Sept. 25, 2026
American Idol Murder Trial: Mistress Said She Wanted To Kill Wife, While Caleb Flynn Sings In Court
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RSS Feed Damn. For the second day in a row, the mistress of accused murderer Caleb Flynn was on the stand reading hundreds of texts between the two. But on Thursday, 24-year-old Alleigha Botner cracked as she was forced to read a damning text where she told Caleb she wanted to kill his wife Ashley, “so bad." However, later in the day a much different tone swept over the courtroom as prosecutors played an AI version of the song Caleb wrote for Alleigha. As two different versions of the song played aloud, the camera panned to Ashley’s family and many others who all seemed to be stifling laughter, as Caleb wiped sweat from his brow, clearly uncomfortable.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, September 25th.
00:00:05
Speaker 2: And it really seems like an odd thing to say about a murder trial. But at one point yesterday, during the American Idol murder trial, damn near the entire courtroom was struggling to keep from laughing. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. It was almost a moment of levity. that people appreciated. And because of who they were laughing at, it was almost a form of punishment.
00:00:39
Speaker 3: Agree.
00:00:39
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:00:40
Speaker 5: It almost felt like it was a medicinal moment for the family members of Ashley Flynn. And it's interesting because earlier in the day, the mistress cracked and then the court later was able to crack up.
00:00:56
Speaker 3: It was a hell of a day in court.
00:00:58
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: Plenty of people familiar with this case. We've been following it every day. Today is going to be day seven of the American Idol murder trial, as it's called. But Caleb Flynn, former contestant on season 12 of American Idol, accused of killing his wife, then trying to stage the scene to make it look like an intruder had done it. And for the past several days, Robes, the star witness for the prosecution has been on the stand. You said she She cracked, we gave her credit for being stoic, but this is the woman that he was having an affair with for some year, year and a half before his wife's death.
00:01:30
Speaker 5: Yes, and so she has been tasked over the last two days reading aloud for the courtroom so many of their heinous, horrific, frankly evil texts between the two to hear her complaining about threatening him with leaving him and talking about her pain when he's celebrating his kid's birthday with his wife.
00:01:54
Speaker 3: She looked and sounded awful on the stand. I mean, we've heard enough from him sounding awful. I hate her. I want to kill her.
00:02:04
Speaker 5: Calling her douche instead of by her name, Ashley. But to hear her just venom at his family.
00:02:13
Speaker 3: When she is literally the.
00:02:15
Speaker 5: Mistress and she wants him for herself and she is just giving him hell for being a good dad.
00:02:24
Speaker 3: That was brutal to listen to.
00:02:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, Rose, early when she first started her testimony, we were learning about her. We found out she was 20 years old when they first met and she was 22 when they started dating. She was a virgin then.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: As well.
00:02:36
Speaker 2: She was young, impressionable. He was a pastor at the church, a youth leader. And you could see a potential for manipulation, or she was a young girl in love and whatnot. And not to say you were going to be sympathetic, but at least, Robes, in that regard, we've heard stories like that about young women being manipulated.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: Robes, all that kind of flies out the window. when you hear her talking about wanting the woman dead, when you hear her talking about you pick me or your kids, when you hear her in these text messages, Robes, this, the first day was one thing, second day was another. Yesterday, Robes, it's hard to look at this young lady and have sympathy.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: Any sympathy.
00:03:20
Speaker 5: Oh, and if you look online, people think that she should be charged, that she should be in prison, that she should pay for her participation in this crime. And honestly, after yesterday's testimony, I understand that sentiment.
00:03:34
Speaker 3: And this is clearly a young.
00:03:36
Speaker 5: Woman who fell hard for an older guy and, yes, was impressionable.
00:03:41
Speaker 3: Yes, she lost her virginity to him.
00:03:43
Speaker 5: But still, this is clearly a woman who isn't a mother and has never even imagined what it would be like to be a mom because to hear her say those things. Look, having even navigated divorces before with kids, and we know how sensitive and tough all of this is, It's not even a lack of insensitivity. She was just horrific, and I'm sorry, but evil, talking about his kids and being so angry at him for participating in his children's lives. What she said about him attending a birthday party for his daughter with his wife, was she forgetting her role in all of this?
00:04:21
Speaker 3: It was jaw-dropping.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was jaw-dropping. It was shocking. It was painful. It could elicit anger.
00:04:30
Speaker 2: But as we mentioned at the top here, there was testimony yesterday when she was done that did bring laughter. And Robes, we're going to let you hear it, but Robes, so much of their relationship now is being exposed, and people are learning about it for the first time, and we are getting caught up in just getting some insight into what this relationship was. And he apparently fell hard. For her, Robes, and as we know, he's a musician and a part of what he would do. He apparently wrote her a couple of songs. And they played them in the court yesterday, Robes. And we're going to let you hear it here at the bottom.
00:05:08
Speaker 1: Robes, why?
00:05:11
Speaker 2: You said you might believe and other people out there believe.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Prosecutors didn't have to do this. They wanted to humiliate him.
00:05:18
Speaker 5: Yes, this was a humiliation that... It honestly, and that song went on forever, it felt like.
00:05:28
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:05:28
Speaker 5: And it was just, and it's so dramatic. And it's like this epic love, like star-crossed lovers. It's so, it honestly sounds pathetic.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: It's laughable.
00:05:39
Speaker 5: It's AI generated based on the lyrics that he wrote.
00:05:43
Speaker 3: For her that they already had her read some of the lyrics aloud.
00:05:46
Speaker 5: And then to have the song played in court, I got to say, it's probably one of my favorite moments I've ever experienced in a murder trial.
00:05:55
Speaker 2: And you want, it's weird because you want permission. This is a murder trial. This is heinous stuff ropes. You shouldn't be laughing. Um, But Robes, the Lindsay Clancy trial we gave, whoever the pool camera photographer in there, we gave credit. Whoever is running this camera, this particular one in this courtroom, has a news and editorial judgment that should be applauded.
