Here’s the big question after the horrible massacre in Las Vegas: Why?
Sunday night, Stephen Paddock, from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino, started shooting at the 22,000 people attending a country music concert. From his elevation, and with automatic weapons, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. A total of 59 people were killed and more than 500 wounded. It is the worst mass shooting in recent American history.
Stephen Paddock, 64, is the son of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock who robbed two banks between 1959 and 1960. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1961 — but escaped in 1968.
Benjamin Paddock, Las Vegas gunman’s father, robbed banks and fled FBI, on NYTimes.com.
With his escape, Benjamin Paddock ended up on the FBI’s most wanted list on March 18, 1969. The wanted poster actually says:
CAUTION
PADDOCK, DIAGNOSED AS PSYCHOPATHIC, HAS CARRIED FIREARMS IN COMMISSION OF BANK ROBBERIES. HE REPORTEDLY HAS SUICIDAL TENDENCIES AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND VERY DANGEROUS.
The fact that Benjamin Paddock was diagnosed as psychopathic in 1969 is pretty amazing. At that time, there was no standard way of diagnosing psychopaths. In fact, about the only book on the topic was Hervey Cleckley’s Mask of Sanity.
Stephen Paddock was eight years old when his father was sent to prison. Benjamin Paddock was not in the lives of his sons as they were growing up.
Stephen Paddock attended college and worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin. He eventually got into real estate and made a lot of money. In recent years, he was a professional gambler.
But he had no criminal record and was not violent. According to his brother, he had no political agenda and no religious affiliation.
Stephen Paddock, Las Vegas Suspect, was a gambler who drew little attention, on NYTimes.com.
So the question remains: Why did he do it? Was he a psychopath also?
From what’s been released so far, only one psychopathic trait fits — it looks like Stephen Paddock had a need for excitement. He lived his life by gambling. He had a pilot’s license and owned two airplanes. He also had hunting licenses.
After the shooting, we can say that Stephen Paddock must have had a lack of remorse, guilt or empathy — it’s the only way he could kill so many people in cold blood. But were there indications of this before Sunday?
I don’t know if Stephen Paddock was psychopathic or crazy. But if he was, in fact, a psychopath, here’s what I think happened: He kept a lid on his tendencies all his life. Then he couldn’t do it, or decided not to do it, any more.
Lovefraud’s research on senior sociopaths found that they either stay the same or get worse as they age. Several of our survey respondents said the sociopaths they knew lost the ability to keep the mask in place any longer, or couldn’t be bothered to try.
Maybe Stephen Paddock was like the school shooters who wanted to go out with a bang — except he waited until age 64 to do it.
I’m not sure we’ll ever know.
What I learned about trauma from my dog
This morning on CNN an FBI profiler said he suspects Paddock has psychopathy. I was so impressed to hear that on national TV. Yesterday a lot of law enforcement officials were considering the situation “unique” which I disagree with. As the FBI profiler said more often those mass murderers have clean criminal record and are “the nighest neighbor”. There is nothing unique about it. In fact it is the way it goes most of the time. I am sure that anyone who had suffered abuse under the hands of a psychopath or has professional experience in the filed would agree with that. Thank you for your amazing work Donna!
I was watching the evening national news tonight (I think it was CBS?) and the brother was once again out front of his home rambling to the press. What stood out was the fact he used the word “narcissist” in this interview tonight to describe his brother.
I cant remember the exact phase he used but I think it was “he was a little bit narcissistic”. That caught my attention. Along with the fact the brother seems to be loving the attention of the reporters stationed outside his home. The brother reminds me of Drew Peterson rambling to the press everyday when his wife was missing (Stacy Peterson). Turns out Drew Peterson is a psychopath.
Wonder if the psychopath runs deep in this family.
I read that the shooter was married but divorce 27 years ago. And he has been with this latest gf since?? different reports. She too was a heavy gambler. Wonder about his history with woman & if there was abuse reported by them to at least friends or family. How did his mask not slip??
