Marilou Danley Update: Everything We Know About Las Vegas Shooter's Girlfriend
The girlfriend of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock returned to the United States from the Philippines Tuesday in order for authorities to question her in relation to the mass shooting that left at least 58 people dead. Marilou Danley, 62, was described by police as a “person of interest.”
Much still remains unknown about the shooter, his motive and how much, if anything, his girlfriend knew about his plans to commit the horrific act. Thus far, this is everything we know about Marilou Danley.
- Paddock and Danley reportedly dated for at least a few years after they met at a restaurant inside a casino in Reno, Nevada where Danley was employed.
- Danley left her husband, Geary Danley, in 2013 in order to move in with Paddock, according to reports. She filed for divorce in 2015. One of Danley’s sisters described her as “really in love” with Paddock.
- The couple lived together at a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. Officials said when they searched the couple’s home, they found 19 guns, explosives and stockpiles of ammunition.
- Danley lived in Australia for a time before coming to the United States. “I can’t believe it,” a former neighbor in Australia told the Gold Coast Bulletin Monday. “She is bubbly, petite and full of life. I would never have thought she would be tied up in anything like this. She still looks the same. Sh has a daughter and a granddaughter.”
- Traveling with an Australian passport, Danley flew to the Philippines Sep. 15, then from Manila to Hong Kong Sep. 22 before going back to Manila Sep. 25.
- Paddock allegedly sent Danley away before the shooting, according to her sisters. “I know that she didn’t know anything as well, like us,” one of her sister’s told Australia’s Channel 6 news, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “She was sent away. She was away so that she will not be there to interfere with what he’s planning.”
- Paddock apparently wired $100,000 to the Philippines recently, though the exact date of the money transfer was not yet known and it was unclear whether the money went to Danley.
- Another sister of Danley’s said she was “even [more] shocked than us” by what Paddock had done.
- Danley landed at Los Angeles International Airport Tuesday night after flying in from the Philippines. FBI agents met her upon landing, ushering her out the back door so as not to draw attention, ABC News reported.
- While authorities previously described Danley as merely a witness they wanted to interview, police announced Tuesday she had officially become a person of interest.
- Danley was not officially in custody after landing in the United States.
- Workers at a Las Vegas Starbucks alleged that Paddock was abusive to Danley during their regular visits to the store. “It happened a lot,” Esperanza Mendoza, the supervisor of the store, told reporters Tuesday. “He would glare down at her and say – with a mean attitude – ‘You don’t need my casino card for this. I’m paying for your drink, just like I’m paying for you.’ Then she would softly say, ‘Ok’ and step back behind him. He was so rude to her in front of us.”
- Danley allegedly told her brother she had a “clean conscience” after the shooting. “I called her up immediately and she said, ‘Relax, we shouldn’t worry about it. I’ll fix it. Do not panic. I have a clean conscience,’” her older brother, Reynaldo Bustos, told ABC News Wednesday from his home in the Philippines.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.
Join the Discussion