00:06:21
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Can you nominate these folks for Emmys?
00:06:24
Speaker 5: I feel like he should, or she, whoever is behind that camera, should absolutely be given some sort of recognition for just good news judgment, good editorial judgment, because yes, while this song is playing, the camera, the photojournalist, decides to pan around and zero in, first.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: Of all, on his face.
00:06:46
Speaker 5: It was almost like a slow zoom during one of the dramatic crescendos of the song into Caleb Flynn's face. He's wiping sweat off of his head for most of the song and then pans to Ashley's family. They even pan to a security guard. I mean, he was like zeroing in on people's faces and I could watch that on repeat.
00:07:08
Speaker 2: There were slow pans throughout the courtroom. And I said to you, at least 50% of those people in some way had their hand up to their face and trying to cover their eyes or cover their mouths so you couldn't see them laughing. Robes in a murder trial. I have never seen this. You pan to the crowd and they are on the edge of laughter.
00:07:42
Speaker 5: The reason why I had permission to also chuckle was because Ashley Flynn's own family, her sister especially, had this smirk on her face the entire time. She was enjoying every second of it, and it allowed me to enjoy it as well.
00:07:57
Speaker 1: Yes, because they were.
00:07:58
Speaker 2: There was one lyric, and the dad kind of looked over at the mom like, did he really chuckle?
00:08:03
Speaker 3: It's unreal.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: What happened in that courtroom?
00:08:06
Speaker 2: So yes, whoever that photographer is, we want to commend you for your editorial judgment and knowing what that moment was and what you needed to show on camera. We're going to get to the song in a second, but let's get to the moment. We said Aaliyah Botner is her name, the woman he was in an affair with for a year, year and a half. We said she was stoic in reading all these texts and Until she wasn't. Certainly hundreds over the past several days. I don't know if she cracked the thousand mark, but they just had her read text after text after text that they exchanged robes. She finally cracked on one particular text message.
00:08:42
Speaker 5: And it was particularly heinous. So the prosecutor asks her to read whatever, text number 63,000, yada, yada, yada.
00:08:53
Speaker 3: And she stops and she starts to cry.
00:08:56
Speaker 5: Her voice cracks and she says, sorry, I just wish I didn't say this.
00:09:01
Speaker 3: I didn't mean it. We all braced ourselves.
00:09:05
Speaker 5: Oh my God, what did she say? So she said, I said, I wrote, I want to kill her, Caleb, so bad. Caleb writes back, that makes two of us.
00:09:19
Speaker 3: Holy hell.
00:09:23
Speaker 1: How do you defend? I don't know, baby.
00:09:25
Speaker 2: That is, this young lady has to go back to work. She has to go back to society. She has to go back, Robes, to family and friends who have heard about the story, who are aware of what was going on with her at this point. But, Robes, they didn't hear this stuff. They didn't know about this stuff. Her co-workers, her boss didn't know about this stuff. Robes, what happens to this young lady? Robes, what happens to this young lady? There is a woman dead, and she is on the record saying herself that she wanted to kill the lady.
00:09:53
Speaker 5: That's tough because, yes, it's bad enough to be the mistress of, and some people might suggest or think that you're the reason.
00:10:00
Speaker 3: Why this woman's dead.
00:10:02
Speaker 5: But now to know, not only were you complicit and that he was telling you for months, for more than a year actually, that he wanted to kill his wife, but you also said you wanted to kill her. That is, I don't know how you survived that. You even said, look at this girl, her name, it says Aaliyah Bodner, and then there's a dash and it says mistress. It's almost like a hyphenated last name, like Bodner mistress. I said, I feel like you'd have to change your name, move to a different city. I don't know how you go on with that always hanging over your head. Every relationship you enter, think about the next guy she's dating.
00:10:41
Speaker 3: He brings her home to mom. You Google her.
00:10:44
Speaker 7: Oh my God.
00:10:46
Speaker 3: Her life is.
00:10:49
Speaker 5: Drastically changed, and I think a lot of people after hearing that text think, good, it should be.
00:10:53
Speaker 2: And that might have been the most damning we've heard from her, but there are a bunch that just make her look and sound awful. You were saying that there are plenty out there who believe she should be facing some kind of charges.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: There were a few things.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: It was important to at least note this text that I have here, and also, Robes, they were piecing together, and we were talking about this, right, the couple of days before he killed his wife. he had told Aaliyah Botner that 16th was going to be a big day, but she was under the impression that he was going to go get a hotel room.
00:11:24
Speaker 1: He's going to move out. He told her all this stuff.
00:11:26
Speaker 3: He told her that, yes.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: So she, at that moment, started sending him all kinds of information, chat GBT information about what you need to delete in a divorce. It seemed like she genuinely did not believe he was going to kill his wife.
00:11:39
Speaker 5: I do believe that she absolutely thought he was describing getting divorced because that is what he was describing. He did say, I'm going to tell my in-laws. I'm going to tell my daughters. I'm going to tell my pastor. I'm going to the church. I'm getting a hotel room. I'm moving out.
00:11:55
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:11:55
Speaker 5: And so she's excited thinking, finally, after all this time, we can be together. Not because he murdered her, but because he divorced her. And there is an important text that she did send to clarify what that awful text was about, I want to kill her, Caleb, so bad. She did send a follow-up text. I am not asking that you take her life, obviously, because that's not what you should do. And I know you actually wouldn't. But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.
00:12:26
Speaker 2: Robes, that is the most reasonable text that's been read all week. Robes, it finally sounded like somebody had a A little good sense in there to go, wait a minute.
00:12:35
Speaker 5: She just wanted to, like, wait a minute, just so you know, I'm not actually asking that you do that.
