The Caleb Flynn Trial The Affair, Ashley Flynn’s Murder and the Evidence That Led to a Guilty Verdict

At 2:30 in the morning on February 16, 2026, Caleb Flynn called 911.

His wife, 37-year-old Ashley Flynn, had been shot inside their Tipp City, Ohio home while their two daughters slept down the hall.

Caleb told police he had been asleep in one of his daughter’s bunk beds when he heard two gunshots. He believed someone had broken into the house.

There were things inside the home that seemed, at least initially, to fit that story.

A side door in the garage was open and damaged. The console of Caleb’s truck was open. A 9mm handgun he said he normally kept inside the truck was missing.

That gun has never been found. But as investigators began reconstructing the hours before Ashley’s death, the story became much more complicated.

There were the dogs that apparently hadn’t sounded the alarm, there was damage to the garage door that investigators questioned, there was activity recorded by Caleb’s Apple Watch during a period when he said he was sleeping, and there was what Caleb knew when he called 911.

And then investigators discovered another woman.

The messages between Caleb and that woman changed the entire context of the case.

Because just hours before Ashley was killed, Caleb had written:

“Actions will come tomorrow.”

Later came another message:

“February 16th. Day I’ll never forget.”

And shortly before the shooting:

“I choose you.”

Seven months later, on September 29, 2026, a jury found Caleb Flynn guilty of murdering his wife.

But getting from that 911 call to the guilty verdict requires looking at something prosecutors repeatedly asked jurors to do during the Caleb Flynn trial.

Don’t look at one piece of evidence.

Look at what happens when you put all of it together.

Listen to the Full Episodes

Who Was Ashley Flynn?

Before getting into the affair, the texts and everything that eventually became evidence, Ashley deserves to be introduced as more than the woman at the center of a murder trial.

Ashley Elizabeth Flynn was 37 years old.

She was a daughter, sister, wife and mother of two girls. She graduated from Tipp City High School in 2006 and Lee University in 2010.

Her faith was important to her. She volunteered at Christian Life Center, taught with LifeWise Academy, worked as a substitute teacher and coached seventh-grade volleyball.

Her family described her as joyful, encouraging and deeply invested in the people around her.

Her mother, Jill Smith, testified that she and Ashley spoke every day. Ashley’s sister, Kayla, described them as best friends who “tag team[ed] life.”

Ashley was also trying to work on her marriage.

In a note from 2023, she acknowledged that the marriage was struggling. Among the goals she wrote for 2026 were family devotions, teaching her daughters to pray and getting “on the same page with Caleb.”

On February 14, two nights before she was killed, Ashley spent the evening having a little “Galentine’s” celebration with her daughters.

Facials. Hair. Nails. Special food.

The girls went to bed the following night expecting to wake up with their mother still there.

They never got that morning.

Who Is Caleb Flynn?

Caleb and Ashley met while attending Lee University and had been married for approximately 15 years.

They moved to Tipp City in 2021, where Caleb went to work for Ashley’s family business. According to the trial outline, he earned approximately $195,000 in 2025.

The couple had two daughters and, from the outside, a life built around family, work and church.

But Caleb had another relationship Ashley didn’t fully know about.

It began with a woman named Alleigha Botner.

The Affair Between Caleb Flynn and Alleigha Botner

Alleigha met Caleb through Christian Life Center.

She arrived as a 20-year-old worship intern in 2022. Caleb, who was about 36, was also involved with the church’s worship team.

By March 2024, their messages had become personal.

By May, the relationship had become sexual.

What followed wasn’t a brief affair.

It continued for nearly two years.

The two developed their own rituals and private world. They got matching Harry Potter lightning-bolt tattoos, although Caleb reportedly placed his in his armpit where Ashley wouldn’t see it. They went on dates and spent extended stretches together when Ashley was away.

When Ashley discovered messages between them in October 2024, Caleb reportedly told her he had been hacked.

The affair continued.

Eventually Caleb and Alleigha moved their conversations to other platforms, including GroupMe.

Investigators recovered an enormous amount of communication between them.

More than 107,000 lines in approximately one year.

And those messages became some of the most important evidence jurors heard at Caleb’s trial.

What Did Caleb Flynn Say About Killing Ashley?

This is where the case gets much harder to explain away as an affair that simply happened to exist before a murder.

Over the course of 2025, Caleb repeatedly talked about wanting Ashley gone.

On February 11, 2025, he told Alleigha:

“I need her to die, to cheat again, to leave.”

Days later, he wrote:

“Kill douche.”

In March:

“Kill her.”

In May, during his daughter’s birthday party, he wrote that if he could kill Ashley without going to hell, he would do it “in a heartbeat.”

