did not act quickly, she might never want to be with him again.

February 15: Deleting Messages — and Preparing for Divorce

The following day — the day before Ashley’s death — Botner and Flynn discussed how to eliminate evidence of their affair. Botner acknowledged that she used ChatGPT to research whether deleted messages could be recovered, whether courts could obtain them during divorce proceedings and whether Venmo transactions between her and Flynn could be discovered. She then sent Flynn screenshots of what she found.

Botner testified that she was worried Ashley might expose the affair during a divorce and that she could lose her job or damage her reputation. She said she sent Flynn instructions about permanently deleting their messages “just in case anyone were to search his phone.”

The screenshots were timestamped at approximately 5:47 p.m. on February 15. They included questions about recovering deleted messages, subpoenas, custody, divorce proceedings, financial records and whether Venmo transactions could be discovered.

Botner also testified that Flynn had discussed obtaining a burner phone after the divorce and paying cash for it. According to her, Flynn believed using another phone would be safer if Ashley disclosed their messages and authorities or attorneys searched his regular phone.

“Tomorrow’s a Big Day”

At the same time, Flynn was telling Botner exactly what he intended to do the following morning. According to Botner, Flynn said that on February 16 he would tell Ashley’s parents what was happening, speak to his daughters, contact someone about a new job, arrange a hotel and move his belongings out of the marital home. He told her his actions would finally prove he was serious.

Botner testified that Flynn said February 16 would be “a day I never forget.” Their communications continued past midnight.

Among the last things Botner remembered Flynn telling her were that “tomorrow’s a big day,” that he chose her, and that he was about to be “free.”

February 16: Ashley Flynn Is Dead

Botner woke around 8:00 a.m. expecting to hear from Flynn. Instead, she eventually received an Instagram message from a member of Christian Life Center asking whether she had heard what happened to Mrs. Flynn. The person sent her a news report about Ashley’s death.

Botner testified that her heart began pounding. In her mind, she said, it seemed like too much of a coincidence: this was supposed to be the day Flynn finally divorced Ashley — and suddenly Ashley was dead.

Botner immediately messaged Flynn asking what was happening and whether he had been involved. He did not respond. She then deleted the message because, with a murder now involved, she believed investigators would search Flynn’s phone and discover the affair.

Botner Admits She Initially Lied to the FBI

The prosecution also confronted a significant credibility problem directly: Botner initially lied to the FBI. She admitted that during her first interview she was not truthful about her relationship with Flynn. Botner said she was afraid the affair would destroy her reputation and cost her job — particularly now that the relationship was connected to a murder investigation.

She began revealing more, she testified, after investigators told her they had found messages on Ashley’s phone. By the time she testified in court, Botner made clear that her feelings toward Flynn had changed dramatically. Asked how she feels about him now, she answered:

“I hate him.”

Asked why, Botner told the jury that she believes he murdered his wife.

From Affair to Alleged Motive – Words Become Evidence

Botner’s testimony gives the prosecution evidence touching several parts of its theory at once:

a long-running affair
Flynn’s desire for a future with another woman
mounting pressure from Botner to leave his marriage
repeated statements about wanting Ashley dead or gone
efforts to conceal the affair
discussions about deleting electronic evidence
a renewed promise to leave Ashley immediately before her death

Most importantly, the State is not relying solely on Botner’s recollection of private conversations. Prosecutors have begun presenting Flynn’s own messages to the jury — messages written months before Ashley’s death in which he repeatedly expressed hatred toward his wife and, on multiple occasions, said he wanted her dead or gone.

The timing presented by the prosecution is also central: Botner testified that Flynn spent February 15 discussing divorce plans with her, told her his “actions” would prove his intentions the following day, and ended the night saying that February 16 would be a big day and that he was about to be free.

Ashley Flynn was killed the next morning.

Botner’s testimony was still ongoing when court recessed for the day. The State had reached only part of the enormous collection of messages between her and Flynn, with additional testimony still to come.

