HUNTER WITH 10 GUNS JUST SNAPPED
Casino gambling nut smuggled lethal arsenal into hotel room
THE gunman who carried out the Las Vegas massacre lived for gambling, neighbours said last night.
Stephen Paddock, who owned a string of expensive cars and two planes, had no criminal record.
His shocked brother, Eric, said the 64-year-old must have just “snapped or something’’ when he opened fire with assault rifles without mercy.
Police found at least 10 weapons, including several machine guns, in his hotel room.
Paddock lived in a spacious £278,000 retirement home on ® an over-55s estate boasting 18-hole golf course, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a gym.
His 62-year-old girlfriend Marilou Danley described herself on Facebook as a “proud mom and grandma who lives life to the fullest”.
She put up photographs of herself attending gigs by Elton John, Tony Bennett and The Beach Boys. One of the messages she posted read: “Thank you God for everything you’ve given me.”
Marilou lived with Paddock in the small desert town of Mesquite, Nevada, 80 miles from Las Vegas, but frequently travelled and was abroad when he struck.
Though the couple appeared to have an idyllic retirement, neighbours living near Paddock’s holiday home in Isle de Viera, Florida, said he was addicted to gambling.
Hostess
One neighbour, Sharon Judy, said: “He seemed normal other than that he lived by gambling. He was very open about that.’’
The house was sparsely furnished with only a few chairs, a bed in each bedroom and a few laptops. Paddock told them he and his girlfriend – who worked as a “high-limit hostess” at a casino in Reno, Nevada – would stay up all night gambling.
The couple frequently visited casino capital Las Vegas.
In 2014 Marilou finished runner-up in the Vegas Vice poker tournament.
Records show Paddock sued the city’s Cosmopolitan hotel in 2012 after he “slipped and fell on an obstruction on the floor” and suffered injuries.
The lawsuit was dropped two years later.
Paddock, who had worked as an auditor and until recently managed an apartment building, possessed both hunting and fishing licences.
He also had a licence to fly single-engined aircraft.
Brother Eric said his sibling had “no religious affiliation, no political affiliation”.
He was stunned by what happened, insisting Paddock was a gambler, “not an avid gunman”, and “has no military background”.
Eric said he had no idea how his brother could have obtained automatic weapons.
“He had a couple of guns but they were all handguns, legal,’’ the brother explained.
“He might have had one long gun but he had them in a safe. His life is an open book. It’s all in public record.
“He went to college. He had a job. He just hung out.
“He’s just a guy who lived in Mesquite who liked burritos.
“We know absolutely nothing. We are dumbfounded.
“Something happened. He snapped or something.’’
Police were last night trying to determine what sparked the massacre.
Paddock had spent four days in his room at the Mandalay Bay during which time he stockpiled a deadly arsenal of long-range weapons.
He shot himself dead as police reached his room.
Prison
Last night it was revealed his dad Benjamin Hoskins Paddock was a serial bank robber who ended up on the FBI Most Wanted list in 1969.
He had escaped from federal prison in Texas while serving a 20-year sentence.
The FBI kept him on the list for the next eight years but he was never found.
He had been “diagnosed as psychopathic” and also had possible “suicidal tendencies”, the agency said.
Last night heavily-armed police were searching Paddock’s home. It was empty when officers swooped.
Marilou, an Australian citizen believed to be of Indonesian descent, has been cleared of any involvement in the murders.
Brother Eric added: “She has nothing to do with this, at least from my perspective.’’