In May of 2015, a concerned neighbor asked firefighters responding to a house fire to assist in a welfare check on an Ensley Township, Michigan couple. Firefighters entered the home to find Martin Duram had sustained five gunshot wounds, while his wife Glenna had been suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head. Martin was pronounced dead on the scene, while Glenna was taken to a nearby hospital.
As Glenna desperately clung to life, a mobile crime lab was dispatched to assist police in collecting evidence from the scene. After nearly a year of investigation, Glenna Duram was arrested in June of 2016 for the murder of her husband in what investigators believe to have been a botched murder suicide attempt.
Glenna, who claims to have lost all memory of the incident, insists that she did not kill her husband. On the scene investigators found three suicide notes, suggesting that Glenna had long been suicidal prior to police uncovering the grizzly scene.
While shocking, a story like this wouldn’t be too terribly unusual if it weren’t for one of the pieces of evidence, and possibly a key witness for the prosecutor. According to The Washington Post the couple’s African grey parrot, Bud, continues to repeat the phrase, “Don’t f—ing shoot!” These are believed to have been some of the last words Martin Duram said as Glenna allegedly shot him before turning the gun on herself.
According to Martin’s family the parrot is known for repeating anything he hears. Nawaygo County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Springstead says that the parrot sounds as if it is mimicking two separate voices and may be repeating the last quarrel in the couple’s torrid love affair. Springstead admits that calling a parrot to the stand as a witness is an unusual move, but the case does provide a unique opportunity to set a precedent for future cases where a parrot’s speech patterns could possibly be used as evidence.
While some argue that it’s impossible to determine whether or not the parrot is mimicking something he saw on TV or an actual argument he witnessed, experts are working with the prosecutor and carefully analyzing the parrot’s speech patterns in conjunction with speech patterns of Glenna Duram in hopes that they can prove that some of the phrases the parrot is repeating came from Glenna’s mouth.
Though the prosecutor is still waiting to hear back from the judge on whether or not the parrot’s testimony will be admissible, it is doubtful that Bud will be called to the stand. Regardless of the judge’s decision, Martin’s family has faith that Glenna Duram will be spending a long time behind bars.