People who knew him say Las Vegas shooter was standoffish, berated girlfriend in public
Neighbors and relatives of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock and his girlfriend Marilou Danley are painting two very different pictures of their relationship.
Paddock was married twice, with one ex-wife living near Los Angeles and the other outside of Dallas, and owned homes in Reno and Mesquite, Nevada. Paddock and Danley met several years ago when Danley was working as a high-limit hostess at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno. "They were adorable — big man, tiny woman," Paddock's brother Eric told The Washington Post. "He loved her. He doted on her."
Employees of the Starbucks inside the Virgin River Casino in Mesquite don't have fond memories of Paddock, telling the Los Angeles Times that he would berate Danley during their regular trips to the coffee shop. Supervisor Esperanza Mendoza said Danley asked to use Paddock's casino card to pay for drinks, using points earned gambling, and he would glare at her and say "with a mean attitude, 'You don't need my casino card for this. I'm paying for your drink, just like I'm paying for you.'" Paddock, she added, was "so rude to her in front of us," and "looked like he never slept because of the large bags under his eyes."
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Paddock also didn't make a great impression on neighbors in either Reno or Mesquite. Several told the Post he was surly, including Elizabeth Tyee, who lived next door to Paddock in Reno. She said Danley traveled often, and was never at the house for more than 10 days at a time. Paddock was standoffish, she said, but Danley was always friendly and quick with a hug.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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