Ex-wife: Pet parrot repeating words man said before death

ENSLEY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – The ex-wife of a western Michigan man believes a parrot is repeating something said just before his fatal shooting, but a prosecutor is downplaying whether that could be used in court.

“I’m not aware of any legal precedent for that,” Newaygo County Prosecutor Robert Springstead told The Associated Press on Monday. “Certainly, as we work our way through the case, that may be something to look at, but I highly doubt there is any precedent for that.”

Also, Springstead said, when a judge asks a witness to raise his or her right hand, “to a parrot, are you raising a wing, a foot?”

Martin Duram, 45, was shot five times in his home in Ensley Township in May 2015. Then-wife Glenna Duram had a head wound, but survived.

Duram’s ex-wife, Christina Keller, now owns Bud, an African grey parrot that has repeated “don’t (expletive) shoot” in Martin Duram’s voice, she told WOOD-TV.

But Springstead said he hasn’t heard it.

“I tried to on my smartphone and online. I couldn’t get the audio feed to work,” he said.

No charges have been filed in the case and Martin Duram’s death remains under investigation. Springstead said Duram’s appeared not to be self-inflicted.

“As soon as I receive the investigation, I will make a charging decision,” he said. “I expect that to happen in the next few weeks.”