Stephen Craig Paddock was born on April 19, 1953, in Clinton, Iowa. His family later moved to Tuscon, Arizona and Sun Valley, a neighborhood in Los Angeles where he was raised by his mother Dolores Irene Hudson alongside his three younger brothers. His father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock got arrested in 1960 for bank robbery when Stephen was just seven years old. Benjamin Paddock In 1969 escaped prison after he was convicted and sentenced to a jail term which landed him on FBI‘s most wanted list between 1969 to 1977.
Stephen enrolled to study Business Administration at California State University, Northbridge and graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree. He was a retired accountant, real-estate investor, property manager amateur pilot and also a well-known poker gambler.
By 10:05 p.m on October 1, 2017, there was an open fire in Las Vegas strip during the Route 91 Harvest Music concert that claimed 58 lives and leaving 851 others wounded (422 by gunfire) and Stephen Paddock was the man responsible for this inhumane act which today is recorded as the deadliest mass shooting by a single man in the history of the United States.
After the shooting, he was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot to his head on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Hotel, where he lodged in on September 25, six days before the shooting. With all the investigations, there hasn’t been a clear reason why he did what he did, and he never had any criminal record before the incident apart from a minor traffic citation, that was eventually settled in court.
Who Was His Girlfriend before His Death?
Stephen Paddock lived a normal life just like any other man. While living in Los Angeles County, California, he was married twice; first in 1977, which ended in 1979 after which he remarried in 1985 and again got a divorce in 1990. According to his family members, he continued being in good terms with his ex-wives.
After his two marriages failed, he decided to give marriage a break but that didn’t stop him from having a woman in his life as he got together with Marilou Danley, a dual citizen of the Philippines and Australia. Marilou became a person of interest after the shooting incident as she was Stephen’s girlfriend at the time and it was believed that they had been together for a very long time.
The duo met many years ago in Reno at Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, in the Club Paradise where she worked as a high limit hostess, and ever since then, they had been together. It is believed they started dating while she was still married to her now ex-husband, Geary Danley whom she got married to in 1990. They eventually got a divorce in February 2015 after been married for over twenty-five years and the marriage producing a daughter.
Stephen Paddock traveled a lot and his girlfriend, Marilou accompanied him on most of his trips. According to his brother Eric, Stephen was very much in love wih Marilou and dotted on her. But contrary to Eric’s statement, a coffee shop supervisor said their relationship wasn’t as it seemed as she was actually being abused by him even in public.
According to her, he told her to leave United States and he got her a ticket to the Philippines. She left the US on the 15th of September 2017 – two weeks before the incident – although some reports said it was on the 25th that she left. Many believe he did this so she wouldn’t interfere in his mass murder plans. The sum of $100,000 was paid into an account in Philippines by Stephen days before the shooting, and it is believed to belong to her, probably so she could have something to live on and just like every other person, Marilou Danley claims to be at sea as to what his reason for the attack could be.
Stephen Paddock – Brother
Stephen Paddock is the eldest of four boys. He never really had a close relationship with them, but we could tell he had a better relationship with just one of them – Eric Paddock. They ran a real-estate business together and most of the information given concerning the shooter was given by Eric who believes something must have driven his brother to such act. At the moment, he is playing his part inorder to see if he could be of any assistance by giving exclusive interviews and trying to raise funds (one million dollars) for the victims.
According to Bruce Paddock, his other brother who is charged in Los Angeles with child pornography, he referred to Stephen as the father figure he knew and also a controlling brother who disciplined them more than their mother and believes he possibly had a ‘good reason’ for doing what he did. Bruce also confessed that he regrets not haven been in a better relationship with his brother, because he probably woud have help prevent the incident, as they haven’t spoken to each other for the past ten years.
Another sibling, Patrick Paddock, said he hadn’t seen Stephen for over twenty years and didn’t want to have anything to do with any of them, therefore, had no memories/stories of life with his brother.
Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.