00:12:41
Speaker 3: So at least, at least she's got that on the record.
00:12:45
Speaker 5: Because if she hadn't sent that, I don't, I mean, she might have been facing charges.
00:12:50
Speaker 2: She has some cover and some evidence there that, no, she was not trying to plot and kill this woman. Now, Robes, I've been asking you for several days now, what points did the defense ever score?
00:13:00
Speaker 1: And we couldn't find any.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: We were watching the cross-examination of Botner yesterday and we thought, okay, we see where they're kind of going and some points they were trying to make, how far they go, but at least they did get some stuff in.
00:13:12
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:13:13
Speaker 5: Of note, they had Aaliyah Botner say on the stand that she doubted or she had doubts that he actually hated his wife. We hear and we heard her read aloud all the texts where he just constantly said, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her. But then she was like, and then I would see she had his location that they'd all be... going out to dinner together or going to the movies together. She would see texts on his phone from his wife, Ashley, saying, I love you and saying loving things to him. So she's thinking, well, if she's not upset with.
00:13:44
Speaker 3: Him, he's describing they don't speak.
00:13:47
Speaker 5: As soon as people aren't around, they drop their act and they hate each other. She's seeing this wife lovingly text her husband. And so it didn't make sense. So she feels like maybe he was just saying, I hate her to make her feel better.
00:14:01
Speaker 1: How far.
00:14:03
Speaker 2: I mean, how far will that go with a jury? They're essentially trying to make the point that he was just telling his side chick that stuff just to make her feel good. He didn't actually hate his wife or want to kill his wife.
00:14:14
Speaker 3: I actually believe that could be true.
00:14:16
Speaker 5: But at the end of the day, if he had to choose between which one he wanted, he chose the mistress.
00:14:20
Speaker 3: But it shows, to me, sociopathic behavior.
00:14:23
Speaker 5: If you present yourself one way completely or present even your relationship that you know she's not going to be able to personally witness.
00:14:29
Speaker 3: As one thing, and then.
00:14:31
Speaker 5: Go back to your wife and kiss her and love her and tell her how wonderful she is and pretend to be a doting, loving husband, never, ever once even considering asking for a divorce.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: Like, that is some scary stuff.
00:14:43
Speaker 2: Some might just call him a liar. A guy who was in an affair and was just lying to everybody around him. So is that how far?
00:14:51
Speaker 5: He could have been just that until he murdered his wife, if that's what happened.
00:14:54
Speaker 2: But they're trying to put together a case to suggest that he didn't kill his wife. They're trying, I guess, put together a situation to where he wasn't actually mad at her.
00:15:04
Speaker 1: He didn't actually hate her.
00:15:05
Speaker 2: Despite all this stuff he's been saying to her, he was just trying to keep the side chick happy. I guess they're trying that, Robes, but I don't know how far it goes, but at least we saw some semblance of a defense. Now, the other part here, Robes, that I was confused about, she started sending him all that info about you need to delete this data because it'll be on your phone and they'll be able to look at it during the divorce.
00:15:30
Speaker 1: Well, no, that's not how it works. I was confused.
00:15:32
Speaker 2: Why would she be going through all this to get him to delete stuff from his phone having to do with a divorce in which a divorce lawyer can't subpoena someone? your phone, who can't subpoena your records. They don't have a right to it, but a criminal investigation does.
00:15:46
Speaker 5: Yes, and that's what the prosecutor, you thought there would be a criminal investigation and police might subpoena his phone.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: She didn't have a good answer to that.
00:15:55
Speaker 4: No.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Or maybe she just didn't know. Maybe she was young. Maybe she was making an assumption. Maybe she didn't think it through, but I.
00:16:00
Speaker 5: She might not know what a divorce attorney can and cannot access because she's so young, she would never have probably even known anyone who'd been through a divorce.
00:16:07
Speaker 1: At that point.
00:16:08
Speaker 2: The other thing about her robes was that They also tried to make the point. I mean, are they trying to suggest she had a hand in this, but make the point that police didn't look into her that closely?
00:16:20
Speaker 5: No, they never took any DNA. They didn't take her fingerprints. Her home wasn't searched. And so that was interesting. And also they made this point clear that Aaliyah told, and this was tough.
00:16:34
Speaker 1: This is vicious, baby. This is vicious.
00:16:36
Speaker 3: I mean, this is what I'm talking about.
00:16:38
Speaker 5: If you already didn't think you liked her or you didn't like her, this is just really tough. Apparently Aaliyah told Caleb, either have your daughter full time or have me. Like, she was like, choose between your daughters and me.
00:16:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, even after the divorce, she's saying, like, if you get full custody of the kids, you won't have me.
00:16:59
Speaker 1: Damn, girl.
00:17:02
Speaker 3: That's awful.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: That's some messy stuff. But, folks, yes, stay here. You got to hear this.
00:17:08
Speaker 2: We will play for you the moment in the courtroom where everybody in the courtroom was on the edge of cracking up. Yes, we will let you hear the song. That had everybody in the courtroom damn near in stitches.
00:17:23
Speaker 1: Stay here.
00:17:25
Speaker 4: All right, we continue here on Amy and TJ Robes.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Is there a song title?
00:17:38
Speaker 5: Yes, I did see that because I looked it up and I did see there was a title.
00:17:45
Speaker 2: I didn't actually see a title, but what we're looking up here is, yes, Caleb Flynn. on trial, yes, for murder, but they've been going through his relationship with the woman he was having an affair with. And a part of that relationship, Robes, they would send each other hundreds of text messages every day, but he also produced a couple of songs that he wrote for her using AI and performed. This is his voice, is it not?
00:18:09
Speaker 5: I think it might be his voice, but it went through some sort of AI. But You Gave It All is the name of the song. Yes.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: Can you tell me, before I hit this button and play it for everybody, what the significance.