Law Enforcement and Forensic Testimony Focuses on the Alleged Break-In

Day 4 of testimony focused heavily on the law-enforcement investigation of Ashley Flynn’s death, including the condition of the garage entry door, extensive searches of the Flynn property and surrounding area, evidence collection, interviews with Aaliyah Botner, and forensic testing conducted by the FBI. A central question running through the testimony was whether the damage to the garage door was consistent with someone forcing their way into the Flynn home.

Detective Brad Kline – Tipp City Police Department

Detective Brad Kline, a veteran law-enforcement officer who currently serves on a DEA task force, testified that he arrived at 932 Cunningham Court at approximately 3:45 a.m. on February 16.

After briefly entering the master bedroom and observing Ashley Flynn deceased in the bed, Kline examined the garage. He saw that the exterior access door was open, the doorknob had been broken off, and pieces of the knob, trim and wood were lying on the garage floor.

Kline testified that, based on his experience seeing dozens of doors forcibly entered, the damage did not appear consistent with a typical forced entry. He specifically pointed to the location of the debris, which he said was on the inside of the garage.

Investigators also canvassed the neighborhood. A nearby Ring camera showed law enforcement arriving but did not capture anything investigators considered relevant before that. Klein said none of the neighbors he interviewed reported seeing or hearing anything unusual before police arrived.

The search for evidence was extensive. Investigators:

• searched the house and surrounding property;
• attempted to search the attic, even renting an insulation vacuum to remove large amounts of blown-in insulation;
• searched neighboring areas and a nearby wooded area;
• lifted a shed with heavy equipment so investigators could look underneath it; and
• followed up on video provided by a resident several blocks away.

Those efforts did not locate the missing firearm or other significant evidence outside the residence. Kline also helped remove the damaged garage door and surrounding frame from the house so the entire assembly could be preserved and examined.

On cross-examination, the defense emphasized limitations in the neighborhood canvass. Although several neighbors had cameras, investigators did not have usable footage from most of them, and the sensitivity of the neighboring Ring camera had not been tested. The defense also established that none of the people Kline interviewed reported hearing anything before police arrived.

Additional Law-Enforcement Assistance

As the homicide investigation expanded, Tipp City Police requested assistance from the Miami County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. Law-enforcement officers conducted additional searches of the residence and surrounding property. One investigator testified that the damage to the garage entry door was not consistent, in his opinion, with other forced-entry doors he had encountered during his career.

A grid search of the backyard and wooded area also failed to locate evidence outside the home.

Investigators eventually collected approximately 70 tools from inside the Flynn residence, primarily from the garage but also from other areas of the house. The tools, along with portions of the damaged door and frame, were submitted to the FBI laboratory for forensic examination.

Aaliyah Botner Interviews

Law enforcement also testified about its investigation of Aaliyah Botner and her relationship with Caleb Flynn. Investigators interviewed Botner on February 20 and collected her cellphone. According to testimony, Botner initially denied having an intimate or sexual relationship with Flynn and characterized their relationship much differently. Investigators already had information that caused them to question that account, including messages recovered from Ashley Flynn’s phone and information provided by one of Ashley’s friends.

A second interview was conducted on February 26 with Botner’s attorney present. Investigators testified that she was substantially more forthcoming during that interview about her relationship with Flynn. 

The defense emphasized that Botner had initially been untruthful with investigators and also questioned law enforcement about other phones she had used, including discussion of a possible “burner phone.”

FBI Tool-Mark Examination

One of the most significant witnesses of the day was FBI forensic examiner Sarah Stuchel, who specializes in firearms and tool-mark analysis. Stuchel examined numerous tools collected from the Flynn residence and compared them with marks found on the garage door, door frame, strike plate and pieces of damaged wood. The examination included dozens of tools ranging from screwdrivers and pliers to hammers and other household tools.

One item received particular attention: a claw hammer recovered from the Flynn garage. Stuchel testified that the general size and profile of the hammer were consistent with a mark found on a broken piece of wood from the door frame. She was also able to demonstrate a direction in which a similar hammer could have produced that type of mark.

