In a case of life imitating art, the news reported this past week that a Michigan man’s wife is now a suspect in his May 2015 murder; and the reason is that their pet African grey parrot may have heard the dead man’s final plea as he pleaded with his shooter before the killer, whoever he or she was, pumped five bullets into his body.
While everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, police reports indicate that there is suspicion that a murder-suicide plot by the couple, who were known to have had financial and other problems, may have gone awry.
I say life imitating art because an episode of the old Perry Mason television show once featured a plot in which a parrot was called as a witness in a murder case and testified in order to bring out the truth and expose the true killer.
While it remains unclear at this point if the real life bird’s utterance is admissible as evidence, Michigan State Police are investigating; and the prosecutor expects to decide whether to file charges later this month.
Ironically, while the use of nature in general and of animals in particular may be a recent development in human jurisprudence, such things have long been used of God to bring about His judgment against men and women.
In fact, a whole chorus of non-human witnesses has affected Divine retribution. This chorus includes plenty of animals – among them, a donkey in the Book of Numbers (22:28), two she-bears in the Book of 2 Kings (2:224), a giant fish in the Book of Jonah (1:17), and even crows in the Book of 1 Kings (chapter 17).
More than these things, the Scriptures record that the blood of Abel cried out against his brother Cain (Genesis 4). Creation itself (Psalm 19), as well as the Heavens and the angels who inhabit them all serve to testify on behalf of Almighty God.
In response to a request by the Pharisees to rebuke his disciples (in Luke 19:40), Jesus put it this way: "I tell you … if they keep quiet, the very stones themselves will cry out."
In the New Testament Book of Acts (1:8), He instructed those who follow Him to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth”. Thus, for my part, I realize that as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have been called to be a witness on His behalf. And I want to be faithful to do this very thing.
For in truth, I could think of few things as heart-rending as having to stand before Him one day and hear the very rocks themselves cry out against me, declaring in the process, my own guilt and shame at having failed to declare the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.
STORY SOURCE: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/06/did-parrot-repeat-dead-mans-final-words.html?intcmp=hpbt4.
A SUMMARY OF THE PERRY MASON EPISODE IS AVAILABLE AT: http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/EpisodePages/Show50.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/niv/.
SEE ALSO: http://www.care2.com/causes/could-a-parrot-take-the-witness-stand.html, which discusses the above referenced story; and also contains the following paragraph: "In 2014, Neelam Sharma of India was killed during a robbery inside her home that was witnessed by her pet parrot. When her husband later read aloud a list of the suspects, the parrot allegedly started squawking, 'He’s the killer' when the husband read the name of the woman’s nephew, Ashutosh Goswami. Police arrested Goswami, who confessed to the murder."
This latter story was taken from the following internet news site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10664980/Parrot-helps-India-police-catch-murder-suspect.html.
While everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, police reports indicate that there is suspicion that a murder-suicide plot by the couple, who were known to have had financial and other problems, may have gone awry.
I say life imitating art because an episode of the old Perry Mason television show once featured a plot in which a parrot was called as a witness in a murder case and testified in order to bring out the truth and expose the true killer.
While it remains unclear at this point if the real life bird’s utterance is admissible as evidence, Michigan State Police are investigating; and the prosecutor expects to decide whether to file charges later this month.
Ironically, while the use of nature in general and of animals in particular may be a recent development in human jurisprudence, such things have long been used of God to bring about His judgment against men and women.
In fact, a whole chorus of non-human witnesses has affected Divine retribution. This chorus includes plenty of animals – among them, a donkey in the Book of Numbers (22:28), two she-bears in the Book of 2 Kings (2:224), a giant fish in the Book of Jonah (1:17), and even crows in the Book of 1 Kings (chapter 17).
More than these things, the Scriptures record that the blood of Abel cried out against his brother Cain (Genesis 4). Creation itself (Psalm 19), as well as the Heavens and the angels who inhabit them all serve to testify on behalf of Almighty God.
In response to a request by the Pharisees to rebuke his disciples (in Luke 19:40), Jesus put it this way: "I tell you … if they keep quiet, the very stones themselves will cry out."
In the New Testament Book of Acts (1:8), He instructed those who follow Him to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth”. Thus, for my part, I realize that as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have been called to be a witness on His behalf. And I want to be faithful to do this very thing.
For in truth, I could think of few things as heart-rending as having to stand before Him one day and hear the very rocks themselves cry out against me, declaring in the process, my own guilt and shame at having failed to declare the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.
STORY SOURCE: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/06/did-parrot-repeat-dead-mans-final-words.html?intcmp=hpbt4.
A SUMMARY OF THE PERRY MASON EPISODE IS AVAILABLE AT: http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/EpisodePages/Show50.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/niv/.
SEE ALSO: http://www.care2.com/causes/could-a-parrot-take-the-witness-stand.html, which discusses the above referenced story; and also contains the following paragraph: "In 2014, Neelam Sharma of India was killed during a robbery inside her home that was witnessed by her pet parrot. When her husband later read aloud a list of the suspects, the parrot allegedly started squawking, 'He’s the killer' when the husband read the name of the woman’s nephew, Ashutosh Goswami. Police arrested Goswami, who confessed to the murder."
This latter story was taken from the following internet news site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10664980/Parrot-helps-India-police-catch-murder-suspect.html.