00:18:20
Speaker 1: Is that their anniversary, February 3rd?
00:18:22
Speaker 3: So it's the third of the month.
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Third of the month.
00:18:25
Speaker 5: So basically, because we actually had Aaliyah testify when she had to read the lyrics, and And she said that the third of every month was a reference to when they first started texting. They started texting, their first texts were on the third day of the month.
00:18:40
Speaker 2: Okay, so that's significant. Thought we should explain it. We're just going to let it ride here, Robes. We'll talk about it throughout. But this is in the court. This is a silent courtroom while this is playing, folks.
00:18:51
Speaker 3: And imagine the cameraman panning to everyone's faces.
00:18:59
Speaker 6: We were just friends.
00:19:02
Speaker 7: That's what we said Early.
00:19:06
Speaker 6: Mornings, late nights Jokes in our head Her.
00:19:10
Speaker 1: Family is sitting in the room listening to this.
00:19:12
Speaker 6: The first time I saw you The room disappeared Love at first sight Even though I was scared.
00:19:26
Speaker 8: Oh my God, that is so cheesy. Okay, but stay with.
00:19:39
Speaker 3: Me, baby.
00:19:41
Speaker 2: If the song, if we didn't know, there's something about it.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: Adding, we know the story now, and now we hear these lyrics and it makes it.
00:19:54
Speaker 3: Hilarious.
00:19:55
Speaker 7: Candles burn out I still can't move on Life lost its meaning The moment you.
00:20:09
Speaker 3: He said this to her when she broke up with him, right? Because he sent her this song.
00:20:13
Speaker 1: He wrote for her. You were saying, does he sound good?
00:20:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, he is talented. Now, I don't know how much A.I.
00:20:23
Speaker 5: Made his voice sound perfect, but look, for him to get as far as he did on American Idol.
00:20:28
Speaker 3: The dude can sing.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, that age never mattered. That's when her dad looked over and was cracking.
00:20:35
Speaker 6: Laughing.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: I cannot imagine.
00:21:00
Speaker 5: Listening to the man who I believe killed my daughter singing a love song to his young mistress.
00:21:07
Speaker 1: Oh, man.
00:21:07
Speaker 5: Played aloud in court. So I have to tell you, like, can I read some of the comments?
00:21:13
Speaker 1: Can I keep the song up?
00:21:13
Speaker 3: Oh, please keep it on because that's making it funnier. Give the cameraman a raise.
00:21:17
Speaker 5: Panning around to the different faces was a choice and totally diabolical.
00:21:23
Speaker 3: I would have yelled, I'm guilty, I'm guilty, turn it off.
00:21:26
Speaker 6: Oh, God.
00:21:27
Speaker 7: Dude.
00:21:28
Speaker 5: This is so cringe. The cameraman fully understood his assignment. The DA said to himself, before I send him to prison for life, I'm going to humiliate him as much as humanly possible.
00:21:39
Speaker 3: Kudos, sir. This is a slam dunk. Secondhand embarrassment is real.
00:21:44
Speaker 1: There you go.
00:21:46
Speaker 8: In the back of my mind Still reach for your hand Every third I survive.
00:21:57
Speaker 5: How about this one imagine going back to your cell and the fellas are singing this.
00:22:01
Speaker 1: To you oh god oh god.
00:22:07
Speaker 3: Oh my god.
00:22:11
Speaker 5: Okay someone just wrote this is the most embarrassing moment I have ever witnessed even.
00:22:19
Speaker 3: His lawyer was looking at him like really bro.
00:22:21
Speaker 1: Oh god okay.
00:22:25
Speaker 2: Look here folks You all forgive us. We're talking about an awful crime. We are talking about an awful situation. We are talking about the worst thing you could imagine. But her family gave permission to make fun of him yesterday.
00:22:44
Speaker 1: They really did, babe.
00:22:45
Speaker 3: I mean, like the father's face, the sister's face.
00:22:48
Speaker 5: And then you could see other family members because there's a look to them.
00:22:52
Speaker 3: You can tell they're related. And they were all.
00:22:54
Speaker 5: It was like a moment where they were kind of just.
00:22:57
Speaker 3: They were savoring it. Because it was.
00:22:59
Speaker 5: They knew how embarrassing and pathetic he looked.
00:23:03
Speaker 6: And.
00:23:04
Speaker 3: It gave them some pleasure.
00:23:06
Speaker 1: And here's the thing. They played two different versions of this song.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: So it was about the same lyrics, but it had a different melody.
00:23:12
Speaker 5: One was slower.
00:23:13
Speaker 3: One was more like epic.
00:23:15
Speaker 1: And the guy up there, Robes, was he an FBI agent?
00:23:18
Speaker 2: But whoever did the extraction, he's the last guy you would think is into music and knows anything.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: Robes, he described the versions differently.
00:23:25
Speaker 2: He said one's kind of an upbeat, happy, sad song.
00:23:29
Speaker 1: He said, man, I don't know what this stuff is. but they had to listen to two songs, same lyrics.
00:23:35
Speaker 5: And that's what made it extra cringe, like extra embarrassing. And it's someone who wrote well as songs finally got produced for the world.
00:23:44
Speaker 3: Like it's, it's so, he was literally sweating.
00:23:48
Speaker 5: If you watch the YouTube, um, absolutely suggest you do if you liked what you heard, because when you see what you are going to have accompanying that music, it's, it's worth the watch.
00:24:00
Speaker 2: Um, Robes, I didn't imagine that was coming, but a moment, just a moment of levity, a moment, Robes, to you're still, everybody who's mad at him still had that feeling and could still direct negative feelings toward him that included some laughter. Like you ridiculous person right now.
00:24:24
Speaker 1: What a moment.
00:24:24
Speaker 2: It continues today, right? Day officially seven. Today, they'll be back at it in that courtroom.