But that finding came with an important limitation. The FBI examination could not identify that hammer as the tool that actually made the mark. Stuchel explained that there were insufficient microscopic individual characteristics to make that determination. Her formal conclusion from the tool-mark comparisons was inconclusive.

On cross-examination, the defense drove that point home. 

Stuchel agreed that she could not establish that any of the approximately 70 tools examined had been used to damage the door. She also agreed that claw hammers with the same general measurements could produce marks with a similar profile. The forensic testing also could not determine who had used any particular tool.

What Day 4 Established

Day 4 gave jurors a detailed look at just how extensively investigators searched the Flynn home and surrounding property and how closely they examined the alleged point of entry. The prosecution presented multiple investigators who questioned whether the condition of the garage door looked like a conventional forced entry. Jurors also heard about the large-scale effort to locate the missing firearm and other evidence, including searches of the attic, yard, woods and areas beneath sheds.

But the forensic evidence stopped short of identifying the Flynn household hammer—or any other seized tool—as the instrument used to damage the garage door. The FBI examiner’s final tool-mark conclusion remained inconclusive.

That leaves jurors with two different pieces of the evidentiary picture: investigators who believed the physical appearance of the door raised questions about the reported break-in, and forensic testing that could not determine which tool actually caused the damage.

Day 1: First Responders and the Initial Investigation

Following opening statements, the State began its case with seven witnesses focused largely on the first hours of the investigation into Ashley Flynn’s death. Jurors heard Caleb Flynn’s 911 call, testimony from the first officers and paramedic to enter the home, evidence concerning the initial search for a possible intruder, and testimony about the FBI’s neighborhood canvass.

Witness 1: Beth Hall — Miami County Communication Center

Beth Hall, director and records custodian for the Miami County Communication Center, authenticated the 911 call placed from Caleb Flynn’s phone at approximately 2:31 a.m. on February 16, 2026. Hall explained that 911 calls are automatically recorded beginning when the phone starts ringing and are maintained on secure county servers. She personally retrieved the call and provided it to Tipp City Police that morning.

The recording was played for the jury.

During the call, a highly emotional Caleb told the dispatcher that someone had broken into his home and that his wife had been shot in the head. He repeatedly pleaded for police to hurry and told the dispatcher that the door leading to the garage had been wide open. Caleb said his daughters were asleep in their room and Ashley was in the couple’s bedroom. At the dispatcher’s direction, he checked Ashley for signs of life and placed a towel over the wound without applying pressure. He later checked the girls and reported that they appeared unharmed and were still sleeping.

Police arrived while Caleb remained on the phone with the dispatcher. The 911 recording was admitted as State’s Exhibit 1 without objection. The defense did not cross-examine Hall.

TRANSCRIPT FILE:

Witness 2: Sgt. Corey Rissmiller — Tipp City Police Department

Sgt. Corey Rissmiller was the first officer to arrive at 932 Cunningham Court, reaching the home at approximately 2:36 a.m.

Rissmiller testified that Caleb was outside waving him down and appeared panicked and extremely upset. Caleb told him his wife had been shot and said no one else was inside the home other than his daughters. Rissmiller conducted a quick safety check before entering the master bedroom. Caleb told him Ashley had been shot twice and warned him that shell casings were on the floor. 

Inside the bedroom, Rissmiller observed two spent shell casings and Ashley lying on her left side in bed with a towel covering her head. He removed the towel and saw significant trauma to the back of her head. He testified that, based on his experience, he believed she was already deceased. Rissmiller also noted that the opposite side of the bed did not appear to have been slept in and that blankets and pillows were on the floor near the dresser. He described Ashley as appearing to have been asleep when she was shot.

Other officers arrived within seconds. Rissmiller directed them to conduct a more thorough clearing of the house and garage while he began securing the scene. EMS was initially staged until officers determined there was no immediate threat inside. Rissmiller treated the incident at that point as a reported burglary/home invasion. He requested K9 assistance and a drone search in an effort to determine whether someone had entered or fled the property.

