These 7 Crime-Solving Animals Are Like Nature’s Sherlock Holmes

We all know the police use dogs to sniff out drugs and cadavers and track criminals on the run. And forensic scientists are able to use insects to determine things like the location and approximate time of death of a victim, based on things like the stage of eggs and larvae of parasitic species. But plenty of other animals have helped authorities solve crime in surprising ways. Check out our list.

1. Cockatoo Becomes Stool Pigeon

On Christmas Eve 2001, someone brutally murdered pool business owner Kevin Butler and his pet cockatoo, “Larry Bird” in their home. As it turns out, loyal Larry had tried to defend its owner during the attack, biting and scratching the perpetrator, scattering feathers all over the house in the titanic battle, and ultimately losing his life in the process. The killer wiped blood from his injured forehead with his hand and left it on a tight switch. Matched with DNA in the bird’s beak and claws, this led to the arrest of Daniel Torres, a former employee at Butler’s pool business. Thanks to Larry Bird, Torres received the life sentence in prison he deserved.

2. Grasshopper Gives Investigators a Leg Up

Police solved the 1985 murder of a Texas woman by reassembling the body of a grasshopper. Somehow, the insect got into the struggle between the murderer and the victim, with its body on her clothing but missing a leg. As it turns out, one of the suspects had a grasshopper leg stuck to his pants cuff that was a perfect match to the body. This was enough evidence to win a murder conviction. Which was no consolation to the grasshopper.

3. Aw, Sh . . . oot!

Police in 2000 investigated a triple murder at the home of Theresa Sears. There are no witnesses except Hannah and Scout, two German shorthaired pointers. Fortunately, their owners were not too careful about cleaning up their poop. One of the murderers stepped in dog feces on the sidewalk near the door, leaving a print that helped police track them down. No doubt, they used some of the same investigative techniques that work for figuring out which of your kids stepped in poop!

4. Can’t Get Rid of Cat Hair

In 1994, Shirley Duguay, a Canadian mother of five, mysteriously disappeared and was later found murdered. Her boyfriend, Douglas Beamish, had a history of violence . . . and a white cat named Snowball. And, of course, you know how hard it is to get cat hair off your clothes. So, investigators found a blood-stained jacket near Shirley’s house with Snowball’s hair on it, confirmed with DNA testing. With Duguay now linked to the crime scene, there was enough evidence to convict him of second-degree murder. Thanks to a shedding cat, he went to jail for 18 years with no possibility of parole. This was the first case in Canada of animal DNA helping to convict a murderer.

5. Parrot Tape Recorder

Police investigating the murder of Martin Duram in 2015 got the lead they needed when Duram’s African grey parrot, Bud, started spilling the beans. Police noticed the excited bird kept repeating the last phrases it had heard: “Get out!” “Where will I go?” and finally, “Don’t f—ing shoot!” Although this testimony was not used in the trial, Duram’s wife, Glenna, was convicted of first-degree murder. Most people believed that Bud’s recall of the couple’s last fight proved the jury made the right decision.

6. Bad Guys Convicted by Puppy DNA

In 1998, a Seattle couple, Jay Johnson and Raquel Rivera, were killed in a home invasion. Their pit bull-lab puppy, Chief, was fatally injured in the attack and died during emergency surgery. Angry that Johnson would not sell them marijuana, the perpetrators kicked in the door, shot the defending dog, and then killed the couple. DNA matched bloodstains on the clothes of both suspects, Ken Leuluaialii and George Tuilefano, to Chief. Both ended up with murder convictions. This was the first time prosecutors used dog DNA to get a murder conviction in the United States.

7. Duck Quacks the Case

Nellie Sullivan, 92, went missing from her home in North Carolina in 2020. Her granddaughter Angela Wamsley, along with her boyfriend, Mark Barnes, were the main suspects, motivated by a desire for the elderly woman’s social security money and prescription meds. But without a body, it was hard to get charges to stick. That is until a duck got away from its owners and waddled under Wamsley and Barnes’s trailer. The owners went under the trailer to retrieve their pet and found a container with the elderly woman’s body inside, leading to murder charges for the suspects. Why the police couldn’t crack this case is a mystery, but fortunately a duck was there to get the job done like a boss!