A ‘pyscho’ father

ida home. “He was never with my mom.

“I was born on the run and that’s the last time he was ever associated with by our family.”

As for what motivated his brother, Eric Paddock said he and his family are “still just completely befuddled”.

It wasn’t until Paddock Sr’s rearrest in 1977 that he was removed from the FBI “most wanted” list.

When Paddock Jr was just 24, he watched his father, now using the name Bruce Werner Ericksen and running a bingo scam in Oregon, go back to prison.

It didn’t last long. Paddock Sr used his sociopathic charm and he was paroled within a year after prominent townsfolk vouched for him.

Eventually Paddock Sr moved to Texas where he died in 1998, an obituary describing real crimes such as winding back odometers and scamming charities, even founding his own church, as well as his fantasies such as being a prowrestler, a pro football player and war hero.

Whatever damage his father’s life begat Paddock Jr, it was profound and deadly.

The younger Paddock’s life was a good one.

Records show he had homes in four states, some with his long-time Australian partner Marilou Danley, 62.

Eric said his brother made his living as a high stakes gambler known in Las Vegas casinos as a big spender and often enjoying free accommodation and meals.

“He was a guy who had money. He went on cruises and gambled,” he said.

However, police said he had a “gambling problem” and had tried unsuccessfully to sue the Cosmopolitan Casino in 2012 after claiming he slipped on a wet floor.

Yet neighbours, friends and family yesterday described the professional gambler as “normal”, “quiet” and “nice to my kids”.

Despite Islamic State trying to claim responsibility for Sunday night’s carnage authorities said Paddock had no strong political, religious or ideological leanings. And a completely clean record.

“I can’t get into the mind of a psychopath at this point,” Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said yesterday.

Paddock and Danley lived in several states, making their most recent home Mesquite, 130km northeast of Las Vegas.

Eric said his brother was “not an avid gun guy at all”.

“Where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that,” he said.

He said he last spoke to his brother last month after he rang to check how their elderly mother was after Hurricane Irma.

Mesquite’s Guns And Guitars shop owner Christopher Sullivan confirmed Paddock purchased weapons from him. Mr Sullivan said the purchases were legal, and that he was cooperating with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“The man does not have a criminal history,” he said. AUSTRALIAN consular staff are combing Las Vegas hospitals for Aussie victims but have so far found none among the 59 dead and 500-plus injured.

Hospitals were inundated with victims from the massacre yesterday and had not begun to release information on their nationality. But there are fears Australians may be among the victims given about 365,000 visit the city each year.

“We do know from stories emerging in the media and via social media posts and through contact with our consular people directly that Australians have been caught up in the situation,” Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told 2GB radio yesterday afternoon.

“But it’s too early to know if any Australians have been admitted to hospital.”

Consular officials had accounted for every Australian they knew of in the city, but it was too early to rule out any being among the injured, Ms Bishop said.

More than 200 people have called the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with concerns about loved ones so far.

The Turnbull Government has flown in extra DFAT staff from Washington to aid consular officials in Las Vegas and LA searching for Australians.