This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An Australian man who came to know Stephen Paddock intimately in recent years has offered the most detailed public portrait yet of the Las Vegas mass killer.



He said Paddock was a highly intelligent, strategic though “guarded” individual who won a fortune applying algorithms to gambling, and studied arguments for his right to own weapons under the US constitution.

Their encounters came via their respective girlfriends, Philippine-born sisters – one of whom, Marilou Danley, has returned to the US to be interviewed by the FBI in the wake of Paddock’s meticulously planned massacre.

Their acquaintanceship, through more than half a dozen encounters in the US and the Philippines between 2013 and 2015, revealed Paddock’s generosity – which had his overseas guests living in “palatial” style – and the existence of a “gun room” at his home in Mesquite, Nevada.

“Yes, I was familiar with him,” the man, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian at his Brisbane home on Wednesday. “He was extremely intelligent, methodical, conservative – guarded – and strategic. A planning, thinking type of guy.”

But nothing at the time, including their “robust” discussions about US gun laws, rang alarm bells to suggest that he was capable of “such an inhumane, terrible, vicious act”.

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Investigators hope Danley can provide clues to unlock the motives that drove her partner to a premeditated onslaught that killed 59 and injured more than 500 at a country music concert.

Paddock reportedly dispatched Danley to the Philippines and wired her $100,000 before carrying out the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history on Sunday night.

The Brisbane man said he met Paddock “on a number of occasions” in the Philippines, where the sisters’ family held reunions.



They also met up in in Reno, California, and in Las Vegas, where the man and his then partner stayed in extravagant accommodation courtesy of Paddock via casinos where he was a frequent and prodigious gambler.

“We lived fairly palatially for quite some time,” the man said. “That was quite a lovely experience and he was a generous man.”

The couples also met at the Venice Beach home of Danley’s daughter, who is a successful entrepreneur in Los Angeles.

The man says he further spent time with Paddock at his apartment in Reno opposite a casino that was his regular haunt, as a well as “a fair degree of time” at the home Paddock shared with Danley in Mesquite, Nevada.

It was on that first stay in Mesquite that Paddock gestured in passing to his “gun room”. Its presence in the two-bedroom home made an impression on the man – who opposes the US’s lax gun laws – but he “didn’t pursue it” with Paddock.

“His comments were that it’s a substantial hobby that needs to be protected: ‘a gun room’,” the man said.

Paddock did not take him inside or show off his collection of weapons, “nor was I interested – it was left at that”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows his brother, suspected Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. Photograph: AP

What did pique the Australian’s curiosity was Paddock’s way of making a living, “as I’d not met a professional gambler” before.

Paddock was forthcoming in “great detail” on matters from his “float”, or cash gambling base, to his annual income, which was “very much well over a senior executive’s wage in the US”.

“And how he obtained that: the algorithms behind his methodology of gambling – only on machines, not on tables,” he said.

The men came to have “robust conversations” about the second amendment of the US constitution and the right to bear arms.

It is a debate the Australian said he had had many times – but Paddock’s grasp of the detail seemed superior to most defenders of the second amendment.

“I’ve asked that question of many people I know from the US, and sadly enough, the answer is very similar in many ways: that people have this belief that the constitutional amendment is their right, with very little understanding of the content of that actual bill,” the man said.

“I think it’d be fair to say [Paddock] indicated to me that he certainly knew more than most.”

Asked if he could reconcile what he knew of Paddock’s personality and his brutal acts in Las Vegas, the man said it was “unimaginable” to foresee this in anyone.

“It’s not within my nature to see the activity that is generating this terrible loss and tragedy into the demeanour of any individual that I’ve met,” he said.

“I could never really imagine that another human being could bring such an inhumane, terrible, vicious act upon any single soul – let alone the many hundreds and literally thousands of people that this horrible situation will impact for many, many years to come.”

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Danley’s two Australian-based sisters also on Wednesday told Australia’s Channel Seven she would be haunted by what her partner had done.

“No one can put the puzzles together,” one said.

They said they were shocked to discover their sister had arrived in the Philippines two weeks ago at the sudden urging of Paddock, who then wired her $100,000.

“She didn’t even know that she was going to the Philippines until Steve said, ‘Marilou, I found you a cheap ticket to the Philippines,’” her sister said.

Paddock’s motive remains unclear, but investigators said Danley’s arrival in the US could hasten their inquiry. “The investigation with her is ongoing and we anticipate some further information from her shortly,” the Clark County sheriff, Joseph Lombardo, told reporters.

Lombardo said he is “absolutely” confident authorities will determine Paddock’s motive.

Danley arrived in the Philippines on 15 September, according to immigration documents obtained by the AP. She departed on 22 September, travelling on an Australian passport, then returned three days later on a flight from Hong Kong.

“They don’t know a lot about who the girlfriend is and why she left the country a week prior to the shooting,” said Nevada senator Dean Heller, who had been briefed by authorities. “She is someone they need to have this discussion with to better under­stand the shooting and what his thought process was.”

On Tuesday, officials offered new information on Paddock and how he planned the attack. An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said that 47 firearms had now been found in three different locations, including the hotel room in Las Vegas, and Verde and Mesquite, Nevada.

Of those weapons, 12 had devices known as bump stocks attached that allowed semi-automatic rifles to mimic fully automatic gunfire. The ATF agent, Jill Snyder, said officials had determined the devices were legal. The weapons – rifles, shotguns, pistols – were purchased in Nevada, Utah, California and Texas, she said.

The sheriff’s office also released police body camera footage of officers responding during the shooting. The rapid gunfire bursts can be heard as officers shelter beside a wall and yell at civilians to “get back”. One video shows officers beside a patrol car when one is shot.

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The first report to police came at 10.08pm and Paddock continued to fire for “somewhere between nine and 11 minutes”, officials said.

Police also confirmed on Tuesday that Paddock had set up cameras inside and outside his room, including two in the hallway and one in the peephole of his hotel room door.



“I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody,” Lombardo said at an afternoon press conference.



The evidence offers an insight into Paddock’s careful planning of the shooting. Lombardo said: “I’m pretty sure he evaluated everything that he did in his actions, which is troubling.”



Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Mandalay Bay hotel from which Stephen Paddock launched his murderous attack in Las Vegas. Photograph: Otto/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Lombardo added: “It’s an ongoing investigation and when I say I don’t know, I may know … I assure you this investigation is not ended with the demise of Mr Paddock.”



Leaked photographs from inside Paddock’s suite show an array of assault rifles strewn about the room including at least one AR-15 and AK-47 and shell casings littering the floor. Some of the reported 23 guns were mounted on bipods to steady shooting. Some were also clearly outfitted with bump stocks. Many of the weapons were also fitted with extended-capacity cartridges to hold a high volume of ammunition and with advanced scopes for accuracy.

An anonymous hotel worker told the New York Times Paddock had checked in on Thursday and kept the “do not disturb” sign on his door for the next three days so no maids checked the room.

Donald Trump is set to travel to Las Vegas with the first lady, Melania Trump, on Wednesday to meet with public officials, emergency responders and some of those injured in the attack.

Trump told reporters as he boarded his helicopter en route: “Well, it’s a very sad thing. We’re going to pay our respects and to see the police who have done really a fantastic job in a very short time. And yeah they’re learning a lot more. And that’ll be announced at the appropriate time. It’s a very, very sad day for me, personally. Thank you.”

On Tuesday, asked about the prospect of gun control measures in response to the murders, the president said “we’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes by”.

Additional reporting by Amanda Holpuch and Jamiles Lartey