The Las Vegas shooter’s girlfriend assured her family she has a “clean conscience” in the wake of Sunday night’s deadly rampage, her brother told ABC News today in the Philippines.
Reynaldo Bustos said he immediately contacted his younger sister, Marilou Danley, when he saw the news that her boyfriend, Stephen Paddock, had allegedly opened fire on a music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring 530 others.
“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,'” Bustos said in his native Tagalog language today outside the capital of Manila in their homeland.
Danley returned to the United States from the Philippines Tuesday night. The 62-year-old Filipino-born woman landed at Los Angeles International Airport at 7:17 p.m. PT on Philippine Air Flight 102.
She was taken out a back way so she wouldn’t be seen in public, and she was met by FBI agents immediately upon landing, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
An official familiar with Danley’s travels told us that the FBI engaged in a highly choreographed scheme to get her back in the country, keep her from being surrounded by a “media zoo” and ensure her comfort so she cooperates with investigators.
The FBI had at least one decoy vehicle at Los Angeles International Airport when Danley landed. She was escorted quickly through customs and then rushed out a secure rear entrance of the airport, the official said.
Investigators from Las Vegas are in Los Angeles to participate in interviewing Danley, but there were no immediate plans to return her to Nevada. While agents met Danley upon landing, the official told us, she is being treated as a “witness” and is not being held in custody, so she is free to go where she pleases.
Detectives did not interview Danley immediately after she landed, instead allowing her to get some rest after a long flight and amid the stress of the ongoing investigation. They plan to question her when she’s ready today, the official said.
The law offices of Matthew Lombard confirmed to ABC News this afternoon that Danley is at the FBI field office in Los Angeles with Lombard, who is representing her.
With no clear indication yet of what led Paddock to allegedly carry out the massacre, investigators hope Danley will shed some light on the motivation behind Sunday night’s shooting.
Authorities say Danley, who lived with Paddock at his home in a Mesquite, Nevada, retirement community where officials searching the residence found a number of weapons, is more than a mere witness.
“Currently she’s a person of interest,” Lombardo said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
She was previously just referred to as a witness whom they were interested in interviewing.
Australia’s Channel 7 interviewed Danley’s sisterst today, with one of them saying Danley was sent away by Paddock so she didn’t interfere with his plans to carry out the shooting. Danley traveled with an Australian passport.
“I know that she don’t know anything as well, like us,” one sister told Channel 7. “She was sent away. She was away so that she will be not there to interfere with what he’s planning.”
The sisters spoke on the condition of anonymity and had their faces blurred during the interview.
“No one can put the puzzles together, no one except Marilou,” one of the sister’s told Channel 7. “Because Steve is not here to talk anymore, only Marilou can maybe help out.”
