Who really knows what happened the night that Martin Duram was shot and killed in his Michigan home last spring? Perhaps, his pet parrot witnessed the killing and heard Mr Duram’s desperate plea to the killer.
In a story that will be seized on by lovers of television detective shows, Mr Duram’s parents are seeking to persuade police to make use of a video of their son’s pet parrot in which the rough-mouth African grey says: “Don’t f***king shoot”.
Mr Duram, 45, was shot and killed in his home in Ensley Township in what police first thought was a double-murder. Police also found his wife, Glenna, in the home with a gunshot wound to the head. They realised an hour later that she was still alive.
Now, Michigan State Police reports obtained by 24 Hour News 8 under the Freedom of Information Act list the wife as a suspect, suggesting she tried to pull off a murder-suicide. She has since recovered from her injury and has denied shooting her husband, according to those documents.
“I know for a fact I didn’t kill my husband,” police quoted her as saying.
Mr Duram’s parents told Wood TV that they are frustrated that nobody has been charged in the death and that the police investigation is still ongoing. They also want the police to use the parrot, named Bud, as a witness
“That bird picks up everything and anything, and it’s got the filthiest mouth around,” said Mr Duram’s mother Lillian.
The bird, they said, mimicked both Mr Durham and his wife. The video shows the bird, clinging to the outside of a cage, changing voices, almost as if it were arguing.
“I personally think he was there and he remembers it and he was saying it,” said Mr Duram’s father, Charles.
Newaygo County Prosecutor Robert Springstead said he’s aware the couple had a bird that talked but that he had not seen the video.
The owner of Casa La Parrot in Grand Rapids said it’s not unusual for African grey parrots to mimic male and female voices.
“In my mind, it’s something that he’s heard, definitely heard before. And if it’s fresh in his mind, he might even say it more now,” she said.
