Last year, police say Glenna Duram shot and killed her husband, Martin Duram. There were no witnesses to the murder, except for one: An African grey parrot named Bud, who may be called upon to testify during Duram’s trial this month.
Bud now lives with Martin Duram’s first wife, who says video she shot weeks after the murder shows Bud mimicking Martin’s voice saying “Don’t fucking shoot.”
“He’s using Marty’s voice,” she told WOOD TV, adding that Bud repeats the phrase at least once a few times a week. “It’s intense when it happens,” she said. “My house turns cold.”
“[Bud] was there to see it all,” she added. “And he heard it. It imprinted in his brain. He can’t let it go. And that’s awful.”
Bud was well-known for having a good memory…and a way with expletives. “That bird picks up anything and everything,” the victim’s mother, Lillian Duram, told NBC News in June. “He’s got the filthiest mouth around.”
The prosecutor in the case has told local news outlets that he hasn’t ruled out calling on Bud to testify.
“This is unusual,” NBC analyst Lisa Bloom said Friday. “We don’t often have an animal being called to come in and testify as an eyewitness to a murder.”
