Day 1 of the Crumbley's preliminary trial, good Samaritan stops scam, 3rd day of Ambassador Bridge woes
Prosecutor shows evidence that Crumbleys ignored red flags of son's behavior prior to Oxford shooting
On Tuesday in court Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald presented a school phone call to the parents of Ethan Crumbley one day before the shooting as well as disturbing phone text messages.
WEDNESDAY NEWS HIT - After a long session in court, prosecutors and defense attorneys are gearing up for a second day in the preliminary hearing of James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents to the alleged Oxford High School shooter.
New details emerged from the hearing on Tuesday, which delved further into the complicated relationship between both James and Jennifer, as well as the relationship both parents had with their son.
Many of the witnesses that were called to the stand were colleagues or acquaintances of Jennifer, which prosecutors used to delve deep into the interactions she shared with her son in the months, days, and hours leading up to Ethan Crumley's alleged rampage.
"OMG Andy, he's going to kill himself. He must be the shooter. I need a lawyer. Ethan did it," went one of the text messages, which was read by Andrew Smith, Jennifer's boss at a real estate firm.
Smith was one of three witnesses from Jennifer's work that gave testimony. The woman who owned the farm where the Crumbleys kept their horses was another witness. An Oakland County Sheriff detective also provided testimony. Here's a bit more that we learned:
Jennifer referred to Ethan as ‘weird’
Kira Pennock took care of both of the Crumbley's horses and saw Jennifer on a semi-regular basis. While the two discussed horses quite a bit, Pennock also heard details from Jennifer regarding marital strife between her and James.
She testified that the two were seeing other people and had a temporary separation before coming back together.
In the discussions about her son, Jennifer rarely confided in issues that Ethan may be having. But she did refer to him as "weird" and not "normal;" a loner with few friends who didn't go out at night.
James and Jennifer Crumbley in court for first day of preliminary hearing
On Tuesday, the prosecution in the case against James and Jennifer Crumbley presented their first evidence that they plan to use in court against the parents of the accused Oxford High School shooter.
Additionally, Pennock received a text message from Jennifer on Nov. 30 about needing to sell their horses so they could get money to pay for a lawyer.
Pennock told the defense attorneys she planned to take care of the horses. After it became clear that Ethan was the alleged shooter, Pennock confirmed she texted Jennifer that she didn't think what had happened was her fault. "It sounds like Ethan was a troubled kid," read one of the texts.
Jennifer texted her boss ‘Ethan did it’ on Nov. 30
In addition to Smith, his administrative assistant Amanda Holland and Human Resources Manager Kathy Poliquin also gave testimony, each having interacted with Jennifer on the days leading up to the shooting, as well as on Nov. 30.
Both Smith and Poliquin were on speakerphone with Jennifer soon after she ran out of the office following reports of an active shooter at the school. She also sent the two work colleagues a photo of the worksheet that depicted violence and images of guns that Ethan had drawn.
"My first thought was ‘This boy needs help,'" Poliquin said after seeing it.
After that call, Jennifer again texted Smith again that she believed Ethan was the shooter.
Later that day, another text to Smith pleaded for him not to "judge me for what my son did." Smith said he was surprised that she was worrying about work given what had happened. Poliquin said Jennifer also called her later that day.
"She was afraid to lose her job," she said.
Poliquin told Jennifer to "tend to your family and don’t worry about work," and another senior leader told Jennifer she was on administrative leave for a couple weeks. She was told not to worry about her job, but Poliquin said she wanted to come back later that week to get her mind off of things. She was told no.
A dive into phone records
While the prosecutor had released some evidence they had collected for the case, Tuesday was the first day where a full slate of communication from all three of the Crumbley's phone was entered into the record.
They include exchanges between a paranoid Ethan to his mom about mysterious figures in the house and him looking up ammunition and firearms at school.
Multiple devices were found during an executed search warrant from the Crumbleys, where digital forensic analysis revealed text messages as well as interactions on social media. The prosecutors highlighted several posts from Ethan showing a firearm similar to the one his father purchased for him and the gun used in the mass shooting.
