Inside the life of Australian partner of US gunman

The girlfriend of the Las Vegas gunman left her job in Australia after the death of her husband, a long-time friend has revealed.

Marilou Danley has been ruled out as a person of interest in the mass shooting – America’s deadliest in modern history – that left 58 people dead and more than 515 injured.

Police were initially searching for the 62-year-old woman, but authorities later confirmed that they had made contact with her and she was not in the country at the time of the shooting.

They said gunman Stephen Paddock used her ID to check into the Mandalay Bay hotel alone, days before he opened fire at a country music festival from a vantage point in his suite.

Ms Danley is originally from the Philippines but holds an Australian passport, it has been reported.

‘I would never have thought she would be tied up in anything like this,’ her friend, who lives in Robina, Queensland, told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Authorities said later Monday morning that Danley is no longer a person of interest in the shooting and is currently out of the country, though it’s unclear where exactly she is Police said Paddock had used Danley’s slot card to gamble in the hotel

The woman said she lived next door to Ms Danley in the Gold Coast suburb of Nerang around 30 years ago.

But she has not seen her neighbour of nine years since attending Ms Danley’s mother’s funeral near Brisbane five or six years ago.

‘She is bubbly, petite and full of life,’ the 66-year-old woman said. ‘She still looks the same.’

She added that she visited Ms Danley, who has a daughter and a granddaughter, and stayed with her and her daughter in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2000.

Other friends revealed that Ms Danley worked in the gaming industry and had an Australian husband, who has since died, before she moved to the US more than 20 years ago.  

She was previously married to Geary Danley, who now lives in Arkansas, the Reno Gazette-Journal.

They married in Las Vegas in 1990, but jointly filed for divorce in February 2015, according to the Gazette-Journal.

Ms Danley has lived in Nevada since 2003, according to records obtained by the 

One of her sisters, Liza Werner, who still lives in Australia, told the Bulletin: ‘I can’t comment at the moment. I can’t say anything. I’m sorry, sorry.’

Stephen Paddock (pictured) used her ID to check into the Mandalay Bay hotel alone

Stephen Paddock (pictured) used her ID to check into the Mandalay Bay hotel alone

Records show that Ms Danley (above) and Paddock lived together in the tiny desert community of Mesquite

Records show that Ms Danley (above) and Paddock lived together in the tiny desert community of Mesquite

On her now deleted Facebook page, Ms Danley described herself as a ‘proud mom and grandma who lives life to the fullest.’

Her LinkedIn page says she is a ‘gambling and casino professional’ living in Reno.

But it’s understood that she was sharing a house near Las Vegas with Paddock.

The gunman's girlfriend Marilou Danley (pictured) has been located and their home raided by police 

The gunman’s girlfriend Marilou Danley (pictured) has been located and their home raided by police 

Records show she and Paddock lived together in a two-bedroom home on Babbling Brook Court in the tiny desert community of Mesquite, which is 80 miles north east of Las Vegas near the Arizona state border. The property cost $396,000 (£297,554).

The shooter’s brother, Eric Paddock, told CBS News that Ms Danley was his brother’s girlfriend and that he had met her ‘three to four times.’

‘They might have got married, but I don’t think they’re married. She’s just his girlfriend,’ he said.

‘She’s a nice lady, I’ve met her three or four times. She’s got a Facebook page, she sends my mom cookies.’

Paddock, a 64-year-old retiree from Mesquite, rained heavy fire down on a crowd of over 22,000 at an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives Sunday night outside the 44-story hotel after hearing what at first sounded like firecrackers but turned out to be dozens of bullets in rapid-fire bursts.

Country music star Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunman apparently used a hammer-like device to smash out windows in his room and opened fire, the muzzle flashes visible in the dark, authorities said.

Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to reporters near his home in Orlando, Florida

Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to reporters near his home in Orlando, Florida

The shooter appeared to fire unhindered for more than 10 minutes as Las Vegas police frantically tried to locate the man in one of the Mandalay Bay hotel towers, according to radio traffic.

For several minutes, officers could not tell whether the fire was coming from Mandalay Bay or the neighboring Luxor hotel.

SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman’s hotel room in the gold-colored glass skyscraper and found he had killed himself.

Paddock had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, authorities said.

The sheriff said a check of federal and state databases showed Paddock was not on law enforcement authorities’ radar before the bloodbath.

A broken window at the Mandalay Bay resort is seen in the aftermath of the massacre

A broken window at the Mandalay Bay resort is seen in the aftermath of the massacre

The Mandalay Bay is seen the morning after a gunmen fired on concert goers in Las Vegas

The Mandalay Bay is seen the morning after a gunmen fired on concert goers in Las Vegas

Aaron Rouse, the FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, said investigators saw no immediate evidence connecting the attack to an international terror organization, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

Before Sunday’s attack, it was the June 2016 massacre, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49.

Sunday’s shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.

Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by ISIS at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in 2015.

 

 

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