With regards to the GF. Seems odd that he wired $100,000 to the Philippines last week & that his GF is out of the country some accounts are that she is in Tokyo or the Philippines.
thoughts on this:
1) this is bigger then we all want to believe = ties to a terrorist group
or
2) was he setting her up to take a fall to just screw her over for fun like sociopath love to do to their mates?? The ultimate discard & smear campaign?? She ends up in jail but has no idea why = because a psychopath set her up??
or
3) he was actually being nice to her & setting her future up??
The only thing I know for sure, is that this horrific event is incredibly sad. Kids without parents now, mates without their spouse, family members killed or injured. I think it really hits home because I believe my ex was/is capable of this type of horrendous act of evil even though he blends into society so well.
RIP to all those that lost their life, heartfelt condolences to their family & friends and wishing all those injured a speedy recover both physically & emotionally. Sad day.
I don’t know how political we are allowed to get on this site, so I’ll keep it kind of general. I think at this point, it probably doesn’t much matter what kind of psycho he was, but I’m sure we can infer from his actions and the tree he fell from that he was likely a sociopath. For me, this brings up much larger issue of what actions the sociopaths in our government are going to take to limit the guns these psychos can legally get. The fact that psychopathy was used to describe this creep – to me – is inconsequential because all crazy killers are regarded as psychopaths (or psychos for short). It’s the ones who never commit any overt crimes. the ones who fly under the radar, that people need to be enlightened about. Not to mention our government officials.
He probably was a psychopath. I’ve seen him called a psychopath in reports. A friend’s niece was in Las Vegas at another hotel and was very affected. I’ll say the topic of gun control is very political and there are different points of view.
There is fund raising going on for the victims which is a good thing. I wish recovery for them.
WOW, would not have even thought of this new news:
“This morning a report suggested that Danley may have been living a double life. Public documents showed she was married to two men at once, used two Social Security numbers, lived in multiple addresses in several different states and had two dates of birth, according to Newsweek.”
(Danley is the Girlfriend of the shooter)
The records, seen by Newsweek, claim she was married to Geary Danley in 1990 and Jose Bustos in 1996.
Geary Danley, 76, lives in Arkansas. But she did not divorce him until 2015, the report adds. It is not clear when or if she divorced Bustos.
In California, her name is registered as Marilou Natividad-Bustos and her age is listed as 55 – but in Nevada, her name is down as Marilou Lou Danley and her age listed as 62, Newsweek said.
Marilou Danley: The girlfriend of the man accused in the deadly Las Vegas shooting. She is thought to have lived in Nevada since 2003
The report claims she has also held multiple different addresses in the likes of Arkansas, California, Florida and Tennessee.
***There was also a time – in 2012 – when Marilou, using the surname Bustos but while married to Danley and living with Paddock, filed for bankruptcy, according to the Newsweek report.
But Paddock is reported to have used identification belonging to Danley, who has an Australian passport, when checking in to the Las Vegas hotel where he committed the atrocity. It is not know how much control he had over her other identification papers.
The revelations come amid news that Paddock, 64, wired $100,000 to the Philippines days before he committed mass murder.
Danley had described herself on her LinkedIn page as a ‘gambling and casino professional’ living in Reno, Nevada.
That social media page also listed her as working as a ‘high limit hostess’ at Club Paradise, Atlantis Casino in Reno between 2010 and 2013, but does not list another job since that year.
Records show that Danley and Paddock lived together in a three-year-old, 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. Records show the property cost $396,000 (£297,554).
It has been revealed that Paddock was prescribed anti-anxiety medication Valium back in June, which has been linked to increased aggressive behavior in multiple studies.
Paddock was taking 10 milligram tablets at the time of the massacre, though it is not known why he was prescribed them or whether he had underlying behavioral issues.
Wow Jan – the info about the girlfriend is certainly a twist in the story.