A significant issue emerged during cross-examination: Rissmiller had not activated his body camera when he first arrived. As a result, Caleb’s earliest statements to him, Rissmiller’s initial entry into the home and bedroom, the original condition of the scene as he first observed it, and his initial observations of the shell casings were not captured on body-camera video.

Witness 3: Officer Alexandra Giampapa — Tipp City Police Department

Officer Alexandra Giampapa arrived only seconds after Rissmiller, along with another Tipp City officer. Giampapa testified that the call had initially been dispatched as a burglary in progress, followed by information that a woman had been shot in the head and that a garage door was open. 

When she entered the home, she saw Caleb near the dining room table as Rissmiller came from the bedroom and reported that Ashley was deceased. Giampapa and the other officer then cleared the garage. She testified that the side access door was open and that a refrigerator appeared to have been pushed out of the way near the doorway. They also noticed that the center console of a pickup truck in the garage was open. 

When Giampapa asked Caleb whether there were firearms in the house, he told her there was a shotgun, a .22 and a pellet gun, and that he had a handgun in the glove compartment of his truck. 

The officers then checked on Caleb and Ashley’s two daughters. Giampapa testified that the girls’ bedroom door was closed, the lights were off and a fan or other source of white noise was running. Both girls appeared to still be asleep and breathing. 

Giampapa remained with Caleb for much of the early response. She heard him call both his mother and Ashley’s mother, Jill, and later heard him describe what happened to Detective Morgan.

According to Giampapa, Caleb’s accounts were relatively consistent: he said he and the girls had been sick, that he had gone into his daughters’ room, fallen asleep there and later awakened after hearing the dogs and then a gunshot. He said he froze before eventually getting up and discovering the door to the garage open and Ashley shot in the bedroom. 

Giampapa described Caleb as highly emotional. At one point he appeared to gag or vomit into a trash can, and later said he could not breathe. EMS evaluated him in an ambulance. 

On cross-examination, Giampapa agreed that Caleb’s descriptions of what happened to his mother, Ashley’s mother and Detective Morgan were relatively consistent and that she did not recall any “jarring” differences among them.

Her body-camera footage was admitted as State’s Exhibit 2.

Witness 4: Alex Huels — Tipp City Firefighter/Paramedic

Firefighter-paramedic Alex Huels responded at approximately 2:30 a.m. after receiving a dispatch reporting a woman who had been shot in the head, was not breathing and appeared pale. Huels entered the home with a Tipp City police officer and went to the master bedroom. He saw Ashley lying on her left side in what he described as a sleeping position. He was warned about a shell casing on the floor and carefully moved around it.

Huels removed the towel from Ashley’s head and observed a penetrating injury to the right side of her head. She was not breathing and showed no movement. He checked for a carotid pulse and found none.

Based on her injuries and lack of signs of life, Huels determined that she met the criteria under EMS protocols for non-initiation of resuscitation. His assessment ended at approximately 2:42 a.m. Huels clarified that paramedics do not formally establish the biological time of death. 

On cross-examination, however, he testified that he did not believe Ashley had been dead for hours. He based that opinion in part on the relatively uniform paleness of her skin and the absence of the type of mottling that can develop as more time passes after death. After leaving the bedroom, Huels told Caleb that Ashley was dead. He described Caleb as visibly upset.

Witness 5: Officer Hunter Bradbury — Troy Police Department Drone Operator  

Troy Police Officer Hunter Bradbury was called to assist Tipp City Police with a drone at approximately 3:40 a.m. Bradbury, an FAA-certified drone operator, arrived with a DJI Mavic 3T equipped with thermal-imaging capabilities. He launched the drone at approximately 3:56 a.m. 

He first flew a circular pattern around the Flynn residence and then conducted a grid search that extended to some adjoining properties. The drone remained in the air for approximately an hour. 

