A law enforcement official speaking on the condition of anonymity said that the tripwire was about waist high and that among the hazards found in the roughly 800-square-foot apartment were bullets in jars that were rigged to detonate. And there were about 30 aerial shells, typically used in fireworks, which had been fashioned to be explosive devices.
Some nights, neighbors heard loud music throbbing in his third-floor apartment, and often complained about it, or noticed a strange purple light in the windows. Sometimes, the windows were masked by newspaper, as if he wanted no one to see inside.