Hi Donna, it’s a crazy twist. Is she a sociopath?? The police are saying that he might have been “radicalized”. This was on a news site:
“In the months before his deadly rampage, 64-year old Stephen Paddock was a man “descending into madness,” according to a person briefed on new findings in the investigation.
New details are emerging, investigators say, that suggest Paddock’s mental state was deteriorating before the shooting: significant weight loss, an increasingly slovenly physical appearance and obsession with his girlfriend’s ex-husband.”. Reports also state he was sleep deprived.
Was she pushing him over his limit with gas lighting abuse?? Or someone else? Was she triangulating him against her ex husband? What was causing his anxiety that promoted him to go to the doctors to get medicine?
Wonder if he changed his will? And if she was listed as the benefactor?
Heart wrenching when you think of this absolute horrific nightmare. My heart breaks for all of the victims & their families and all those at the concert that will now no doubt have emotional trauma to recover from. ?
Where are you finding any of this info? All reputable news sources say precisely none of this.
I find it quite alarming the amount of blame being assigned to someone who was quite possibly another victim of him herself. Per her many relatives and friends over the years, she showed zero signs of psychopathy. He, on the other hand, had almost zero relationships, and the very few he had (namely his brother) admits he didn’t know the man well at all.
I found the article I believe that you read…
http://abc7ny.com/news/portrait-emerging-of-las-vegas-shooter-as-man-descending-into-madness/2488027/
Also my apologies if I sounded snippy! I find news stories about psychopaths incredibly triggering…
Will reply more later today when able, as I have more thoughts on this. Just wanted to apologize!
No worries Seekeroflight, This event triggered me too. Left me in tears yesterday, if I thought about the victims to deeply & their families.
I think it is important to express our thoughts (which may differ) & learn from each other.
I’m not sure, if this is just about psychopathic behavior or not. Obviously his father was one, so there is a possible family tree that he is one too. There are a lot of components to this tragic horrific event as well.
The Las Vegas Police Chief stated yesterday that he believes that this shooter “could have been radicalized”. ISIS claimed this shooting early Tuesdays. Experts on CNN & Fox News ALL stated that ISIS NEVER claims responsibility unless there IS a connection!!
The Police Chief stated that this shooter “lived a double life”.
We all know what that means from our ex’s = cheating, lying, maybe hidden gambling, drugs, hookers etc. This guy was not hiding his gambling addiction, he seemed to have had money even purchasing homes with cash ($350,000 homes in cash).
Not sure what they mean by “hidden life”. Will be interesting when this comes out.
The other component is the Philippines has a long history of Islamic attacks in their county, even thought the Philippines is predominately Catholic, they have a 6% population of Muslims with most being good people but also have a radical Islamic group in the Country.. They have had attempted Islamic attacks on Airlines, hotels, malls etc.
If he was possibly “radicalized” then was she also?? If this is true were they radicalized in the Philippines? Or was she just caught up in this nightmare & left holding the bag of a psychopath?? In the Philippine $100,000 can buy a house or even an apartment in a nice building in Manila.
The only thing that is odd is her stating that she “thought he was breaking up with me and gave me $100,000 to buy a house) (paraphrasing). If you are breaking up why would someone give you $100,000???
She was also a heavy gambler. Was she in debt?
I dont know what is going on with the limited info we are getting from both the police & FBI.
Towards the end of my marriage I had a light bulb moment that my h (now ex) was brain washing me. I knew nothing about this except the fact that I just felt this. When I finally escaped I asked my counselor who immediately said “YES” that is what he was doing to you. (So scary!!) I researched brain washing but more importantly “reversal of brain washing” because I wanted everything he put in my brain out of it!! Brain washing = radicalization = or being mentally controlled like in our case from our ex’s.
This led me to Steven Hassan’s book Freedom of mInd (do a search on love fraud on his name as Donna did a write up on his book & also Steven Hassan Bite model (on the net) to read up on this subject).