In June:

“Please hire someone to take douche out.”

And the messages continued.

Alleigha participated in some of that language too, including telling Caleb at one point, “I want to kill her, Caleb.”

She testified at trial that she regretted saying it, never believed Caleb would actually kill Ashley and understood their discussions about being “free” or Ashley being “gone” to mean divorce.

There are important nuances in those conversations.

At one point, Alleigha explicitly told Caleb that she was not asking him to take Ashley’s life and that he should divorce her.

But the sheer volume of Caleb’s statements about Ashley’s death became difficult to separate from what eventually happened.

Especially when the relationship began falling apart.

Why Didn’t Caleb Flynn Just Divorce Ashley?

That question came up repeatedly throughout the trial.

According to the messages, divorce came with consequences Caleb didn’t want.

In one exchange, he laid them out himself.

Leaving Ashley could mean losing his job and large salary, losing the house and, critically, losing full-time access to his daughters.

The relationship with Alleigha had also become increasingly volatile.

She wanted Caleb to leave Ashley.

Caleb repeatedly promised he would.

Then he didn’t.

The deadline moved again and again.

By January 2026, Alleigha had had enough.

On January 11, she ended the relationship.

Caleb continued pursuing her.

And by Valentine’s weekend, the situation was reaching another breaking point.

The Messages Before Ashley Flynn Was Murdered

On February 13, Alleigha arranged a future coffee date with another man.

Caleb was still trying to win her back.

On February 14, he privately told her:

“I’m free.”

He also warned that they shouldn’t text or “leave any trails” and discussed completely wiping the messaging app.

By February 15, the two were discussing deleting data, what could be recovered during a divorce and the possibility of Caleb getting a burner phone.

Importantly, Alleigha testified that these discussions were about hiding their affair during a divorce and protecting her job, not covering up a planned crime.

Then came the messages from the final hours before Ashley’s death.

Caleb told Alleigha:

“You need action and not words… Okay, actions will come tomorrow.”

She responded:

“We will see if your actions finally match your words.”

At approximately 12:45 a.m., Caleb wrote:

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

Alleigha replied:

“You’re about to be free.”

Caleb’s final message to her was:

“I choose you, Aaliyah. You’re more than enough. Good night.”

Alleigha testified that she believed those statements referred to Caleb finally leaving Ashley.

Less than two hours later, Ashley was dead.

What Did Caleb Flynn Say Happened the Night Ashley Was Killed?

Caleb told investigators that he and Ashley went to bed around 11 p.m.

He had been sick and coughing. Around 12:45 a.m., according to Caleb, Ashley asked him to sleep somewhere else because his coughing was keeping her awake.

He said he took nighttime cough medicine and fell asleep on the couch.

At some point, the dogs woke him.

Caleb said he checked on the girls, fixed one daughter’s blanket, prayed over them and eventually fell asleep beside his daughter on the bottom bunk.

Then he heard two bangs.

Caleb said he froze briefly, ran through the house and eventually discovered Ashley in their bedroom.

At 2:30:52 a.m., he called 911.

But investigators had digital evidence that allowed them to compare parts of Caleb’s story with what his devices were recording.

What Did Caleb Flynn’s Apple Watch Show?

This became one of the more interesting pieces of evidence in the Caleb Flynn trial.

Caleb’s iPhone was plugged in and locked from approximately 1:07 to 2:30 a.m.

But his Apple Watch continued recording activity.

Between roughly 1:19 and 1:56, the watch recorded multiple sets of steps.

Then, between approximately 2:18 and 2:28 a.m., it recorded 105 steps.

Caleb’s 911 call was placed at 2:30:52.

His Apple Watch was later found on the kitchen counter.

Prosecutors argued that the activity undermined Caleb’s claim that he had been asleep during the critical period before Ashley’s shooting.

The defense pushed back.

Testimony established that an Apple Watch can sometimes register movements other than actual walking as steps. Heart-rate information could not establish whether Caleb was awake or asleep.

His AirPods also connected and disconnected during portions of the night, but those records were open to interpretation too.

So the digital evidence didn’t provide investigators with a video of Caleb moving through the house.

It gave them data.

The disagreement was over what that data meant.

Why Did Caleb Flynn’s 911 Call Matter?

There was another detail prosecutors kept coming back to.

Before officers arrived, Caleb told the dispatcher that Ashley had “two shots to her head.”

That was striking because the two entrance wounds were extremely close together.

According to the trial outline, the medical examiner initially saw only one and identified both after the area was shaved.

Caleb later told investigators he hadn’t actually seen that Ashley had been shot twice.

