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PONTIAC, Mich. — James Crumbley, the father of the teenager who fatally shot four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, stored two firearms in his home in a gun case locked with the default combination "0-0-0," a detective testified at his manslaughter trial Tuesday.
Adam Stoyek, a detective with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, spoke with James Crumbley on Nov. 30, 2021, the day of the mass shooting, as investigators searched the family's home. Sitting in the back of a police vehicle, Crumbley told Stoyek two firearms — a .22-caliber Derringer and a .22-caliber KelTec — were locked in a gun case in a bedroom dresser, according to video of their conversation.
The combination to unlock the case was "0-0-0-0," Crumbley said, although Stoyek later discovered the safe only had three numbers.
"I'm completely open, and I want you guys to do what you have to do," Crumbley said, according to the video.
Under the gun case, investigators found two magazines, a holster and a box of .22-caliber ammunition, Stoyek testified.
The testimony comes as prosecutors sought to show James Crumbley acted with "gross negligence" and did not properly secure the family's firearms. His then-15-year-old son, Ethan Crumbley, was able to access a SIG Sauer 9 mm handgun his father bought for him on Black Friday and used the firearm in the shooting at Oxford High School, killing four students and wounded six students and a teacher.
James Crumbley has pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. His wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of the same charges last month.
Ethan Crumbley was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to terrorism causing death, four counts of murder and 19 other related charges. He did not testify in his mother's trial, as his attorneys had said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to silence if called.
The case against James Crumbley, like the one against his wife, is set to test the limits of who is responsible for a mass shooting. Prosecutors aiming to expand the scope of blame in mass shootings have used an unusual and novel legal strategy by arguing the shooter's parents are responsible for the deaths because they got him a gun and disregarded signs of his mental health issues.
Parents have previously faced liability for their child's actions, such as with neglect or firearms charges. Yet Jennifer Crumbley's case was the first time a parent of a school shooter was held directly responsible for the killings.
In cross-examination Tuesday, Stoyek acknowledged that James Crumbley had been "cooperative" in describing where in the house the two firearms were stored. Yet the questioning still left unanswered questions about how Ethan Crumbley gained access to the SIG Sauer 9 mm firearm, which had been purchased four days before the shooting.
When investigators searched the master bedroom, an open gun box was sitting on the bed next to an empty box of 9 mm ammunition, Stoyek testified.
"Did James ever once tell you that the SIG Sauer 9 mm used to commit the Oxford high school shooting was ever locked up?" Oakland County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Marc Keast asked.
"He did not," Stoyek said.
Witnesses detail arrest of Crumbleys as fugitives
Several witnesses testified Tuesday about the search and arrest of the Crumbleys when they were fugitives days after the shooting.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were supposed to attend an arraignment on Dec. 3, 2021, after being charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, but they missed the arraignment, making them fugitives and setting off a search. They were apprehended in the early morning hours the next day in a building about 40 miles from their home.
David Hendrick, a former detective sergeant on the Oakland County Sheriff's Office fugitive apprehension team, testified his team went to the office of the couple's attorney at the time but did not find either Crumbley parent there. Hendrick said he made contact with the attorney but did not provide details about their discussion.
Luke Kirtley, a business owner, testified he spotted the Crumbleys' vehicle in a building parking lot and recognized it from a wanted poster about them. He then called 911 and reported the sighting, leading to their arrest.
David Metzke, an officer with the Detroit Police Department's special response team, testified he and a group of officers traveled to the office building to search and arrest the Crumbleys. In court, the jury was shown an 8-minute body camera video that shows the moment law enforcement discovered the couple lying on a mattress inside an art studio.
