"A possible murder witness is talking. The question is whether anyone should listen. His name is Bud, and he’s an African gray parrot in Ensley Township, Mich., with a filthy mouth, according to NBC affiliate WOOD-TV. His
latest phrase — the one he won’t stop shouting at the top of his lungs
mimicking his owner’s voice — is a chilling one: “Don’t f—ing shoot!” The
bird’s antics might be laughed off, were it not for the fact that Bud’s
owner, 45-year-old Martin Duram, was fatally shot at his home in May
2015, according to ABC affiliate WABC.
His body was found near his wife, Glenna, who had suffered a gunshot
wound to her head but is alive. Although police initially assumed Glenna
Duram was a victim of the shooting, police reports obtained by WOOD-TV
reveal that she is now a suspect in the slaying. Relatives told
the station that they think Martin Duram’s final moments were imprinted
in the bird’s memory and that he continues to relive the slaying. They
noted that Bud mimicked both Duram and his wife. “That bird picks up everything and anything, and it’s got the filthiest mouth around,” Duram’s mom, Lillian Duram, told WOOD-TV. “I personally think he was there, and he remembers it and he was saying it,” Duram’s father, Charles Duram, added. Bud’s
new owner, Martin’s ex-wife, Christina Keller, agrees, telling the
station that the bird has a habit of replaying voices of a man and a
woman locked in a fierce disagreement. “I’m hearing two people in
an intense argument,” Keller, who believes “Don’t f—ing shoot!” were
Duram’s final words. “Two people that I know, voices that I recognize.” “It’s intense,” she added. “When it happens, my house turns cold.” Police
reports reveal that investigators have been asked whether the bird
could be used as evidence, according to WOOD-TV, but they don’t show how
police responded. Newaygo County Prosecutor Robert Springstead
told that station that he has heard about the talking parrot but hasn’t
reviewed any footage of the animal. He said he’s waiting for Michigan
State Police to finish the investigation before deciding whether to file
charges, noting that “there’s some evidence to support” the idea that
Glenna Duram killed her husband......... Doreen
Plotkowski, owner of Casa La Parrot in Grand Rapids, told WABC that
African gray parrots typically vocalize phrases they’ve heard many
times, but the birds also are capable of using words they’ve heard on
only a few occasions. Presented with video evidence of the bird using
the violent language, Plotkowski told the station that she “definitely”
heard the bird mimicking an argument between a man and a woman. She told the station that she also heard the bird say, “Don’t f—ing shoot.” “In
my mind, it’s something that he’s heard, definitely heard before,” she
said. “And if it’s fresh in his mind, he might even say it more now.” Michael
Walsh, a Muskegon, Mich., attorney told WOOD-TV that the bird is
inadmissible because there’s no way to trace his dirty mouth. “How
did it get there?” Walsh said, referring to the Bud’s words. “If
there’s no reliable way of making that determination, you can’t rule out
that the bird witnessed a homicide or that the bird witnessed something
on TV.”"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/05/their-son-was-killed-they-believe-his-parrot-is-telling-people-who-pulled-the-trigger/?postshare=9661465143020136&tid=ss_tw
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