The defense offered a straightforward explanation: Caleb heard two shots.

As his attorney put it during closing arguments, “He can count to two.”

The prosecution’s response was that hearing two gunshots establishes only that two shots were fired.

It doesn’t establish that both bullets hit Ashley, or that both hit her in the head.

Prosecutors argued that Caleb’s specificity reflected knowledge beyond what his version of events explained.

That was an inference for the jury to evaluate, not independent proof that Caleb had fired the gun.

Was There Evidence of a Break-In at the Flynn House?

Caleb initially told police that somebody had broken into the home.

Investigators did find an open and damaged side door in the garage.

But they questioned whether the damage actually looked like forced entry.

The outside doorknob had been knocked off, yet investigators found the knob and plate on the floor inside. The deadbolt and latch were unlocked and undamaged.

There were no tool, kick or shoe marks on the outside.

One investigator testified that the damage appeared to have happened while the door was open.

Several officers experienced with forced doors testified that the scene did not look like a typical break-in.

There were other problems with the intruder theory.

A bloodhound did not establish a trail leading away from the house.

A thermal drone found no fleeing person.

Nearby motion cameras captured nothing significant.

The FBI canvassed more than 80 homes.

Even the dogs became part of the discussion. Family testimony suggested they were prone to barking at people outside, yet there was no indication they had alerted the household to a stranger entering that night.

None of that made an intruder physically impossible.

The defense pointed out limitations in several aspects of the search.

But investigators increasingly questioned whether there had been an intruder at all.

What Happened to the Murder Weapon?

The gun remains one of the biggest missing pieces.

Caleb told investigators that he normally kept a 9mm handgun in the console of his truck.

It wasn’t there.

He couldn’t provide investigators with a serial number and was uncertain about the exact make, telling them it may have been a Springfield.

The two cartridge casings recovered near Ashley came from the same firearm. The bullets also came from one firearm.

Testing showed that their markings were consistent with numerous possible 9mm manufacturers, including Springfield.

But without Caleb’s missing gun, investigators could not perform the comparison that would have answered the obvious question.

Was his gun the murder weapon?

Police searched extensively for it.

They did not find it.

And to this day, the gun used to kill Ashley Flynn has not been recovered.

What Evidence Was Missing From the Caleb Flynn Case?

This is one reason the trial is worth digging into beyond the headlines.

The prosecution had a substantial circumstantial case.

It did not have everything.

There was no eyewitness to Ashley’s murder.

There was no recovered murder weapon.

There was no ballistic match to Caleb’s gun.

Ashley Flynn’s blood was not found on Caleb or his clothing.

Investigators never tested Caleb for gunshot residue.

No tool seized from the home could be conclusively identified as the tool used to damage the garage door.

And Caleb did not confess.

The defense leaned heavily on those gaps.

Its argument was essentially that being an unfaithful husband who lied and wrote horrifying things about his wife did not automatically make Caleb her murderer.

That’s true.

An affair isn’t proof of murder.

A terrible text isn’t proof of murder.

Neither is an Apple Watch step count, a missing gun or a damaged door when viewed by itself.

The prosecution’s answer was that the jury shouldn’t view them by themselves.

Why Did the Jury Find Caleb Flynn Guilty?

That became the state’s central argument during closing.

Look at everything together.

Caleb repeatedly wrote about wanting Ashley dead.

His relationship with Alleigha deteriorated.

He desperately tried to win her back.

In the hours before Ashley’s murder, he told her that “actions will come tomorrow,” described February 16 as a day he would never forget and told her, “I choose you.”

Hours later, Ashley was shot twice in the head.

Then came the damaged side door.

The missing gun.

The questions surrounding the supposed break-in.

The activity recorded by Caleb’s devices.

What prosecutors considered unusually specific knowledge during the 911 call.

Changes and inconsistencies they identified in Caleb’s accounts.

The camera system that had gone offline weeks earlier.

And deletion activity involving digital evidence.

The prosecution argued that the case did not require jurors to believe that every individual fact proved murder.

It required them to decide what the evidence showed when those facts were placed together.

On September 29, 2026, the jury returned its answer.

Caleb Flynn was found guilty on all counts submitted to the jury, including aggravated murder, murder, two felony-murder counts, two counts of felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence.

Was Alleigha Botner Charged in Ashley Flynn’s Murder?

No.

Alleigha Botner has not been charged in connection with Ashley Flynn’s murder.

She testified at Caleb’s trial and said she had not been promised anything in exchange for her testimony.

There was also evidence supporting important parts of her account of the night Ashley was killed.

A Ring camera captured Alleigha’s Jeep arriving at the house where she was staying at approximately 12:14 a.m. Her phone recorded zero steps until after 9 a.m., and her Jeep was not seen leaving until later that morning.

