Meaning of 奴 in this context

Question

This is from Death Note where Ryuk is explaining Light about the hidden cameras he found in his room.

もの凄いカメラの数だ。付けた奴は見つかるの覚悟で付けてるとしか思えない。全部で６４個だ。

Does 奴 refer to a person (the person who installed the cameras) or an object (the cameras)? Most of the translations I found only refer to a person, for example:

1) I can only imagine that whoever placed them here was prepared to be caught if necessary.

2) I guess whoever put them here expected you to at least find some of them.

If 奴 is a person here, should I interpret 付けた奴 as "person who installed (cameras)"?

Also, can the で in 覚悟で by interpreted here as "with" like in "with resignation (of being discovered) he installed the cameras" ?

Answer 1

付けた奴 by itself can mean both "the person who installed the cameras" and "the cameras someone installed", but since this 奴 works as the subject of another 付けた that follows, we can say this 奴 refers to a person.

noun + を覚悟で is a set phrase that roughly means "(do something) at the risk of ～" (This を is often omitted even in writings. For example, 失敗覚悟で, 失敗を覚悟で and 失敗するのを覚悟で are interchangeable.)

付けた奴は見つかるの覚悟で付けてるとしか思えない。
I can't think of anything but that the guy who installed them did so at the risk of being found (i.e., knowing Light might find them).

Answer 2

「奴」, pronounced 「やつ」, is an informal term used as a way to refer to a person. It can often be considered rude to refer to someone using this word, so I wouldn't recommend using it in polite conversation, if at all.