A journalist in India was able to solve the murder mystery of his wife and ended up catching the criminal, thanks to his smart pet parrot.

Vijay Sharma, the editor of a Hindi daily newspaper in Agra in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, came home, where he found both his wife Neelam Sharma, 45, and their dog pet dead, their house plundered, and jewelry and cash stolen.

The only survivor was Hercule the pet parrot, who had been traumatized into silence after witnessing the frightful killings. Police had no clue, however everything soon changed when Sharma's nephew Ashutosh visited the house after the murder.

"The parrot that was unusually quiet suddenly started shrieking and flapping around the cage," said the owner. "It was clearly distressed about something and only calmed down when Ashutosh left."

"Then when I spoke to other people, every time I mentioned Ashutosh's name, the parrot would start screeching," he added. "This made me really suspicious and I decided to call the police."

Police spokesman Shalabh Mathur said the detectors investigated Ashutosh's phone records after being told he may be a suspect and found reason to bring him in for questioning. "He said that he had gone together with a friend to his uncle's house with the intent of stealing and have been surprised by his aunt, who they had killed because they were worried she would have identified them to police," said Mathur. "They had then robbed the place before fleeing."

"He admitted he had also killed the dog worried that it would be used in an identity parade against him, but had not thought about killing the parrot which had been silent in its cage," he added.