I also look on you tube which lead me to a documentary show on Discovery Channel called “Brainwashed”. It followed Harvard Univ Professors literally selecting someone out of a group that they could brain wash into shooting someone (with a fake gun). SO SCARY that this was show & even scarier watching it that it actually happened. Here is more info:
“The documentary, part of the Discovery Channel’s Curiosity series, is particularly relevantgiven the recent claim by an alleged inmate of ‘Batman’ shooter James Holmes who contends that Holmes told him he was “programmed” to carry out the Aurora theater massacre by an “evil” psychotherapist.
Entitled Brainwashed, the experiment was overseen by Harvard University’s Dr. Cynthia Meyersburg and Oxford University’s Dr. Mark Stokes. Certified hypnotherapist Tom Silver was called upon to hypnotize dozens of subjects to test the depth of their hypnotic state and how suggestible they were.”
You can find the show on You tube. It might trigger you so be careful.
it’s an indication of how easy it is to “radicalize someone” (or in our cases how a sociopath can mind control someone to be submissive). I’m not saying this is the case here as I really don’t know what happened. Just keeping in open mind. Is he a vicim of radicalization or a psychopath killer or was he like CIA, is she a victim of a abusive relationship, a victim or radicalization or a sociopath? I don’t know??
What I know for sure is ISIS claimed attacks in the French Theater shooting & Manchester England Stadium Concert and also this one too!!! And that members of ISIS are sociopath/psychopath aka cult leaders & their followers are cult victims.
It’s just incredibly sad. Heart wrenching for all that lost their family members. I cant even imagine their shock & grief fully. And all those injured (just like the Boston Bombing) will have a long road to heal emotionally, mentally & physically. Breaks my heart. So much evil on this planet and very few know what we know of who does the evil..
It has since been reported that Newsweek was completely wrong. Marilou Bustos is a completely different person.
Hi Seekeroflight, Maruilou Bustos is her maiden name. just found this:
“…As reported by Foxnews: Soon after her boyfriend carried out the deadliest shooting in modern United States history, Marilou Danley did not appear to be in a panic, reportedly telling a family member she had a “clean conscience.”
“I called her up immediately and she said, ‘Relax, we shouldn’t worry about it. I’ll fix it. Do not panic. I have a clean conscience,’” Danley’s brother, Reynaldo Bustos, told ABC News in Manila on Wednesday. Bustos said he called Danley after he heard about Sunday night’s massacre, which left 58 people dead and more than 530 injured….”
It seems like an odd statement no emotion towards those killed or injured & their families. I would be a mess if this happened in her position as the gf. She seems like it’s not a big deal??? Odd behavior. At least to me.
Here’s a good summary of what is known about Stephen Paddock
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/10/what-we-know-about-las-vegas-gunman-stephen-paddock.html
On this site below there is a young girl (maybe in her 20’s) that states that an hour before the attack a woman was stating that “you all are going to die” (paraphrasing). There are many accounts of this by other bystanders. And it has been stated that this persons who made these statement was escorted out of the concert by security. I first heard of this on CNN or Fox news. Some papers are reporting that he ordered room service for two. Did he have someone in the room with him?? Or maybe he just order lots of food so that he would not be bothered once he stated unloading his guns??
https: // www. inquisitr. com/ 4530681 /marilou- danley- facebook- photos- did-marilou -warn -people -would -die- 45-minutes- before- shooting -police- think-not /
Also the GF is stating now that her BF bought her a “cheap ticket” to the Philippines & when he wired her money she thought “he was breaking up with her “when he told her to buy a home”. This seems odd!! If your boyfriend sends you out of the country then wires you $100,000 to “buy a house” do you not question him & his motives!! Her answers seem very staged & well thought out?!?!
Her family has come out to defend her some of their statements are odd but maybe it’s the language difference. His brothers statements are odd too.
Just a side note: The Philippines is predominately Catholic however there is approx 6% muslim. The Philippines has had many terrorist attacks including one that the perpetrator attempted to down an airline. There have been attacks on hotels, malls etc for years & years. Large western used hotels in Manila even have dog sniffing dogs right when you enter the gates of their hotels & metal detectors screening prior to entering the hotel lobby. At market place malls you will have to open your purse & bags for inspection. The Philippine government takes terrorism very serious because of the long history of Islamic terrorism.
