A 49-year-old Michigan woman was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday on the basis of witness testimony about the moment she killed her husband.
According to the BBC, that witness was an African Grey parrot named Bud, whose repetitive mimicry of his owner Martin Duram's dying words helped a jury convict Duram's wife Glenna of his 2015 murder.
"Don't shoot!" the bird cried in eerie imitation of Martin Durum's desperate plea for his life. "Don't f*cking shoot!"
Martin Durum's ex-wife Christina Keller -- who now has custody of Bud -- said that after she took the parrot in, he began to repeat the words over and over.
After a 10-day trial and one day of deliberations, the court convicted Glenna Duram of shooting her husband five times and then turning the gun on herself. She sustained a head wound on the May, 2015 night of the shooting, but survived.
Attorneys attempted to convince the court that Glenna was not in her right mind on the night of the shooting. She and her husband had run up considerable debts and their house was in foreclosure.
Martin Duram's parents told the BBC that Bud the parrot picks up words from the world around him and has an especial fondness for swear words.
African Grey parrots can live up to 80 years and often have large and flexible vocabularies gleaned from the world around them.
"That bird picks up everything and anything, and it's got the filthiest mouth around," said Lillian Duram to the BBC.
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