It’s been months since the devastating massacre in Las Vegas, and we still don’t have any substantial answers. It has many of us asking, “What do they know? What are they hiding?”
As Kimber told you, the FBI isn’t planning on delivering answers until October of 2018. As in, a year after the massacre.
“Now that’s a long time for some people, but speaking for the FBI, that’s light speed, all right?” Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse stated.
It’s odd.
Now, there’s this.
Federal court documents were unsealed on Friday, and they reveal some sketchy details about Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley.
The search warrants detail how law enforcement focused on Marilou Danley, the girlfriend of Mr. Paddock. She has not been charged with a crime and has spoken to investigators several times, and her lawyer has said she was not aware of Mr. Paddock’s deadly plans. The investigation is continuing, and the warrants only reflect its early stages.
“She has been identified thus far as the most likely person who aided or abetted Stephen Paddock based on her informing law enforcement that her fingerprints would likely be found on the ammunition used during the attack,” according to one of the documents.
She told investigators she occasionally helped Mr. Paddock load magazines. The F.B.I. said there was no evidence that she knew of his plans or had been deceptive, but it cautioned soon after the shootings that she was still the “subject of intensive review.”
Ms. Danley corroborated much of what had been previously pieced together by investigators, but she has been adamant that she had no prior knowledge of Mr. Paddock’s intention to carry out the mass shooting.
Authorities also requested information on Danley’s social media accounts, which led to MORE sketchiness.
In an affidavit submitted as part of a search warrant application, an investigator said that access to Ms. Danley’s email account could “lead investigators to determine the full scope of Stephen Paddock’s plan and Marilou Danley’s possible involvement.” The authorities also requested information about several Instagram accounts that they believed were connected to Ms. Danley.
In their requests for data from Instagram, investigators said they were seeking “evidence showing the possession, use, purchase or sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition or explosives by Paddock.” They also sought information about Ms. Danley’s “state of mind as it relates to the crime under investigation” and the identities of anyone who communicated with her about what would amount to violations of federal weapons laws.
Here’s the part that’s REALLY weird. Danley deleted her Facebook account mere hours after the attack, even though the shooter had not yet been identified.
Ms. Danley deleted her Facebook account just hours after the attack, investigators wrote in their affidavit. At 12:30 a.m., about two-and-a-half hours after the shooting began, she changed the status of her account to private. By 2:46 a.m., she had deleted the account entirely.
Weird.
The F.B.I. also discovered emails between two accounts connected to Mr. Paddock. One from early July indicated that Mr. Paddock had begun taking steps to carry out the attack, referring to a “bump stock,” an attachment that enables a semiautomatic rifle to fire faster.
In an email Mr. Paddock sent on July 6 to an account that also may have belonged to him, he wrote: “try an ar before u buy. we have huge selection. located in the las vegas area.” Another email sent between the accounts read, “for a thrill try out bumpfire ar’s with a 100 round magazine.” By “ar,” Mr. Paddock appeared to be referring to rifles.
The affidavit later adds that “investigators have been unable to figure out why Stephen Paddock would be exchanging messages related to weapons that were used in the attack between two of his email accounts,” and that it was possible that someone else was controlling one of the accounts. If that was the case, the investigator said, the F.B.I. needed to identify that person. Receiving a search warrant for that account “will lead investigators to determine the full scope of Stephen Paddock’s plan,” an F.B.I agent wrote to the judge.
There are still SO MANY QUESTIONS. Danley hasn’t been charged with anything and maintains her innocence, but…I don’t know.
h/t NYT