00:24:31
Speaker 1: Who's up today?
00:24:31
Speaker 2: I think they left it with an investigator on the stand. We're keeping an eye on it, folks, but we always appreciate you spending a little time with us. On behalf of my dear Amy Robach, I am TJ Holmes, and we'll talk to you all soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, September 25th.
00:00:05
Speaker 2: And it really seems like an odd thing to say about a murder trial. But at one point yesterday, during the American Idol murder trial, damn near the entire courtroom was struggling to keep from laughing. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. It was almost a moment of levity. that people appreciated. And because of who they were laughing at, it was almost a form of punishment.
00:00:39
Speaker 3: Agree.
00:00:39
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:00:40
Speaker 5: It almost felt like it was a medicinal moment for the family members of Ashley Flynn. And it's interesting because earlier in the day, the mistress cracked and then the court later was able to crack up.
00:00:56
Speaker 3: It was a hell of a day in court.
00:00:58
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: Plenty of people familiar with this case. We've been following it every day. Today is going to be day seven of the American Idol murder trial, as it's called. But Caleb Flynn, former contestant on season 12 of American Idol, accused of killing his wife, then trying to stage the scene to make it look like an intruder had done it. And for the past several days, Robes, the star witness for the prosecution has been on the stand. You said she She cracked, we gave her credit for being stoic, but this is the woman that he was having an affair with for some year, year and a half before his wife's death.
00:01:30
Speaker 5: Yes, and so she has been tasked over the last two days reading aloud for the courtroom so many of their heinous, horrific, frankly evil texts between the two to hear her complaining about threatening him with leaving him and talking about her pain when he's celebrating his kid's birthday with his wife.
00:01:54
Speaker 3: She looked and sounded awful on the stand. I mean, we've heard enough from him sounding awful. I hate her. I want to kill her.
00:02:04
Speaker 5: Calling her douche instead of by her name, Ashley. But to hear her just venom at his family.
00:02:13
Speaker 3: When she is literally the.
00:02:15
Speaker 5: Mistress and she wants him for herself and she is just giving him hell for being a good dad.
00:02:24
Speaker 3: That was brutal to listen to.
00:02:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, Rose, early when she first started her testimony, we were learning about her. We found out she was 20 years old when they first met and she was 22 when they started dating. She was a virgin then.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: As well.
00:02:36
Speaker 2: She was young, impressionable. He was a pastor at the church, a youth leader. And you could see a potential for manipulation, or she was a young girl in love and whatnot. And not to say you were going to be sympathetic, but at least, Robes, in that regard, we've heard stories like that about young women being manipulated.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: Robes, all that kind of flies out the window. when you hear her talking about wanting the woman dead, when you hear her talking about you pick me or your kids, when you hear her in these text messages, Robes, this, the first day was one thing, second day was another. Yesterday, Robes, it's hard to look at this young lady and have sympathy.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: Any sympathy.
00:03:20
Speaker 5: Oh, and if you look online, people think that she should be charged, that she should be in prison, that she should pay for her participation in this crime. And honestly, after yesterday's testimony, I understand that sentiment.
00:03:34
Speaker 3: And this is clearly a young.
00:03:36
Speaker 5: Woman who fell hard for an older guy and, yes, was impressionable.
00:03:41
Speaker 3: Yes, she lost her virginity to him.
00:03:43
Speaker 5: But still, this is clearly a woman who isn't a mother and has never even imagined what it would be like to be a mom because to hear her say those things. Look, having even navigated divorces before with kids, and we know how sensitive and tough all of this is, It's not even a lack of insensitivity. She was just horrific, and I'm sorry, but evil, talking about his kids and being so angry at him for participating in his children's lives. What she said about him attending a birthday party for his daughter with his wife, was she forgetting her role in all of this?
00:04:21
Speaker 3: It was jaw-dropping.
00:04:23
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was jaw-dropping. It was shocking. It was painful. It could elicit anger.
00:04:30
Speaker 2: But as we mentioned at the top here, there was testimony yesterday when she was done that did bring laughter. And Robes, we're going to let you hear it, but Robes, so much of their relationship now is being exposed, and people are learning about it for the first time, and we are getting caught up in just getting some insight into what this relationship was. And he apparently fell hard. For her, Robes, and as we know, he's a musician and a part of what he would do. He apparently wrote her a couple of songs. And they played them in the court yesterday, Robes. And we're going to let you hear it here at the bottom.
00:05:08
Speaker 1: Robes, why?
00:05:11
Speaker 2: You said you might believe and other people out there believe.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Prosecutors didn't have to do this. They wanted to humiliate him.
00:05:18
Speaker 5: Yes, this was a humiliation that... It honestly, and that song went on forever, it felt like.
00:05:28
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:05:28
Speaker 5: And it was just, and it's so dramatic. And it's like this epic love, like star-crossed lovers. It's so, it honestly sounds pathetic.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: It's laughable.
00:05:39
Speaker 5: It's AI generated based on the lyrics that he wrote.
00:05:43
Speaker 3: For her that they already had her read some of the lyrics aloud.
00:05:46
Speaker 5: And then to have the song played in court, I got to say, it's probably one of my favorite moments I've ever experienced in a murder trial.
00:05:55
Speaker 2: And you want, it's weird because you want permission. This is a murder trial. This is heinous stuff ropes. You shouldn't be laughing. Um, But Robes, the Lindsay Clancy trial we gave, whoever the pool camera photographer in there, we gave credit. Whoever is running this camera, this particular one in this courtroom, has a news and editorial judgment that should be applauded.
00:06:21
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Can you nominate these folks for Emmys?
00:06:24
Speaker 5: I feel like he should, or she, whoever is behind that camera, should absolutely be given some sort of recognition for just good news judgment, good editorial judgment, because yes, while this song is playing, the camera, the photojournalist, decides to pan around and zero in, first.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: Of all, on his face.
00:06:46
Speaker 5: It was almost like a slow zoom during one of the dramatic crescendos of the song into Caleb Flynn's face. He's wiping sweat off of his head for most of the song and then pans to Ashley's family. They even pan to a security guard. I mean, he was like zeroing in on people's faces and I could watch that on repeat.
00:07:08
Speaker 2: There were slow pans throughout the courtroom. And I said to you, at least 50% of those people in some way had their hand up to their face and trying to cover their eyes or cover their mouths so you couldn't see them laughing. Robes in a murder trial. I have never seen this. You pan to the crowd and they are on the edge of laughter.
00:07:42
Speaker 5: The reason why I had permission to also chuckle was because Ashley Flynn's own family, her sister especially, had this smirk on her face the entire time. She was enjoying every second of it, and it allowed me to enjoy it as well.
00:07:57
Speaker 1: Yes, because they were.
00:07:58
Speaker 2: There was one lyric, and the dad kind of looked over at the mom like, did he really chuckle?
00:08:03
Speaker 3: It's unreal.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: What happened in that courtroom?
00:08:06
Speaker 2: So yes, whoever that photographer is, we want to commend you for your editorial judgment and knowing what that moment was and what you needed to show on camera. We're going to get to the song in a second, but let's get to the moment. We said Aaliyah Botner is her name, the woman he was in an affair with for a year, year and a half. We said she was stoic in reading all these texts and Until she wasn't. Certainly hundreds over the past several days. I don't know if she cracked the thousand mark, but they just had her read text after text after text that they exchanged robes. She finally cracked on one particular text message.
00:08:42
Speaker 5: And it was particularly heinous. So the prosecutor asks her to read whatever, text number 63,000, yada, yada, yada.
00:08:53
Speaker 3: And she stops and she starts to cry.
00:08:56
Speaker 5: Her voice cracks and she says, sorry, I just wish I didn't say this.
00:09:01
Speaker 3: I didn't mean it. We all braced ourselves.
00:09:05
Speaker 5: Oh my God, what did she say? So she said, I said, I wrote, I want to kill her, Caleb, so bad. Caleb writes back, that makes two of us.
00:09:19
Speaker 3: Holy hell.
00:09:23
Speaker 1: How do you defend? I don't know, baby.
00:09:25
Speaker 2: That is, this young lady has to go back to work. She has to go back to society. She has to go back, Robes, to family and friends who have heard about the story, who are aware of what was going on with her at this point. But, Robes, they didn't hear this stuff. They didn't know about this stuff. Her co-workers, her boss didn't know about this stuff. Robes, what happens to this young lady? Robes, what happens to this young lady? There is a woman dead, and she is on the record saying herself that she wanted to kill the lady.
00:09:53
Speaker 5: That's tough because, yes, it's bad enough to be the mistress of, and some people might suggest or think that you're the reason.
00:10:00
Speaker 3: Why this woman's dead.
00:10:02
Speaker 5: But now to know, not only were you complicit and that he was telling you for months, for more than a year actually, that he wanted to kill his wife, but you also said you wanted to kill her. That is, I don't know how you survived that. You even said, look at this girl, her name, it says Aaliyah Bodner, and then there's a dash and it says mistress. It's almost like a hyphenated last name, like Bodner mistress. I said, I feel like you'd have to change your name, move to a different city. I don't know how you go on with that always hanging over your head. Every relationship you enter, think about the next guy she's dating.
00:10:41
Speaker 3: He brings her home to mom. You Google her.
00:10:44
Speaker 7: Oh my God.
00:10:46
Speaker 3: Her life is.
00:10:49
Speaker 5: Drastically changed, and I think a lot of people after hearing that text think, good, it should be.
00:10:53
Speaker 2: And that might have been the most damning we've heard from her, but there are a bunch that just make her look and sound awful. You were saying that there are plenty out there who believe she should be facing some kind of charges.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: There were a few things.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: It was important to at least note this text that I have here, and also, Robes, they were piecing together, and we were talking about this, right, the couple of days before he killed his wife. he had told Aaliyah Botner that 16th was going to be a big day, but she was under the impression that he was going to go get a hotel room.
00:11:24
Speaker 1: He's going to move out. He told her all this stuff.
00:11:26
Speaker 3: He told her that, yes.
00:11:26
Speaker 2: So she, at that moment, started sending him all kinds of information, chat GBT information about what you need to delete in a divorce. It seemed like she genuinely did not believe he was going to kill his wife.
00:11:39
Speaker 5: I do believe that she absolutely thought he was describing getting divorced because that is what he was describing. He did say, I'm going to tell my in-laws. I'm going to tell my daughters. I'm going to tell my pastor. I'm going to the church. I'm getting a hotel room. I'm moving out.
00:11:55
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:11:55
Speaker 5: And so she's excited thinking, finally, after all this time, we can be together. Not because he murdered her, but because he divorced her. And there is an important text that she did send to clarify what that awful text was about, I want to kill her, Caleb, so bad. She did send a follow-up text. I am not asking that you take her life, obviously, because that's not what you should do. And I know you actually wouldn't. But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.
00:12:26
Speaker 2: Robes, that is the most reasonable text that's been read all week. Robes, it finally sounded like somebody had a A little good sense in there to go, wait a minute.
00:12:35
Speaker 5: She just wanted to, like, wait a minute, just so you know, I'm not actually asking that you do that.
00:12:41
Speaker 3: So at least, at least she's got that on the record.
00:12:45
Speaker 5: Because if she hadn't sent that, I don't, I mean, she might have been facing charges.
00:12:50
Speaker 2: She has some cover and some evidence there that, no, she was not trying to plot and kill this woman. Now, Robes, I've been asking you for several days now, what points did the defense ever score?
00:13:00
Speaker 1: And we couldn't find any.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: We were watching the cross-examination of Botner yesterday and we thought, okay, we see where they're kind of going and some points they were trying to make, how far they go, but at least they did get some stuff in.
00:13:12
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:13:13
Speaker 5: Of note, they had Aaliyah Botner say on the stand that she doubted or she had doubts that he actually hated his wife. We hear and we heard her read aloud all the texts where he just constantly said, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her. But then she was like, and then I would see she had his location that they'd all be... going out to dinner together or going to the movies together. She would see texts on his phone from his wife, Ashley, saying, I love you and saying loving things to him. So she's thinking, well, if she's not upset with.
00:13:44
Speaker 3: Him, he's describing they don't speak.
00:13:47
Speaker 5: As soon as people aren't around, they drop their act and they hate each other. She's seeing this wife lovingly text her husband. And so it didn't make sense. So she feels like maybe he was just saying, I hate her to make her feel better.
00:14:01
Speaker 1: How far.
00:14:03
Speaker 2: I mean, how far will that go with a jury? They're essentially trying to make the point that he was just telling his side chick that stuff just to make her feel good. He didn't actually hate his wife or want to kill his wife.
00:14:14
Speaker 3: I actually believe that could be true.
00:14:16
Speaker 5: But at the end of the day, if he had to choose between which one he wanted, he chose the mistress.
00:14:20
Speaker 3: But it shows, to me, sociopathic behavior.
00:14:23
Speaker 5: If you present yourself one way completely or present even your relationship that you know she's not going to be able to personally witness.
00:14:29
Speaker 3: As one thing, and then.
00:14:31
Speaker 5: Go back to your wife and kiss her and love her and tell her how wonderful she is and pretend to be a doting, loving husband, never, ever once even considering asking for a divorce.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: Like, that is some scary stuff.
00:14:43
Speaker 2: Some might just call him a liar. A guy who was in an affair and was just lying to everybody around him. So is that how far?
00:14:51
Speaker 5: He could have been just that until he murdered his wife, if that's what happened.
00:14:54
Speaker 2: But they're trying to put together a case to suggest that he didn't kill his wife. They're trying, I guess, put together a situation to where he wasn't actually mad at her.
00:15:04
Speaker 1: He didn't actually hate her.
00:15:05
Speaker 2: Despite all this stuff he's been saying to her, he was just trying to keep the side chick happy. I guess they're trying that, Robes, but I don't know how far it goes, but at least we saw some semblance of a defense. Now, the other part here, Robes, that I was confused about, she started sending him all that info about you need to delete this data because it'll be on your phone and they'll be able to look at it during the divorce.
00:15:30
Speaker 1: Well, no, that's not how it works. I was confused.
00:15:32
Speaker 2: Why would she be going through all this to get him to delete stuff from his phone having to do with a divorce in which a divorce lawyer can't subpoena someone? your phone, who can't subpoena your records. They don't have a right to it, but a criminal investigation does.
00:15:46
Speaker 5: Yes, and that's what the prosecutor, you thought there would be a criminal investigation and police might subpoena his phone.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: She didn't have a good answer to that.
00:15:55
Speaker 4: No.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Or maybe she just didn't know. Maybe she was young. Maybe she was making an assumption. Maybe she didn't think it through, but I.
00:16:00
Speaker 5: She might not know what a divorce attorney can and cannot access because she's so young, she would never have probably even known anyone who'd been through a divorce.
00:16:07
Speaker 1: At that point.
00:16:08
Speaker 2: The other thing about her robes was that They also tried to make the point. I mean, are they trying to suggest she had a hand in this, but make the point that police didn't look into her that closely?
00:16:20
Speaker 5: No, they never took any DNA. They didn't take her fingerprints. Her home wasn't searched. And so that was interesting. And also they made this point clear that Aaliyah told, and this was tough.
00:16:34
Speaker 1: This is vicious, baby. This is vicious.
00:16:36
Speaker 3: I mean, this is what I'm talking about.
00:16:38
Speaker 5: If you already didn't think you liked her or you didn't like her, this is just really tough. Apparently Aaliyah told Caleb, either have your daughter full time or have me. Like, she was like, choose between your daughters and me.
00:16:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, even after the divorce, she's saying, like, if you get full custody of the kids, you won't have me.
00:16:59
Speaker 1: Damn, girl.
00:17:02
Speaker 3: That's awful.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: That's some messy stuff. But, folks, yes, stay here. You got to hear this.
00:17:08
Speaker 2: We will play for you the moment in the courtroom where everybody in the courtroom was on the edge of cracking up. Yes, we will let you hear the song. That had everybody in the courtroom damn near in stitches.
00:17:23
Speaker 1: Stay here.
00:17:25
Speaker 4: All right, we continue here on Amy and TJ Robes.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Is there a song title?
00:17:38
Speaker 5: Yes, I did see that because I looked it up and I did see there was a title.
00:17:45
Speaker 2: I didn't actually see a title, but what we're looking up here is, yes, Caleb Flynn. on trial, yes, for murder, but they've been going through his relationship with the woman he was having an affair with. And a part of that relationship, Robes, they would send each other hundreds of text messages every day, but he also produced a couple of songs that he wrote for her using AI and performed. This is his voice, is it not?
00:18:09
Speaker 5: I think it might be his voice, but it went through some sort of AI. But You Gave It All is the name of the song. Yes.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: Can you tell me, before I hit this button and play it for everybody, what the significance.
00:18:20
Speaker 1: Is that their anniversary, February 3rd?
00:18:22
Speaker 3: So it's the third of the month.
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Third of the month.
00:18:25
Speaker 5: So basically, because we actually had Aaliyah testify when she had to read the lyrics, and And she said that the third of every month was a reference to when they first started texting. They started texting, their first texts were on the third day of the month.
00:18:40
Speaker 2: Okay, so that's significant. Thought we should explain it. We're just going to let it ride here, Robes. We'll talk about it throughout. But this is in the court. This is a silent courtroom while this is playing, folks.
00:18:51
Speaker 3: And imagine the cameraman panning to everyone's faces.
00:18:59
Speaker 6: We were just friends.
00:19:02
Speaker 7: That's what we said Early.
00:19:06
Speaker 6: Mornings, late nights Jokes in our head Her.
00:19:10
Speaker 1: Family is sitting in the room listening to this.
00:19:12
Speaker 6: The first time I saw you The room disappeared Love at first sight Even though I was scared.
00:19:26
Speaker 8: Oh my God, that is so cheesy. Okay, but stay with.
00:19:39
Speaker 3: Me, baby.
00:19:41
Speaker 2: If the song, if we didn't know, there's something about it.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: Adding, we know the story now, and now we hear these lyrics and it makes it.
00:19:54
Speaker 3: Hilarious.
00:19:55
Speaker 7: Candles burn out I still can't move on Life lost its meaning The moment you.
00:20:09
Speaker 3: He said this to her when she broke up with him, right? Because he sent her this song.
00:20:13
Speaker 1: He wrote for her. You were saying, does he sound good?
00:20:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, he is talented. Now, I don't know how much A.I.
00:20:23
Speaker 5: Made his voice sound perfect, but look, for him to get as far as he did on American Idol.
00:20:28
Speaker 3: The dude can sing.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, that age never mattered. That's when her dad looked over and was cracking.
00:20:35
Speaker 6: Laughing.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: I cannot imagine.
00:21:00
Speaker 5: Listening to the man who I believe killed my daughter singing a love song to his young mistress.
00:21:07
Speaker 1: Oh, man.
00:21:07
Speaker 5: Played aloud in court. So I have to tell you, like, can I read some of the comments?
00:21:13
Speaker 1: Can I keep the song up?
00:21:13
Speaker 3: Oh, please keep it on because that's making it funnier. Give the cameraman a raise.
00:21:17
Speaker 5: Panning around to the different faces was a choice and totally diabolical.
00:21:23
Speaker 3: I would have yelled, I'm guilty, I'm guilty, turn it off.
00:21:26
Speaker 6: Oh, God.
00:21:27
Speaker 7: Dude.
00:21:28
Speaker 5: This is so cringe. The cameraman fully understood his assignment. The DA said to himself, before I send him to prison for life, I'm going to humiliate him as much as humanly possible.
00:21:39
Speaker 3: Kudos, sir. This is a slam dunk. Secondhand embarrassment is real.
00:21:44
Speaker 1: There you go.
00:21:46
Speaker 8: In the back of my mind Still reach for your hand Every third I survive.
00:21:57
Speaker 5: How about this one imagine going back to your cell and the fellas are singing this.
00:22:01
Speaker 1: To you oh god oh god.
00:22:07
Speaker 3: Oh my god.
00:22:11
Speaker 5: Okay someone just wrote this is the most embarrassing moment I have ever witnessed even.
00:22:19
Speaker 3: His lawyer was looking at him like really bro.
00:22:21
Speaker 1: Oh god okay.
00:22:25
Speaker 2: Look here folks You all forgive us. We're talking about an awful crime. We are talking about an awful situation. We are talking about the worst thing you could imagine. But her family gave permission to make fun of him yesterday.
00:22:44
Speaker 1: They really did, babe.
00:22:45
Speaker 3: I mean, like the father's face, the sister's face.
00:22:48
Speaker 5: And then you could see other family members because there's a look to them.
00:22:52
Speaker 3: You can tell they're related. And they were all.
00:22:54
Speaker 5: It was like a moment where they were kind of just.
00:22:57
Speaker 3: They were savoring it. Because it was.
00:22:59
Speaker 5: They knew how embarrassing and pathetic he looked.
00:23:03
Speaker 6: And.
00:23:04
Speaker 3: It gave them some pleasure.
00:23:06
Speaker 1: And here's the thing. They played two different versions of this song.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: So it was about the same lyrics, but it had a different melody.
00:23:12
Speaker 5: One was slower.
00:23:13
Speaker 3: One was more like epic.
00:23:15
Speaker 1: And the guy up there, Robes, was he an FBI agent?
00:23:18
Speaker 2: But whoever did the extraction, he's the last guy you would think is into music and knows anything.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: Robes, he described the versions differently.
00:23:25
Speaker 2: He said one's kind of an upbeat, happy, sad song.
00:23:29
Speaker 1: He said, man, I don't know what this stuff is. but they had to listen to two songs, same lyrics.
00:23:35
Speaker 5: And that's what made it extra cringe, like extra embarrassing. And it's someone who wrote well as songs finally got produced for the world.
00:23:44
Speaker 3: Like it's, it's so, he was literally sweating.
00:23:48
Speaker 5: If you watch the YouTube, um, absolutely suggest you do if you liked what you heard, because when you see what you are going to have accompanying that music, it's, it's worth the watch.
00:24:00
Speaker 2: Um, Robes, I didn't imagine that was coming, but a moment, just a moment of levity, a moment, Robes, to you're still, everybody who's mad at him still had that feeling and could still direct negative feelings toward him that included some laughter. Like you ridiculous person right now.
00:24:24
Speaker 1: What a moment.
00:24:24
Speaker 2: It continues today, right? Day officially seven. Today, they'll be back at it in that courtroom.
00:24:31
Speaker 1: Who's up today?
00:24:31
Speaker 2: I think they left it with an investigator on the stand. We're keeping an eye on it, folks, but we always appreciate you spending a little time with us. On behalf of my dear Amy Robach, I am TJ Holmes, and we'll talk to you all soon.