Police discovered a hidden camera in the bedroom of a 14-year-old Fort Worth girl who was killed in August in an apparent double murder-suicide.
Police found the device, which was powered-up and running when 14-year-old Mailen Vece and her mother, 36-year-old Eliana, were shot Aug. 6 in the 4600 block of Birchbend Lane. Investigators believe the girl's stepfather, William James Vece, 44, shot the girl and her mother and then committed suicide.
According to a report obtained by the Keller Citizen through Texas' open-records law, police believe William Vece set up the camera to watch his stepdaughter while she was dressing.
There is no indication the camera captured the slayings of the girl or her mother. The device was not in the room where the bodies were discovered.
Roland Johnson, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista of Keller, said the discovery of the camera was "very disturbing."
"Obviously he wanted to peak into her private life," he said.
Johnson said he lent spiritual guidance to Eliana Vece and her daughter with difficulties the family was having.
But he had no idea that William Vece had installed a camera, he said. Johnson said he has known about the camera for a couple of months, after it was discovered by police.
"It just really upset me," he said. "I was sick for two days, literally."
Johnson said the family's difficulties didn't seem out of the ordinary in a home with a stepfather and teenage girl. He didn't know the situation would turn violent, he said.
