Cremated remains of Las Vegas mass shooter to be kept in safe deposit box, brother says

Without fanfare, the cremated remains of Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock were released to his brother, who said he intends to store them in a bank deposit box “to make sure there’s no hoopla around Steve’s remains.”

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg issued a statement Thursday saying that, “due to security concerns, we felt it was important to deliver the remains in a secure manner, which was accomplished.”

Fudenberg said they weren’t issuing any other information on the case involving the 64-year-old Paddock, who killed 58 and wounded hundreds from his 32nd floor hotel room of the Mandalay Bay resort as he fired into a crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest country music concert on Oct. 1.

Eric Paddock picked up the remains and told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he didn’t plan to keep the remains in his home in Orlando, Fla.

“I’m putting the ashes in a safe deposit box in a bank in order to make sure that there’s no hoopla around Steve’s remains,” Eric Paddock told the Review-Journal. “I don’t want someone to do something stupid.”

Paddock also told the paper that he’d had trouble securing the remains and had been told by the coroner that the FBI was going to deliver the remains to him in Florida.

“The coroner originally told me that he had constructed a plan to have the FBI deliver the remains, and this was not the truth,” Paddock said. “He told me he was going to do something, but he didn’t have it in place.”

The coroner said in a statement that because of security concerns he would not be discussing any details related to the transfer of the remains to Stephen Paddock’s next of kin. Eric Paddock did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Last month, Fudenberg said Stephen Paddock died by shooting himself in the mouth. His brain has been shipped to Stanford University to be studied with hopes it might reveal clues about why he carried out the massacre. The autopsy report also has not been released.

The motive behind the shooting remains unknown, though Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has said Stephen Paddock — a heavy gambler with a particular penchant for video poker — appeared to have been losing in recent years. The FBI has said it will release more information about its investigation later this year.

Search warrants and affidavits unsealed by a judge last week showed that Paddock assembled an arsenal of firearms, ammunition and explosives and had been planning the shooting for some time. Various emails related to the purchase of weapons and gun accessories.

Some warrants, affidavits and other documents remain under seal. On Tuesday, a state court judge did not unseal the remaining documents after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department lawyers said other charges could be brought in the shooting.

Law enforcement has identified Stephen Paddock as the lone gunman in the shooting.

The released search warrants also showed police were investigating his girlfriend’s social media accounts and she had been named a person of interest shortly after the shooting.

Marilou Danley wasn’t in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting and flew back from the Philippines to answer questions from investigators related to the crime. She was cooperative and issued a statement through her lawyer at the time saying she had no knowledge Paddock was going to commit the crime and that she was devastated by it.

david.montero@latimes.com

Twitter: @davemontero