It has been stated this week by “Terrorist Experts” that ISIS never claims an attack unless that have connection with the attack. ISIS claimed this attack the second day!
Nothing makes sense with this horrific event. So so sad! I hope the FBI is forthcoming & the outcome is made public. Seems like might get very political & the citizens might be kept in the dark for years.
When with abusers and psychopaths, we aren’t allowed to question anything they do. In a normal relationship, yeah, you’d be like, are you breaking up with me?! With a psychopath you just try not to rock the boat, ever. Plus, you want to believe what they say. If the money was sent to allow her to live elsewhere because she was an accomplice, don’t you think she would have made sure it was waaaaaay more than $100k? That’s a drop in the hat, that won’t even cover her legal fees now!
I feel like the most logical scenarios in my mind are 1) she made him mad and this was his way of punishing her, or maybe more likely 2) he was planning on her taking the fall for it, using her cards, wiring the money to her family, maybe even paying some homeless woman to walk around prior to the concert saying everyone was going to die. Only clear thing is historically, based on accounts from her friends and family, she showed far less (zero) signs of psychopathy her whole life.
I’m no expert but what I know about Fillipino women is they go after rich men. I’m not surprised that when she heard about the tragedy she calmly said she had a clear conscience. I doubt she knew anything about it. Psychopaths plot alone. He wouldn’t disclose this to his submissive gf. He had had the mask of normalcy on and probably looked normal to her.
On a side note, someone was on TV yesterday saying that this incident should draw attention to the problem of fatherless boys. I thought the person was clueless. When your father is a psychopath, the best thing for the kids is not to have him in their lives. I thought it was good that the father was gone.
But the condition is highly genetic, so maybe Stephen Paddock had it. There were a few more clues — the story of how he berated his girlfriend in Starbucks. The thing about psychopathy is that it doesn’t just show up at age 64. So he must have been keeping the lid on it his entire life — or he did go crazy.
I kind of agree with Donna’s theory that the shooter as he was aging probably wanted to take the mask off and go out with a bang. He seemed to have an ongoing need for excitement or some sort of emptiness to fill, and from all accounts of people who knew him, he wasn’t a very animated person, so all of the high rolling and piloting were not filling the needs. He may have imagined that a big mass shooting would give him some sort of thrill he didn’t get from all the high rolling and real estate and maybe some notoriety similar to his father’s. Given the fact that his father was a high profile sociopath, it is very likely that he was on the spectrum, too. However, this can only be extrapolated after the fact, sadly. This is a striking example of how unpredictable a sociopath can be and why they are all dangerous.
Of course it would benefit ISIS’ to claim responsibility for any act of violence, because this perpetrates their brand of terror with none of the work. This keeps us off guard, which is what they want. I doubt ISIS was involved but who knows?
As for the woman, I think it is a big stretch at this point to implicate her in the shootings. And I also think it’s an unfair stereotype to say that Filipino women all want rich men. It’s very common in third world countries for women (and men, too) to marry outside of the culture for economic reasons. I know several of these relationships that work very well, and the couples are truly in love. I don’t feel it’s something I personally can understand or judge because I’m not living in an economically oppressed country. But at this point I can’t say I wouldn’t think twice if a very wealthy man wanted to marry me and give me a good life.
I’m glad I’m far enough past my brief relationship with the sociopath in 2008 that when the shooting happened, my thoughts went in a different direction. I felt immediate outrage that it is legal to buy and stockpile semi-automatic weapons and to add an accessory that makes them behave as automatic weapons. I’m very angry at the corrupt hypocrites in Congress who express their sympathy for the victims but continue to pocket bribes from the NRA, ensuring that these horrible weapons stay in circulation and that anyone can buy them. THIS, to me, is where the fight begins.