A parrot in Sand Lake, Michigan, may have witnessed a murder in 2015, the family of a slain 45-year-old man said after they recorded the bird possibly mimicking the victim and his wife.
Martin Duram was shot and killed in his home about 30 miles north of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in
May 2015, WABC-TV reported. Duram's wife, Glenna, survived a gunshot wound and is now a possible suspect in the shooting, according to the television station.
Martin Duram's mother, Lillian, told WABC-TV that she believes the parrot witnessed the murder because of what the bird has been saying.
"That bird picks up everything and anything," Lillian Duram told WABC-TV. "And it's got the filthiest mouth around."
The family recorded the bird, named Bud, on video several weeks after the shooting as it was repeating what appeared to be an argument. Eventually, the parrot said: "Don't f***ing shoot," the family told the television station.
"Then, all of a sudden, this came out of the bird's mouth," Martin Duram's father, Charles Duram, told WABC-TV. "I personally think he was there and he remembers it, and he was saying it."
Newaygo County prosecutor
Robert Springstead told CBS's "48 Hours" this week that he has read up on the Duram family's claims about the parrot online, but he has not seen the video. Springstead added that he would not be sure who the parrot was mimicking or where it came from.
Springstead declined to comment on whether Glenna Duram was a suspect, and said it would be a "long shot" at best if he would use the parrot as evidence, reported "48 Hours."
"I can't imagine a scenario where a parrot is qualified as a witness in a court of law," Springstead told "48 Hours."
According to reports from the Michigan State Police, authorities reportedly believe that the shooting was a possible murder-suicide attempt, with Glenna Duram allegedly firing on her husband five times before
turning the gun on herself, WOOD-TV reported.
WOOD-TV stated that the owner of Casa La Parrot, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said that it would not be unusual for African grey parrots, like the one in the home, to mimic male and female voices.