A Michigan prosecutor has his doubts about whether a rather bizarre bit of eyewitness “testimony” will be included in an ongoing murder case: the word of the victim’s pet parrot.
In video provided to WOOD-TV News in Grand Rapids, Mich., the African grey parrot named Bud is seen reciting what the Durham family believes is their son Martin’s final moments.
“Don’t f***ing shoot!” the parrot can be heard saying in a video shot weeks after their son’s murder.
It’s part of a longer clip that Lillian and Charles Durham believe is the parrot reciting the argument that led to their son’s shooting death.
“That bird picks up everything and anything, and it’s got the filthiest mouth around,” Lillian Durham told WOOD-TV.
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But the prosecutor in charge of trying the case says allowing a talking parrot to take the stand would be entering uncharted legal waters.
Newaygo County prosecutor Robert Springstead told the Associated Press on Monday he “highly doubts there is any precedent” that what’s repeated by a parrot can be used as evidence. Springstead says that when a judge says to raise a right hand, “to a parrot, are you raising a wing, a foot?”
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The incident in question was a shooting at a home near Sand Lake, Mich., on May 13, 2015. Firefighters responding to a fire in a nearby garage were asked to check in on the home of Martin Durham and his wife, Glenna, by a neighbour concerned about their well-being.
Inside, police found both Martin and Glenna suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Police initially believed it to be a murder-suicide until they discovered that Glenna, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, was still alive.
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She told investigators she remembers nothing about the night of the shooting until she awoke in hospital some time later.
Glenna Durham is now facing first-degree murder charges.
In video provided to WOOD-TV, Bud the parrot can be heard speaking in what appears to be two different vocal tones, one male and one female. At times the words he is saying (or repeating) are unclear.
“It’s definitely an argument between a man and a woman,” Doreen Plotkowski, the owner of the pet store Casa la Parrot in Grand Rapids, told ABC News 7. “In my mind, it’s something that he’s heard, definitely heard before.”
-With files from the Associated Press