Vegas mass shooter’s Filipina girlfriend may still face charges

Mariou Danley and Stephen Paddock. INQUIRER FILE

LAS VEGAS — Defense attorneys Tuesday wondered if the Las Vegas Strip mass shooter’s Filipina girlfriend was unfairly being singled out after police lawyers claimed in court that criminal charges may still be in the case.

Las Vegas attorney Craig Drummond described the police statement as “bold when the only person whose name or inference has been put in the news is [the mass killer’s] girlfriend,” the Las Vegas Review Journal reported. https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/shootings/lawyers-claim-puts-attention-on-las-vegas-shooters-girlfriend/

Marilou Danley was initially considered a person of interest after her boyfriend, Stephen Paddock, opened fire on a concert on October 1 from his 32nd-floor Mandalay Bay room, killing 58 people before fatally shooting himself. But she agreed to cooperate and has publicly said she had no knowledge of his bloody plans.

Drummond said authorities may also be looking at other people who may have improperly sold firearms to Paddock or helped him modify some of the weapons.

Defense lawyer Robert Langford speculated that if Danley knew of Paddock’s plans and somehow aided or abetted his actions, she would already have been charged for obstruction.

Defense lawyer Chris Rasmussen said there is possible circumstantial evidence that points to Danley’s involvement in the massacre, including her trip to the Philippines and the $100,000 Paddock wired to her before the massacre. Her player’s club card also was found in Paddock’s Mandalay Bay hotel room. “It’s enough to take to a grand jury.”

Danley also reportedly deleted her Facebook account less than an hour before police released Paddock’s name.

When initially contacted by investigators, Danley was “adamant that she had no prior inclination of Paddock’s intentions to conduct the attack,” an FBI agent’s affidavit says.

The affidavit was part of more than 300 pages that federal prosecutors released Friday following an order by U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey.