Inside real life 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' mum trial for son's school murder
It's a case that has gripped America, in the first trial of it's time a mother is in the dock blamed for her son's high school shooting.
Jennifer Crumbley's trial has uncovered a twisted world of car park affairs, unanswered texts from her mentally ill son and lavishing thousands of dollars on her own expensive hobbies.
She is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter after her son Ethan conducted the killings at Oxford High School and is currently in the middle of an unprecedented trial. The weapon and ammunition he used were given to him as a Christmas present by his parents.
With chilling echoes of the 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, the trial has uncovered a world where mum Crumbley was less than doting on her murderer son.
After the horrifying murders, it was later revealed the young killer had a journal - which his parents hadn't seen - where it depicted a young girl with a gun to the back of her head, alongside bullets flying around and the words: "The first victim has to be a pretty girl with a future so she can suffer like me."
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
READ MORE: Noel Rubio: Man, 60, sailing from California to Hawaii vanishes as Coast Guard searches
Ethan Crumbley, 15, killed four youngsters after opening fire at a Michigan High School (Oakland County Sheriff's Office/)On Friday it was revealed during a ross-examination that Crumbley used an app named Adult Friend Finder to arrange "meet ups" with people just days before the shooting. Earlier in the trial, Crumbley's long-term friend Brian Meloche revealed the two were having an affair when Ethan carried out the school shooting.
Assistant prosecutor Marc Keast told the court: "She depicted herself as having one extramarital affair for a six-month period of time where she met with him one time a week. That was her testimony," before asking Crumbley: "It was you and Mr. Meloche arranging with other individuals to meet after work, as well?"
Crumbley replied: "I only met with Brian during work hours. The times we were at the hotel, I was on business. We did arrange for other people to meet us there."
When taking the stand this week, Crumbley was seen as a mother who ignored her son's pleas for help and at least one time even mocked him. One text from Ethan, which was submitted in evidence and read to the court, said: "I hear people talking to me, and see someone in the distance. I actually asked my dad to take me to the doctor yesterday, but he just gave me some pills and told me to suck it up… it's to the point where I'm asking to go to the doctor… My mom laughed when I told her."
James and Jennifer Crumbley were both charged with manslaughter after their son killed four peopleA series of texts to the same person, which Crumbley claims she never saw, said: "I'm having bad insomnia… and paranoia… I need help… I was thinking of calling 911 so I could go to the hospital… but then my parents would really be p***ed." As well as: "I'm mentally and physically dying."
More texts were read out, but this time to his mother. On March 9, 2021, just eight months before the fatal shootings, Ethan sent multiple messages which weren't answered for days. One said: "Can you get home now?... There's someone in the house I think." Another said: "Someone walked into the bathroom and flushed the toilet and left the light on… Maybe it's just my paranoia… But when are you going to get home?"
Crumbley claims she was on her horse that night, which explains why she couldn't reply due to a mixture of poor internet connection and being busy. She also explained she thought Ethan was just trying to get her attention, MailOnline reports.
Worrying messages also revealed in court show Ethan's mum ignoring his request for her to come home one night by saying she will be "getting drunk and riding her horse". She was later challenged about texts from her son which claimed a "demon" "f***** up the kitchen," to which she said she thought she had seen them but didn't think much of them.
Jennifer Crumbley, 43, faces trial after her son Ethan killed four students during a school shooting (AFP via Getty Images)Recorded conversations with Crumbley's father revealed she rarely asked about her son after the shooting and instead asked for money, or how many calories are in a sandwich, or if she can still claim child credits on her tax forms. She took thousands of pounds out of Ethan's bank account before she and her husband James went on the run.
Disabled woman paralysed after falling from wheelchair on plane walkway dies
Just days before the shooting - in which seven people were also seriously injured - James Crumbley purchased his son a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer, which they failed to keep properly locked up at home. The parents were also known to take their son to a shooting range despite claims he was struggling with depression and hearing voices.
Again, Crumbley showed signs of ignorance when it came to her son's evil behaviour. Most recently, claiming she had never known anything about how he would torture and kill baby birds - including keeping one severed head in his room for months.
The 43-year-old Michigan mum claims she wasn't aware of some of her son's worrying behaviours (AFP via Getty Images)On one occasion, Crumbley was called to a meeting at the school after a sick drawing from Ethan, which had the words "the thoughts won't stop. Help me." was discovered at the High School. There was also a figure lying dead with bullet wounds and ammunition alongside it. His mother then urgently messaged her partner "EMERGENCY". Mr Crumbely replied: "My God WTF."
During her trial, the mum claims she wasn't concerned about the contents of the drawings but more annoyed her son had defaced a school test and she was angry about his failing grades. Teachers had also raised concerns about the teenager's behaviour. One caught him looking on Google for bullets, while another saw a poem he had written about his family being a mistake. During the meeting, which involved teachers, nobody looked inside Ethan's bag, which had the murder weapon inside.
One of the most shocking admissions came when Crumbley was asked by her own defence lawyer if she would have done anything differently and replied: "No. I don't want to say I'm a victim, because I don't want to discredit the families that truly are the victims on this – but we did lose a lot."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
