The brother of the Las Vegas shooter has fired the law firm he’d hired to distribute the mass murderer’s estate to victims.
Eric Paddock, the brother of deceased killer Stephen Paddock, said Thursday that he’d fired estate administration lawyers from Clear Counsel Law Group, citing a dispute over press strategy.
‘I’m very upset and disappointed with the law firm because they didn’t honor my instructions that I paid them to do in communicating with the media,’ the 57-year-old Eric Paddock told the Review-Journal.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the dispute, and Clear Counsel attorney Jonathan Barlow did not immediately respond to request for comment from DailyMail.com.
Eric Paddock (pictured) intrigued the nation during wide-ranging interviews from his Florida driveway in the days after the shooting. He has now fired the law firm retained to administer his brother’s estate and distribute the assets to victims of the massacre
Eric Paddock (left) is seen with brother Stephen Paddock (right). Fifty-eight people died from rife fire from a 32nd floor hotel room where Stephen was found dead in an apparent suicide
On Wednesday, however, Barlow did issue a statement through a public relations firm, saying that the firm had filed a court petition to manage distribution of the funds from the estate of Stephen Paddock.
‘The estate is being opened in order to collect and preserve the shooter’s assets for the victims,’ the statement said. The court petition was withdrawn on Thursday.
On October 1, 58 people at country music festival were killed and 489 were injured by rifle fire from a 32nd-floor hotel room, where Stephen Paddock was also found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
After being fired by Eric Paddock, attorney Barlow told the Review-Journal: ‘Our interest is to help the victims with the probate, but if his brother wants to go in a different direction, he’s entitled to hire a different firm.’
Eric Paddock, who intrigued the nation during wide-ranging interviews from his Florida driveway in the days after the shooting, arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday to meet with investigators and administer his brother’s estate.
He was met at the airport by FBI investigators and immediately taken to a room where he was questioned for four hours. He had a second interview on Sunday for five hours.
‘I’m here to help them move forward with their investigation,’ Eric Paddock said on Sunday outside his hotel before his second interview. ‘I want to help them understand what they’re seeing.’
He said he does not think that he is a suspect and that FBI agents, a Las Vegas police detective, a profiler and a psychologist participated in his Sunday interview.
‘I’m trying to get them to understand Steve’s mindset,’ said Eric Paddock. ‘I don’t want them to chase bad leads.’
Eric Paddock says he plans to cremate his brother and give the ashes to their 89-year-old mother.