EDITORIAL: Stephen Paddock’s girlfriend may have clues to his motivation

The search for a motive in Sunday night’s Strip massacre proceeds apace. The key may involve the killer’s girlfriend, now overseas.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Tuesday afternoon called Marilou Danley a “person of interest.” Ms. Danley, who lived with Stephen Paddock in Mesquite, went abroad on Sept. 15, police said, and was in the Philippines. She reportedly boarded a flight from Manila to the United States Tuesday night.

“We anticipate some information from her shortly,” Sheriff Lombardo said during a press conference. “She is currently a person of interest.”

News reports also noted that Paddock, in the week before murdering 58 people when he opened fire on an outdoor concert from a 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay, wired $100,000 to an account in the Philippines.

All this may help police piece together his twisted rationale — and may mean that Danley has an important story to reveal about her boyfriend, who killed himself when police stormed his room.

The picture that has emerged of Paddock, 64, is of a calculated, coldblooded animal. This was clearly not a spur-of-the-moment decision, the work of a man who simply “snapped” or “lost it.” The large stockpile of weapons, the sniper towers in the suite, the hammer to knock out the hotel windows — this was obviously a premeditated attack underpinned by careful planning. Police confirmed Tuesday that the shooter had actually set up a camera on a food service cart to monitor the hallway outside his suite.

How could Paddock’s long time girlfriend, then, not have noticed that something was amiss? Paddock’s brother told reporters that his relative owned only a handful of guns. Did Danley not think it was unusual when her boyfriend began accumulating such a significant arsenal at their home? While that’s not at all illegal or even unusual, did such a shift in behavior not raise concerns?

President Donald Trump, who will be in Las Vegas on Wednesday, said on Tuesday that Paddock was a “sick man, a demented man” who had a “lot of problems.” If his mental state were deteriorating, why didn’t Danley alert someone, particularly as Paddock stockpiled weapons? What about the cash he wired abroad? Is that connected to this tragedy?

Police will no doubt look into these issues and many more when they have the opportunity to interview Marilou Danley. In the meantime, the investigation will continue into Paddock’s background, his habits and activities and his computer records. While some mysteries remain unsolved, it’s a certainty that investigators will blanket every possible angle to ensure their probe eventually yields results.

Because the victims, their families and the public all need answers.