The Las Vegas gunman who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history bought his girlfriend a ticket to the Philippines and “sent her away” to spare her life, her distraught sisters said Wednesday.
Stephen Paddock bought Marilou Danley “a cheap ticket” to her home country two weeks before he opened fire on a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip.
Investigators believe Danley, 62, who arrived back in the U.S. late Tuesday escorted by FBI agents, could fill in some of the blanks as to why Paddock assembled an arsenal of guns and killed 58 people.
Clark County, Nevada Sheriff Joe Lombardo described her as “a person of interest.”
Her sisters, who live in Australia, believe she knew nothing of Paddock’s deadly intentions.
“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,’” one of the women, who spoke on condition they were not identified, told NBC’s Australian partner, Channel 7.
“She was sent away. She was [sent] away so that she will not be there to interfere with what he’s planning. … so that he can plan what he is planning without interruptions,” she speculated.
The woman added: “In that sense I thank him for sparing my sister’s life but that won’t be to compensate the 59 people’s lives.”
Paddock, 64, wired $100,000 to an account in the Philippines in the week before Sunday’s shooting, multiple senior law enforcement officials earlier told NBC News. It was not known whether the money was for Danley, her family or another purpose.
The officials said Paddock gambled with at least $160,000 in the past several weeks at Las Vegas casinos.
Investigators believe the couple lived together in Mesquite, Nevada.
“No one can put the puzzles together,” Danley’s sister said. “No one except Marilou. Because Steve is not here to talk anymore. Only Marilou can maybe help.”
Danley, who moved to the United States in 1989, would likely have stopped the shooting if she had been there, she said.
She was “in love” with Paddock, the sister added.
Danley “probably was even [more] shocked than us because she is … closer to him than us. To be able to find out [that] the person you love and live with can do such a thing. And you thought you knew the person yourself.
Her other sister added: “She is a good person and a gentle soul … a mother, grandmother, a sister, a friend.”
The sisters also asked for privacy, saying they would not be giving further interviews.