Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley’s dad James moans he’s a ‘martyr’ in jail calls after being sentenced to 10-15 years for letting his son massacre four children

The father of school shooter Ethan Crumbley insists he is a “martyr” who feels he “joined the army” to prevent other parents from ending up in jail like him.

James Crumbley was sentenced Tuesday along with his estranged wife Jennifer to 10 to 15 years behind bars for failing to prevent their son’s massacre.

Ethan, 15, shot staff and students at Oxford High School in Michigan on November 30, 2021, killing three teenagers and wounding seven people.

He was given a life sentence without parole and his parents were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure the weapon he used in his rampage.

Ethan, 15, shot staff and students at Oxford High School in Michigan on November 30, 2021, killing three teenagers and wounding seven people

James Crumbley maintained his innocence and played the victim in numerous recorded calls he made from prison from December 2022 to earlier this year.

‘I feel a bit like a martyr. We’re martyrs, you know, without the whole dying aspect of it. Because I don’t know a better word to use. That’s why I use the word martyr,” he said during one phone call.

“But we are martyrs to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else in America again. To make sure no one likes that stupid, stupid b***h [Oakland County Prosecutor] Karen McDonald.’

Crumbley claimed he was going to “fight the good fight” for other parents who could be charged if their children committed mass murder.

“I feel like I’m joining the military and I’m going to fight for my country, you know? I am. I fight for the freedom of everyone,” he said.

‘I feel a bit like a martyr or martra, however you want to pronounce it. If they allow this stupid bitch to do what she’s trying to do to us based on nothing.

“The thing is, she never did any investigation before they charged us.

“They’re trying to blame us, they’re trying to say none of this should have happened because of you.

‘It’s so very ridiculous. It wasn’t us! It wasn’t us! It was the damn school!’

James Crumbley was sentenced earlier this week, seen here, along with his estranged wife Jennifer to 10 to 15 years behind bars for their part in their son’s massacre

Authorities have since released audio recordings of calls in which Crumbley threatens Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, seen here

Elsewhere in the audio publicly released by prosecutors on Wednesday, Crumbley threatened McDonald.

‘Karen McDonald, you’re going down. Yeah, you stupid bitches in fucking jail, just record this conversation and send it to Karen McDonald,” he said on October 9, 2023.

“Tell her how James Crumbley is going to take her down. She won’t have a law license when I’m done with her.

‘Karen McDonald is going to work at f**king McDonalds because she won’t be able to get a job anywhere else.’

In another phone call on December 6, 2022, he said, “Well, she’s going to suck some fucking hot rock in hell soon.”

Another call on December 20, 2023 was more pointed: “Yes, damn Karen McDonald. You suck when I get out.”

Crumbley’s anger had not subsided earlier this year when the threats continued in another phone call on January 4.

“You know what, it’s going to be downhill in three months when I get out of here. I’m panicking, Karen,” he said.

“Yes, Karen McDonald, you’re going down and you better be damn scared.”

It remains unclear who Crumbley was on the phone with during his conversations.

James Crumbley is seen crying in court on Monday as he and his wife Jennifer received a landmark 10- to 15-year prison sentence for the 2021 massacre of their son Ethan, which left four people dead.

Prosecutors released the calls Wednesday, along with a pre-sentencing report to the Detroit Free Press obtained some of the audio.

“The suspect’s prison sentences showed that he blamed everyone but himself for what happened and that he repeatedly referred to himself as persecuted and considered himself a ‘martyr,'” prosecutors wrote in the report.

An investigator with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office told the newspaper, “Most of the content of the messages I reviewed appears to consist of Mr. Crumbley complaining about legal proceedings and tactics in the courtroom, and Mr Crumbley making comments about winning the case in court and making Karen McDonald look bad to the public’

The channel obtained the recordings through freedom of information laws, which also revealed a police report filed by prosecutors on the calls.

The report asked the sheriff’s office to investigate what they deemed “intimidation and threats.”

James and Jennifer Crumbley sat at the same table prior to their sentencing, where they received the maximum possible sentence of 10 to 15 years

The calls were mentioned on the first day of Crumbley’s trial, causing an argument in the courtroom and sending the jury home for the day.

Prosecutors raised an issue with Crumbley’s communications in jail, which his attorney objected to on the issue of disclosure.

Crumbley’s attorney Mariell Lehman argued that Crumbley did not threaten to physically harm McDonald, but expressed frustrations.

The phone calls were brought up again during the sentencing, with prosecutors arguing they warranted a harsher sentence.

Judge Cheryl Matthews agreed, telling Crumbley he was “endangering the welfare of the plaintiff.”

His son Ethan opened fire at the school in Oxford, Michigan, killing Hana St Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre and Justin Shilling.

Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders, after being convicted of 24 crimes, including terrorism.

Justin Shilling, 17, (left) and Tate Myre, 16, (right) were two of the four students killed in the senseless shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan

Madisyn Baldwin, 17, (left) and Hana St Juliana, 14, (right) died during the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit

Crumbley and his wife Jennifer were convicted in separate trials earlier this year, with juries concluding that they ignored Ethan’s pleas for help and bought him a firearm.

Their sentences will be served minus the nearly two and a half years they have already served, and they are prohibited from contacting the families of their son’s victims.

The two are the first parents in the US to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass attack on a school.

McDonald said Crumbley ignored signs that his son was deeply disturbed, did not give him the help he needed and did not safely store the firearm in the family home.

McDonald also presented the jury with texts Ethan Crumbley had sent to a friend and diary entries he had written in the months leading up to the shooting.

In it, he talked about wanting medical help and hearing voices, but he was afraid his parents would be “pissed off.”

According to a text message to a friend, Ethan once asked Crumbley to take him to the doctor, but his father “gave me some pills and told me to suck them down.”

Defense attorney Mariell Lehman argued that James Crumbley could not possibly have foreseen that his son would commit a mass shooting.

Crumbley, accompanied by Ethan, purchased a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol over Thanksgiving weekend in 2021.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald holds the murder weapon during James’ trial, as jurors heard how he bought the firearm for his son despite his disturbing behavior

The boy called it his ‘new beauty’ on social media. His mother described the gun as a Christmas present and took him to a shooting range.

Four days after the purchase, the parents went to Oxford High to discuss a violent picture their son had drawn during a math assignment.

Here is the drawing including sentences that said: ‘The thoughts will not stop. Help me.’ There was a gun on the paper that looked like the Sig Sauer.

The Crumbleys did not take him home, and the school staff, who thought he was suicidal, did not demand it either.

But no one checked the boy’s backpack for a gun, and the shooting happened that afternoon.

Before his sentencing, James read a statement in which he said his “heart is broken for everyone involved” and insisted that claims he had no remorse for his son’s actions were untrue.

“I know the pain and loss will never go away.”