Man accused of putting camera in ex-girlfriend’s shower says he was filming chickens

When a woman from Montana confronted her 41-year-old live-in ex-boyfriend in early August about a camera hidden in a hole in her shower, he told her he had installed it the day before, according to prosecutors. Terrill Frank Stoltz sent her a text stating that “he had installed the camera the previous day to watch chickens he was cleaning in the bathtub and forgot to remove it.”

Deputies with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office started investigating the case on Aug. 5, records say, when the victim reported that Stoltz had been recording her while she was in the shower. She said she had allowed Stoltz to live with her even though they had broken up about six months earlier.



The woman told investigators she had been out of town visiting family in July and when she returned she noticed a small hole under the soap tray in her shower. On Aug. 5, as she was showering, she spotted a camera in the hole, she said. She covered the lens. When she got out of the shower, she saw Stoltz walking away with camera equipment, court records say.

A deputy investigated the hole and found that it connected to a closet for a hot water heater behind the shower. Stoltz appeared in Yellowstone County Justice Court on Monday on a count of surreptitious visual observation or recordation in a residence, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $500 fine. Justice of the Peace David A. Carter set Stotlz’ bond at $10,000 and scheduled him for arraignment in Yellowstone County District Court on Dec. 5.