Bradbury testified that he did not locate any unusual human heat signatures. The only moving heat signatures he observed were animals. Four thermal aerial photographs showing different sides of the Flynn residence were introduced and admitted as State’s Exhibits 3 through 6.

Cross-examination focused heavily on the limitations of the search. The defense emphasized that the drone was not deployed until roughly an hour and twenty minutes after the first officer arrived — and even longer after the shooting itself would have occurred.

Bradbury could not say how far a person could have traveled during that period or whether the area searched was large enough to encompass the distance someone could have walked or run. He also testified that the drone could not have followed a vehicle that had already driven away.

Witness 6: Deputy David Laycox — Preble County Sheriff’s Office/K9 Handler

Deputy David Laycox responded with his tracking bloodhound, K9 Hayes, after Tipp City requested assistance locating a possible fleeing suspect. Laycox was told that a suspected intruder had entered and left through the west-side garage door. When he arrived, the area was still dark, the grass was wet with dew and conditions were favorable for scent tracking.

Laycox began Hayes at the concrete pad and door jamb near the west garage door. Instead of tracking away from the residence, Hayes repeatedly pulled toward the open door and attempted to enter the house. Laycox then conducted perimeter searches around the property. Hayes did not establish a track leading away from the residence and repeatedly returned to the garage-side door, which Laycox described as the location of the strongest scent.

Laycox characterized the result as a negative indication for a suspect fleeing from the areas he searched. 

The defense, however, established important limitations. Hayes is not 100 percent successful on every track, and Laycox could not provide the dog’s success percentage. The search was also based on information given to Laycox that the suspected intruder had used the west-side garage door. 

Laycox did not search the front of the property because it had already been contaminated by police activity, and he did not conduct a scent search from the front garage doors. When the defense suggested that the negative K9 result meant no one had left the house, Laycox pushed back, making clear that his conclusion applied only to the areas he actually searched.

Witness 7: FBI Special Agent Michael Tom — Neighborhood Canvass

The final witness of the day was FBI Special Agent Michael Tom of the Dayton Resident Agency. Tom testified that Tipp City requested FBI assistance following Ashley Flynn’s death. More than a dozen agents ultimately assisted in various aspects of the investigation, with nine agents involved in the neighborhood canvass led by Tom.

Agents went door-to-door through the surrounding neighborhood, speaking with residents and looking particularly for home-security and doorbell-camera footage that might show vehicles or people entering or leaving the area around the time of the shooting. The canvass covered more than 80 homes.

When agents could not reach residents during the initial canvass, they returned later in an effort to make contact. Information and potential video evidence were coordinated with Tipp City investigators for additional follow-up.

The defense did not cross-examine Agent Tom.

Day 1 Takeaway

The State’s first witnesses established the immediate timeline following Caleb Flynn’s 911 call and documented the earliest efforts to locate a possible intruder. Police initially responded to the scene as a reported burglary or home invasion and deployed multiple resources to investigate that possibility: officers cleared the residence, a drone equipped with thermal imaging searched the area, a trained bloodhound attempted to establish a track, and FBI agents later canvassed more than 80 surrounding homes. Neither the drone nor K9 search identified a person fleeing the property.

At the same time, cross-examination highlighted limitations in those findings. The first officer’s initial encounter with Caleb and his first entry into the bedroom were not recorded on body camera; the drone was not launched until well after the shooting would have occurred; and the K9 search did not cover every possible exit route from the property. 

The testimony also established that Caleb appeared highly emotional throughout the initial response and, according to Officer Giampapa, gave relatively consistent accounts of the events to family members and investigators during those first hours.

Defense Opening Statement: “A Tragedy Deserves More Than a Theory”

The defense began its opening statement with a verse from Proverbs: “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”

That became the theme of the defense case. Defense attorney Emily Smith acknowledged both the devastating loss of Ashley Flynn and Caleb Flynn’s affair, lies and betrayal of his wife. But she told jurors that being an unfaithful husband does not make Flynn a murderer.

