While it’s widely acknowledged pets can offer comfort, companionship, and fuzzy tummies, it can also be reassuring to know your furry pals may one day provide the necessary information to find your killer. Here are five animals that made sure justice was served.
1. Bird the Cockatoo
Credit: Discovery Press Web
Texas native Kevin Butler was such a fan of NBA great Larry Bird that he ignored the potential redundancy and named his pet cockatoo after him. Friends said Bird was very devoted to Butler, and when Butler’s home was broken into in 2001, Bird tried to fend off his owner's murderers before he was mortally wounded himself. One of them, Daniel Torres, denied involvement until prosecutors presented evidence linking the DNA recovered from Bird’s beak to Torres. He received life in prison. Bird, just 18 inches tall, was heralded as “valiant” during the trial.
2. Chief the Pit Bull-Lab mix
Credit: Forensic Spider via YouTube
A Seattle, Washington couple and their dog were found slain in 1998, the apparent victims of a home invasion. While standing trial, suspects Ken Leuluaialii and George Tuilefano were surprised to learn that prosecutors planned a landmark entry of evidence: Chief’s DNA. Dog blood had been found on the defendants’ clothing during the investigation, and forensic analysis was able to match it to the deceased pit bull-Labrador mix. In his opening argument, prosecutor Tim Bradshaw stated that “the irony will be that the witness who could never speak, even when he was alive, will present the most eloquent of evidence."
3. Two Cats
When pet shop owner Lori Auker disappeared in May 1989, her family thought the worst. Unfortunately, their suspicions were correct: After almost three weeks of searching, Lori’s body was discovered near a dirt road in Pennsylvania. Police focused on her estranged husband, Robert Auker, who had been following her in the weeks leading up to her death. Surveillance footage placed a car resembling his 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity in the vicinity, and his parents reported Auker had been meticulously scrubbing the interior before selling it.
Despite his efforts, forensic workers found several cat hairs that later proved to be an identical match to the victim’s two felines. The fur was also stuck to a splint Auker had been wearing on his hand the day Lori disappeared. He was given the death penalty.
4. Hira the Parrot
Image via Wikinut
Hira was the only witness to Neelam Sharma’s murder in February 2014; the attacker had also dispatched of the family dog, who had been barking during the struggle. Widower Vijay Sharma, editor of a Hindi daily newspaper, was unable to think of any solid leads to help police until his brother-in-law noticed Hira would become highly agitated whenever his nephew, Ashutosh, visited - or even when his name was mentioned in conversation. Vijay says he informed police and Ashutosh confessed to the robbery-turned-murder. "He accepted his crime and informed us that he was accompanied by an accomplice," officer Shalabh Mathur said. "They had entered the house with the intention of taking away cash and other valuables." Afraid his aunt would recognize him, he killed her.
Police later downplayed the bird’s participation, saying it was an unexplained bite mark on Ashutosh that made him their primary focus. Whatever the case, local news media initially reported Hira’s name as Hercule the Parrot, a rather morbid attempt at humour.
5. An Unnamed Grasshopper
While not quite a pet, one insect found itself dying for a noble cause. According to “forensic entomologist” M. Lee Goff, a 1985 homicide in Texas resulted in precious little physical evidence - save for a grasshopper that had been found on the victim’s clothing that was missing a limb. Further investigation of one suspect revealed that he happened to have a severed insect leg stuck in the cuff of his pants. When Goff re-assembled the bug, he found it to be a perfect match, and the suspect was convicted. Goff went on to be a consultant for the CSI television franchise and continues to use entomology to help determine time, location, and cause of death.
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