Hey everyone,
I'm Frank, I'm a medically retired mechanic from Philadelphia who mostly holds down a chair these days. I saw this case profiled on TV awhile back. I visited the sheriff's website and grabbed copies of the pictures in evidence because something about the mysterious one bothered me. I just found it in a folder on my computer and the memory finally tripped! I can tell you, to the best of my ability, what I see pictured in this image.
The peeping Tom is looking through the window over the kitchen sink of a ca. late 1960's-early 1970's single wide, one bed/one bath trailer that has had a replacement window installed in the dining area. The oddness happening on the ceiling is due to the factory contact paper over Masonite board shrinking and pulling away because it got wet. I've attached a picture grabbed from Zillow of a similar trailer's kitchen (weirdly enough in Apache Junction in a MHP - getting tough to find these old sardine cans anymore, at least in original condition). The window he is peeping through is to the left of the fridge in the realtor's pic. The perp would have been around the back of the trailer when this picture was snapped.
The lamp is a cheap Home Depot-style glass pendant over the dining table, exactly where the junction box was placed in the ceiling by the factory. They came in several outer primary colors, white underneath, and cost around $30 at the time if not less.
A pot is hanging to the right of the window with ivy hanging down over the back of what looks to be a 1950's-60's vintage Cosco brand step stool, likely there to help with watering the plant. What appears to be a black wire tea tray is sitting on the top step. This tray has a stitch-type decoration around the sides, much like the zig-zag stripe on the front of Charlie Brown's shirt in Peanuts. Picture of a comparable step stool is attached.
The bright comma near the "shoulder" in the reflection of the perp is light reflecting off the top of a kitchen sink spigot. The shape and placement make sense.
There is something on the table, like a salt shaker, that is causing the bright spot among the ivy leaves.
It appears to me that there is a plate stand and maybe a figurine on the window sill. The plate stand (easel type) rests against the right side of the window frame, folded closed. To the best of my worsening eyesight, the figurine appears to be a seated boy with his head down. It looks to me like he is dressed like a baseball player (I think his hair is peeking out from under a ball cap and his pants look baggy and wrinkled). I've attached a picture of a similar figurine, though this also has a kid standing. It may be half of a broken figurine, which would explain its orientation on the sill - the broken side is towards the window. I believe it looks a lot like a figurine made in 1989 by Paul Sebastian Porcelain titled "Home Run Boys." It is 9" tall including the standing boy. If it's not this one, I think it'll have a similar shape.
It looks to me like the trailer was maybe abandoned or empty for awhile, or was a fixer-upper, then fitted with the lamp and new window with integral blinds to get it ready for habitation. However, the owner did not replace the original ceiling panels, opting instead to paint the mess (possibly causing the contact paper to wrinkle). There is also a good chance that the roof leaked at some point, at least in the kitchen/dining area. The support trim between the panels was painted as well. The window was likely made for a full depth stud wall, not the thin walls of a trailer, and would have needed to be framed in by someone who knew what they were doing, judging by the depth of the window frame.
The window through which the perp is peering has an old aluminum screen in it, not a gauzy curtain. The streaks are the oxidation that occurs over time where rainwater runs over it from off the roof or were caused by the outside paint turning to chalk and washing down over it. If you zoom in very close, the weave can be seen. Maybe someone better than I with Photoshop can match the spacing and remove the screen from the picture?
I've been studying this creepy picture for awhile now, and I know this is what I'm seeing. Both my grandfather and several of my friends lived in period trailers very like this one and I've seen a similar view over the sink firsthand. I recognize that type of ceiling and step stool, one of those stools broke under me ages ago. I've attached a few pictures (from Zillow and Etsy) showing what I'm talking about.
Your mileage may vary, of course. I hope my memory flashes and thoughts jogs someone else's memory too. I hope this helps get this one solved.
Frank
Retired mechanic with too much time and not enough leg strength
