Morsels owner allegedly researched hidden cameras, file deletion
Dec. 21—TRAVERSE CITY — A forensic analysis of an iPhone belonging to Morsels coffee shop owner Edward J. Witkowski revealed a browser history that included internet searches on how hidden cameras work and how to delete file folders in his mailbox and clear his internet history.
Records obtained this week from Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg via a Freedom of Information Act request also include photographs of a tiny camera shown hidden in a wall socket in the women's restroom at Morsels. The photos were taken by former Morsels baristas Eva Davis and Marlee Rickert, who told the Record-Eagle they discovered the camera in August, photographed it, collected other evidence and then turned their findings over to Traverse City police.
Records show that Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit analyst Chelsea Coburn's search of Witkowski's iPhone found that he did the following internet searches:
* "How does a hidden camera detector work"
* "best spy camera for home"
* "outlet hidden camera"
* "how to delete a file folder from a mailbox on macbook"
* "how to clear windows internet history"
* "how to sign out of a mailbox on iphone"
Coburn found that Witkowski, 49, also searched the terms "HD WIFI Nanny Cam Dummy Smoke Detector with Night Vision" and "WIFI camera AC wall outlet."
Witkowski, who lives on North Oak Street with his wife and stepson, was arrested on Nov. 10. He has been charged with one felony count of using a computer to commit a crime, punishable by seven years in prison; three felony counts of capturing/distributing an image of an unclothed person, each punishable by five years in prison; and one misdemeanor count of lying to Traverse City Police Detective Matt Verschaeve when Verschaeve questioned him about the surveillance camera. Witkowski faces up to two years in prison if convicted on the last count.
All five of the charges allege that Witkowski committed the crimes on Aug. 28, the day that Rickert's mother called the police.
The Record-Eagle was unable to reach Jesse Williams or Michael Naughton, Witkowski's attorneys, for comment for this story.
Police records show that a Toshiba memory card taken from Witkowski included videos from "an unknown bathroom where the camera was pointed at a shower with glass doors." They show that the videos included footage of "an unknown female in a towel."
On Nov. 1, the records show, detectives arrived at the home of Anca Pop, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at the Traverse City law firm Alward Fisher. Pop's residence used to be owned by the Witkowskis.
"Upon inspection, the bathroom did appear to be the same as seen in videos recovered from property item #4 (the memory card)," Verschaeve wrote. "Additionally, there did appear to be a hole in the drywall above the door threshold, directly facing the glass door shower. This hole was consistent with hanging an item, such as a smoke detector, and was consistent with the video view angle as seen in videos recovered from property item #4."
In a brief phone interview on Wednesday, Pop, who served for 13 years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan and is president-elect of the Grand Traverse-Leelanau-Antrim Bar Association, said she believes that the videos "pre-date me being a resident of that home."
Pop, who told police she has owned the residence since April 2022, declined to discuss the case further.
The reports do not show the dates of the videos that police believe were taken in Pop's bathroom.
Kyle Attwood, the county's chief assistant prosecutor, who is overseeing the Witkowski case, said investigators were unable to identify anyone who may have been victimized at Pop's residence. "I don't anticipate any specific charges from that area" or any other charges in the case, he said.
Witkowski's next court date is a preliminary examination scheduled for 11 a.m. Jan. 11. The case is assigned to 86th District Court Judge Robert A. Cooney.
