Marilynilpa
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While this is very interesting, I'm wondering if this witness really had such a keen eye for detail, or if he "embellished" his story to some extent.Richard said:The Tape Recorder Man (TRM) has been mentioned and discussed quite a few times in this thread. He was seen talking to young girls on at least four occasions at Wheaton Plaza before the girls disappeared. Known dates of those sightings are 28 (Friday) February 1975, 1 (Saturday) March 1975, 24 (Monday) and 25 (Tuesday) March 1975. Each sighting was at around noon, or in the early afternoon. There may have been more sightings recorded in Police files.
TRM - or his double - was seen undertaking the same activity in at least four other shopping centers on other dates: on 22 March (Saturday) at both Iverson Mall, and Marlow Heights Shopping Center (two malls adjacent to each other on Route 5 in Prince Georges County, Maryland), At a date prior to 25 March 1975 at a Bowie, MD mall, and at White Oak Shopping Center (Montgomery County) in February or early March 1975.
The sighting at Wheaton Plaza on 25 March 1975 is the most significant in this case, because that is when a young boy and his buddy saw TRM speaking with Sheila and Katherine LYON. It was his description and account which led to the composite drawing of TRM, and subsequently to the other reported sightings.
The witness who saw TRM at Wheaton Plaza on 28 February 1975 recently described his encounter with the man to me in this manner:
"It was a windy, cold day, and I had taken a late lunch break from work to go to the Wheaton Plaza mall with my girlfriend. We were there to shop for a pair of boots. It was an open/outside mall back then and we were walking in a brisk manner toward the shoe store. I saw a man approaching us head on, and I thought that he was looking at my girl friend. He was carrying a briefcase and tape recorder, and I thought that he was from the press and wondered where the cameras were. I thought that he might want to interview us or something."
"A moment before walking right into us, he abruptly turned and walked at an angle away, without saying 'Excuse me'. I thought it rude of him, and I stopped and turned to look at him walking away. He was approaching a young mother with two small children, and I watched as he bent down to speak with one of the little girls. Seeing him from behind, I noticed that he had a "ducktail" style haircut and that his hair was gray or graying. Because of the wind, the hair had blown down into his eyes. I tried to hear what he was saying, but could not make it out."
"My thought was that this guy was some kind of a pervert, and I made a remark to that effect to my girlfriend. I wanted to walk over to him to see what he was up to, but my girlfriend said that she was cold and wanted to go inside. We continued on toward the shoe store. I looked back and saw him still speaking with the little girl. As we got to the shoe store, I again looked back. The woman and her girls had left, but the Tape Recorder Man was still there, now standing with a smirk on his face. He then lit a cigarrette."
"We went into the shoe store, only long enough to ask if they had a certain type of boot, and learning that they did not, we immediately left. I looked again for TRM, but he was nowhere to be seen."
"The man was not tall, probably under 6 feet, but he was wearing the type of shoes or boots with higher heels that were popular back then. He had on a brown sport coat or suitcoat with brown or tan pants that had long, flare type bottoms which covered most of his shoes/boots. He had on a yellow dress shirt, but no tie. I recall seeing him best in profile when I turned to look at him talking with the little girl. I recall a prominent rise or bump to the bridge of his nose, and I will always remember that tight lipped smirk."
"On another occasion (February or March 1975) I was going to White Oak Shopping Center to cash a check and to straighten out a problem with a credit account. It was about 3 or 4PM, and I was hurrying to get to the credit union before they closed that day. On my way in to the Sears entrance, I saw a man in a black suit, with a tape recorder in hand, speaking to a heavyset girl of about 14 who was holding a basketball. As I approached, he backed up behind a pillar, and I passed between them. Because of my haste, I did not linger or watch them, but made a mental note to look for them on my way out of the store. When I left, I looked for them, but they were both gone. I do not recall if it was before or after I had seen TRM at Wheaton Plaza, and I don't recall connecting the two events at the time. I do know that the White Oak incident was before the girls went missing."
"When the sketch of TRM appeared in the newspapers and on television, I called the police to tell them about the man that I had seen. They took my statement, and I never heard from them again."
"Then, in 1987, when news reports came out about Police interest in Fred Coffey, I again called Montgomery County Police and went down to the station to relate the story of my encounter with TRM. They showed me a color photo of a man, which I recognized as a VITRO Laboratory ID badge photo. They asked me if this was the man I had seen. The man in the photo had dark hair. He looked very similar to my recollection of TRM, but I could not positively state that it was the same man, because I recalled TRM having had gray or graying hair. I asked the police if they could make a copy of the photo with gray hair, but they told me that they couldn't do that. Some time later, that same photo appeared in the news paper, but in black and white, and he was identified as being Fred Coffey."
This whole tape recorder thing puzzles me. Although it provided an excuse for TRM to approach girls, it was a risky endeavor, and one which he apparently undertook more than once. He had to have known that his suspicious activities might be reported to the police, and yet he continued.