Good Samaritan stops scam
It took the perceptive gaze of a man at a Waterford CVS Tuesday evening to prevent a man from losing a thousand dollars that scammers had attempted to steal from him. "The gentleman in front of me was trying to buy two $500 gift cards," Andy Auten said. "I've seen a lot of scam videos and it just looked like a scam because who buys a thousand dollars of CVS gift cards?"
The clerk told the man after the customer left that he told him he was buying them for his grandkids. Not satisfied with the answer Auten phoned police, who quickly arrived.
Police say that the man, a 65-year-old, had received what appeared to be an email from Norton - security software for his computer - about a subscription renewal. It told him his account had been compromised. Unfortunately, he fell for it - and called the phone number in the email. The scammers told him they needed money in gift cards and to tell the clerk it was for his son.
Good Samaritan stops potential scam victim from buying $1,000 in gift cards
It was Tuesday evening at CVS on Dixie Highway and Sashabaw in Waterford, and Andy Auten was concerned about the 65-year-old man in front of him at the checkout.
No money was lost due to the quick work of Auten. "I wouldn't want my grandpa or my mom or anyone else I know, to get scammed like that," he said. "A lot of people would say - not my problem - but we need to help each other out."
Ambassdor Bridge woes stretch into third day
The highway to the Ambassador Bridge is empty Wednesday morning, a far different sight than the traffic jam that wreaked havoc at the border crossing on Tuesday. However, the highways are only empty because truck traffic has been diverted to the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.
Mile-long traffic has followed as the smaller port of entry are overwhelmed by the surge in trucks hoping to cross across the U.S.-Canada border. A total of $323 million in trade and goods typically crosses the Ambassador Bridge every day. Now, the two countries are trying to squeeze two avenues of traffic into one.
Border woes at Ambassador Bridge stretch into 3rd day due to Canadian trucker protests
Major backups at the border between the U.S. and Canada are creating havoc on trade and commerce between the two countries after another round of closures on the Ambassador Bridge resulted in truck drivers heading to other crossings. Mile-long traffic jams in Port Huron and the entrance to the Blue Water Bridge are occurring as a result.
It's the third straight day of woes at the border as truckers from Canada have staked out a spot near the bridge to protest vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions.
Border crossings could take hours to complete, so drivers should be wary.
What else we're watching
- Three friends who have attended every Super Bowl are hoping for a memorable game as it will likely be there final trip to the big game as a group. The three men are all in their 80s and have attended every single game since its inception.
- Hospitalizations linked to the Omicron surge are starting to fall since peaking at record levels in some communities. Health officials are thankful, but know the work is far from done despite being worn out from the two-year marathon of caring for sick patients.
- Michigan lawmakers passed a $1.2 billion spending bill to combat COVID-19. The money includes $300 million to help hospitals and other health care facilities.
- Do urban cowboys exist? It appears that at least in Michigan they do. A video of a man riding a steer through a Detroit gas station appeared online Sunday. You can watch it for yourself here.
- Curious about the wonders of 5G? So was Derek Kevra, who found out it doesn't require any wires. 5G service is accessed via a virtual wire.
Live on FOX 2
Daily Forecast
Plan on some snow and then some rain in parts of Southeast Michigan Wednesday as temperatures climb throughout the afternoon. The next snowmaker could come on Friday, which expects to pack more of a punch but only last a short while.
NY couple tries to launder billions of stolen cryptocurrency, feds claim
A New York couple was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in cryptocurrency that was stolen in a 2016 hack of a virtual currency exchange, the Justice Department said.
Besides the arrests, federal law enforcement officials also revealed that the Justice Department has seized roughly $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency linked to the hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached nearly six years ago.
The stolen cryptocurrency, valued at $71 million at the time of the theft, is now valued at $4.5 billion, officials said.
Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday morning and face federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States. It was unclear if they had lawyers or people who could speak on their behalf.