But investigators did not search the house where she was staying, the surrounding property or her Jeep.

They didn’t collect her fingerprints or DNA.

They didn’t collect a burner phone she possessed.

Her phone records and financial records were not subpoenaed.

Alleigha also initially lied to the FBI about the affair before eventually admitting it.

Those investigative choices do not establish that Alleigha participated in Ashley’s murder or knew it was going to happen.

They do explain why questions about the thoroughness of that part of the investigation remain even after Caleb’s conviction.

The evidence presented at trial ultimately supported Alleigha’s account, and the jury was deciding Caleb Flynn’s guilt, not hers.

What Questions Remain After the Caleb Flynn Verdict?

A guilty verdict answers the question the jury was asked.

It doesn’t magically answer every question surrounding an investigation.

The murder weapon is still missing.

Investigators never searched several locations connected to Alleigha.

Nobody established who disconnected the Flynn family’s Blink camera system in January.

Alleigha’s damaged phone and missing laptop were never recovered.

The Flynn daughters were found deeply asleep after two gunshots were fired inside their home, and the trial outline indicates there was no testimony that they were tested for anything.

There was also a February 16 tip claiming someone had been hired to kill Caleb’s wife. The caller did not respond to follow-up attempts from the FBI, and the man identified in the tip was never contacted.

None of those unanswered questions erases the evidence the jury heard against Caleb.

But they’re exactly why this case is more complicated than a headline that simply reads husband convicted of murdering wife after affair.

The Part of the Ashley Flynn Case We Don’t Want to Lose

There is a point in cases like this where the victim can almost disappear beneath the evidence.

We talk about Caleb.

We talk about Alleigha.

We talk about the texts they exchanged, the promises they made, the affair they hid and the future they imagined.

Then we talk about Apple Watch data and AirPods and door damage and guns and DNA and deleted emails.

Meanwhile, Ashley had a future too.

She wanted to work on her marriage.

She wanted to raise her daughters.

And on one of her final nights alive, she wasn’t thinking about becoming the victim at the center of a murder trial.

She was having a girls’ night with her daughters.

Facials.

Hair.

Nails.

Food.

A completely ordinary night with their mom.

Those girls went to sleep expecting to see Ashley again in the morning.

They didn’t.

The jury has now decided that Caleb Flynn murdered Ashley.

But the verdict doesn’t give her daughters another morning with their mom.

Ashley Flynn was so much more than the woman at the center of the Caleb Flynn trial. She was the center of somebody else’s entire world.

Listen to Our Two-Part Caleb Flynn Trial Series

There is a lot we haven’t put into this article.

And that’s intentional.

In our two-part This Feels Criminal episode, we’re going through the evidence the way the jury heard it and putting Caleb’s version of events directly beside what investigators found.

Part One digs into Ashley’s life, Caleb’s affair with Alleigha, the more than 100,000 lines of messages between them, the escalating conversations about Ashley, and the final texts sent hours before her murder.

Part Two moves inside the house.

That’s where we get into Caleb’s account of the shooting, the 911 call, Apple Watch and AirPods evidence, the garage door, missing 9mm, forensic evidence, problems with the investigation, what the defense argued, and why prosecutors said none of those pieces should be considered in isolation.

Because even with a guilty verdict, there are details in this case that deserve more than a headline.

Key Takeaways

• Ashley Flynn, 37, was shot twice in the head inside her Tipp City, Ohio home on February 16, 2026.
• Her husband, Caleb Flynn, initially told police that an intruder had entered their home while he and the couple’s two daughters were inside.
• Caleb had been involved in a lengthy affair with Alleigha Botner, a woman he knew through their church.
• Investigators recovered more than 107,000 lines of messages between Caleb and Alleigha over approximately one year.
• Caleb repeatedly wrote about wanting Ashley dead in the months before her murder.
• In the hours before Ashley’s death, Caleb told Alleigha “actions will come tomorrow,” called February 16 a day he would never forget and wrote “I choose you.”
• Caleb’s Apple Watch recorded activity during a period when he said he was sleeping, although the defense challenged what could reliably be inferred from that data.
• Caleb told 911 Ashley had been shot twice in the head, a detail prosecutors argued was suspicious given the extremely close, overlapping wounds.
• The murder weapon has never been recovered, Caleb was not tested for gunshot residue, and Ashley’s blood was not found on his clothing.
• Alleigha Botner has not been charged in connection with Ashley’s murder.
• On September 29, 2026, a jury found Caleb Flynn guilty on all counts submitted to it, including aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Caleb Flynn Trial