“A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer,” she told the jury. The defense argued that investigators discovered Flynn’s affair, decided they had found a motive for murder and then worked backward — interpreting the evidence through the assumption that Flynn must have killed Ashley.

The Affair Is Not Murder

The defense did not attempt to excuse Flynn’s conduct. Jurors will see messages between Flynn and his mistress in which he said “ugly, hurtful, selfish things” about Ashley, Smith acknowledged. But she argued that Flynn sometimes made those statements to appease his mistress and that jurors will also see warm and loving communications between Flynn and Ashley. 

The defense said Flynn lied to both women — telling his mistress what she wanted to hear while concealing the affair from Ashley and her family. “Caleb betrayed Ashley as a husband,” Smith told jurors. But, she stressed, Flynn is not on trial for adultery, lying or being a bad husband. He is on trial for aggravated murder and other criminal charges.

The defense warned jurors that the prosecution’s presentation of the affair, messages and lies could create anger and disgust toward Flynn and argued that those emotions cannot substitute for proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Did Investigators Decide First and Investigate Second?

The defense directly attacked the investigation, describing it as plagued by errors, bias and a rush to judgment. According to Smith, once investigators discovered the affair, Flynn became the “most convenient scapegoat.” The defense contends investigators reached their conclusion first and then attempted to fit the evidence into that conclusion.

The defense also challenged the prosecution’s presentation of only two possible explanations — Flynn’s account of an intruder versus the State’s theory that Flynn killed Ashley and staged the scene. Smith told jurors there were other possibilities that were not thoroughly investigated.

“Where Is the Evidence?”

The defense then focused on what it says is missing from the State’s case. According to the defense:

The murder weapon has not been recovered.
The State cannot show that Flynn possessed the gun that killed Ashley that night.
There is no eyewitness identifying Flynn as the shooter.
There is no surveillance footage showing Flynn committing the crime.
No gunshot residue was found on Flynn or his clothing.
The coroner did not establish a time of death.
The defense says there is no forensic evidence directly linking Flynn to the killing.
The State cannot establish when the damage to the garage door occurred or that Flynn caused it.
The fingerprints investigators found belonging to Flynn were inside his own home, where he had lived since 2021.

The defense also attacked the firearm-tampering charge, arguing that prosecutors are asking jurors to infer Flynn tampered with the gun largely because investigators could not find it. Smith repeatedly returned to one question she wants jurors asking throughout the trial: Where is the evidence?

More Than Two Possibilities

The defense disputed the prosecution’s contention that the evidence leaves jurors with two competing explanations. According to Smith, investigators failed to thoroughly explore other possibilities because their attention became fixed on Flynn once they learned about his affair. 

The defense argued that the prosecution is asking jurors to move from motive to murder: Flynn wanted out of his marriage, he had a mistress, he said terrible things about Ashley and therefore he must have killed her. But motive, Smith reminded jurors, is not itself an element of the crimes Flynn is charged with committing.

The defense’s position is that the State may be able to prove Flynn lied, cheated and behaved badly, but that is fundamentally different from proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he murdered Ashley.

“The State Gets to Accuse. You Get to Decide.”

Smith ended by urging jurors to pay attention not only to the circumstantial evidence prosecutors present, but also to what they cannot show them. She argued that Flynn’s conduct may make him easy to dislike and that jurors may become angry with him as they hear the evidence. But neither anger nor a desire to find someone responsible for Ashley’s death can satisfy the State’s burden of proof.

“The State gets to accuse. You get to decide.”

The defense told jurors that Ashley deserves justice — but argued that justice requires an investigation willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads, rather than toward “wherever the story is easiest to tell.” Its central message to the jury was simple:

A tragedy deserves more than a theory.

Prosecution Opening Statement: “People Lie. Evidence Doesn’t.”

