PONTIAC (WWJ) -- On this fifth day of the involuntary manslaughter trial for Jennifer Crumbley, testimony from a friend of the defendant touched on an extramarital affair, and discussions about the gun on the day of the shooting.
On the witness stand, a longtime friend of Jennifer Crumbley, Brian Meloche, testified that she'd sent him a message shootings on November 30, 2021, as she made her way to Oxford High School to discuss her son's concerning behavior.
This was just a few days after Jennifer's husband, James Crumbley, had bought their 15-year-old son Ethan Crumbley the Sig Sauer 9mm handgun he would use to murder four of his classmates and wound seven others.
Under questioning by Oakland County Asst. Prosecutor Marc Keast, Meloche said Jennifer told him she was worried that Ethan "was going to do something dumb."
"And she sent you that message before she had gone to the school?" Keast asked, to which Meloche replied, "Yes."
The meeting that morning was with a school counselor and the dean of students who wanted to speak with the Crumbleys about a math worksheet on which the teen had draw a gun, blood, and the words, "Help me," "My life is useless."
Meloche said he was aware that the Cumbleys had recently gifted their son a handgun, which surprised him. So, when Jennifer told him that morning that she was worried, he thought about the weapon.
"Now, when she sent you that message, November 30th (the day of the shooting) what was your response?" asked Keast.
"I asked where the firearm was," Meloche said.
Meloche said Jennifer told him the gun was in her car, and he told her that wasn't a good place for it.
But the gun, investigators believe, was actually in Ethan Crumbley's backpack during that meeting between his parents and school officials. No one searched the bag.
After Meloche learned of the shooting, Jennifer messaged Meloche that the gun was missing, and he told her to call 911.
On Dec. 1, 2021, Jennifer wrote Meloche that she'd "failed as a parent," but he told her. "You didn't do this."
The message shows that Meloche expressed support for his friend, and disbelief that she would face charges.
Keast on Wednesday asked whether Meloche still feels as he did then.
Keast said he does not, as a result of "new information" he's learned from police and from the media since that time.
The messages show Jennifer told Meloche: "We're on the run again. Helicopters not sure where to I'll message you."
The prosecution noted that some of the messages between Jennifer Crumbley and Meloche had been unsent, others had been deleted, but all were uncovered from the server by forensic investigators.
In cross-examination, Jennifer Crumbley's defense attorney Shannon Smith asked Meloche if he suffers memory problems, to which he replied that he does. But, he said looking at the messages helps him to remember.
Smith noted that police have interviewed Meloche three times, including in December of 2023.
Smith asked Meloche if police implied that he could lose his job as a firefighter, his pension or his benefits over his association with Jennifer Crumbley. While Meloche initially replied "yes," he later seemed to backtrack on that.
In redirect, Keast asked Meloche if he was accusing anyone in law enforcement of threatening him, to which Meloche replied, "No."
Meloche said police told him to tell the truth when he went to court, and that's what he was doing.
Judge Cheryl Matthews asked Smith directly whether she was implying that Meloche was intimidated by police and pressured to change his story, to which Smith said she was.
The trial took an unexpected turn when Smith, with Jennifer Crumbley's approval, revealed that Meloche and her client had had an extramarital affair.
At Smith's urging, Matthews previously ruled that information about the love affair would be kept out of the trial, but Matthews said she would reverse that ruling at Smith's request.
Smith said Meloche was honest with police about the affair from the beginning.
"The first time Mr. Meloche was interviewed, he told them about the affair; that's not his motive for changing his story," Smith told the judge. "His motive for changing his story is because law enforcement put pressure on him and made him fear he'd lose his job."
Keast interrupted, calling that assertion "completely inaccurate."
When the judge asked Meloche to clarify, he said while the officer interviewing him didn't threaten his job, "He was asking questions that were professionally related, because I know he was trying to establish some sort of rapport. Because he worked in law enforcement, he was asking about pensions. He did get more aggressive with it, and it was threatening as in personal information getting out about me; out in the open to the public."
While Matthews said she would allow the affair to be discussed, she urged the prosecution to stick to testimony relevant to the matter at hand.
The case, Matthews stressed, does not concern whether Jennifer Crumbley is "immoral" or a "bad person."
The judge said she will only allow testimony relevant to whether the defendant was negligent in respect to her son, which is what's at the heart of this case.
But with the go-ahead to discus the affair, Keast said this opened the door to additional evidence.
"It's not just an affair with one man that was uncovered," said Keast, telling Matthews that this "changes the entire case."
Now free to discuss the affair, Keast asked Meloche if it's true he would meet Jennifer Crumbley during the workweek, during work hours, in the Costco parking lot across from her workplace, which Meloche confirmed.
Through questioning, Keast sought to establish that while Jennifer Crumbley said she had to be back at work on Nov. 30, so she couldn't take her son home after the meeting with the counselor, she was able to skip work for her affair.
Keast: "Did she ever tell you that she didn't have to be at a meeting later in the day on November the 30th, 2021?" Keast asked.
Meloche: "No."
Keast: "In fact, she was able to leave work to meet you when it pleased her?"
Meloche: "Yes."
Keast said he expects to call a couple of more witnesses, but the prosecution could rest its case by Thursday afternoon.