The prosecution opened its case against Caleb Flynn with some of the most damaging words jurors are likely to hear during the trial — words prosecutors say came directly from Flynn himself. In messages allegedly sent to his mistress months before his wife Ashley Flynn was killed, Flynn wrote:

“I was up until 4:00 a.m. last night crying. Literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail.”

In another message, he allegedly wrote:

“If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat. That is how dark and how hateful I feel.”

The State told jurors those messages establish the central themes of its case: motive, intent, and what prosecutors contend is the truth behind Flynn’s claim that an unknown intruder entered the family home and murdered his wife.

Ashley Flynn was shot twice in the back of the head while lying in bed during the early morning hours of February 16, 2026. Prosecutors described her as being in a sleeping position and argued that the circumstances were inconsistent with someone who had encountered an intruder.

Two Competing Explanations

The prosecution asked jurors to consider two competing explanations throughout the trial. 

The first is Flynn’s reported account: an unidentified intruder approached the residence, entered the home, made his way to the primary bedroom, shot Ashley and escaped without being seen or identified.

The second is the State’s theory, which prosecutors said was reconstructed through physical, digital and electronic evidence.

According to the prosecution, investigators found no independent evidence documenting an unknown person approaching the house, entering it, moving through the residence, accessing the murder weapon or leaving the property.

Prosecutors acknowledged that there is no eyewitness to Ashley’s killing and that the murder weapon has not been recovered. However, they told jurors that Flynn kept a 9mm handgun in the console of his truck, which was parked in the garage. When officers arrived, according to the State, the console was open and the gun was gone. Ashley was killed with two 9mm bullets.

“People Lie. Evidence Doesn’t.”

A major part of the State’s case will center on Flynn’s electronic devices and communications. Prosecutors said the evidence will document Flynn’s years-long affair, his efforts to delete information — including activity only hours before Ashley’s death — and communications discussing the end of his marriage and major changes he said were coming in his life.

The prosecution also told jurors that Flynn claimed he had been asleep during critical portions of the night. His devices, prosecutors contend, tell a different story.

Jurors are expected to hear evidence involving Flynn’s Apple Watch movement, AirPods and iPhone activity, app deletions, Face ID activity before the 911 call and electronic records associated with the call itself.

“People lie. Evidence doesn’t,” the prosecutor told the jury, arguing that the individual pieces of digital evidence connect with one another and ultimately converge on Flynn.

The Garage Door

The prosecution also previewed what appears likely to become another important issue at trial: a side garage door that Flynn allegedly claimed had been forced open by an intruder. Jurors were told they will hear from an FBI toolmark examiner regarding damage around the deadbolt area. Prosecutors said law enforcement witnesses will testify that the damage was inconsistent with the door having been kicked or pried open and that multiple tools caused the marks.

The State added one particularly significant detail: the door was unlocked.

More Than 100,000 Messages

The prosecution told jurors that the messages about killing Ashley were only two among more than 100,000 messages exchanged between Flynn and his mistress during the year before Ashley’s death. According to the State, those communications repeatedly showed Flynn expressing hatred toward Ashley, wanting her gone or dead, wanting freedom from the marriage and envisioning a future with his mistress.

Prosecutors highlighted several messages allegedly sent during the late hours of February 15 — just hours before Ashley was killed:

“I choose you. I’m free.”

“Actions will come tomorrow.”

“February 16th, day I’ll never forget.”

The prosecution argued that if Flynn could kill Ashley and successfully make her death appear to be the work of an intruder, he could portray himself as another victim while keeping the life he wanted: his relationship with his mistress, his daughters, financial benefits, his lucrative employment with Ashley’s family business and his position as a worship leader.

The State ended its opening by telling jurors that its case will not depend upon a single piece of evidence. Instead, prosecutors say Flynn’s own communications, device activity, forensic evidence, the physical scene and his actions before and after Ashley’s death will converge.

The prosecution’s position was unequivocal: the evidence, it says, will not show that an unknown stranger entered the Flynn home and disappeared into the night. It will show, prosecutors told the jury, that Ashley Flynn was killed by her husband.