Las Vegas killer Stephen Paddock 'sent girlfriend away to the Philippines' days before massacre

The Las Vegas massacre gunman sent his girlfriend to visit relatives in the Philippines before the attack so that she would not interfere with his plans, her sisters have claimed.

Police will interview Marilou Danley, 62 on Wednesday after it emerged Stephen Paddock wired $100,000 to her ahead of his killing spree. 

Paddock sent the money to the Philippines last week, authorities in Manila said on Wednesday, citing the FBI. 

"Danley arrived in the Philippines last month, and then there was a wire transfer to her account for $100,000 from Stephen," Nick Suarez, spokesman for the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), told AFP.

Police said Ms Danley, a former casino worker and an Australian citizen, was not believed to be involved.

Speaking for the first time on Tuesday night, Ms Danley's family said they believed Paddock had sent her away deliberately in the run up to the attacks. 

“I know she don’t know anything as well like us. She was sent away. She was away so that she will be not there to interfere with what he’s planning,” her sisters said in an interview with Australia's Channel 7 News. 

"She didn't even know that she was going to the Philippines until Steve said 'Marilou, I found you a cheap ticket to the Philippines," they added.

Ms Danley was met by FBI agents at Los Angeles airport late on Tuesday night and is being treated as a "person of interest".

She was not arrested, and was free to go wherever she wanted, but agents were expected to speak to her in an attempt to discover what led Paddock to carry out America's worst mass shooting, killing 59 people as they attended a country music festival.

"Her trip back to the US was coordinated with FBI authorities," a police official said, adding that she had left Manila unescorted and was returning to clear her name of any involvement in the shooting.

Philippines immigration spokeswoman Antonette Mangrobang said Ms Danley had arrived in the Philippines on September  25 on a flight from Hong Kong. That was nearly a week before Paddock carried out the attack.

Investigators sweeping the at the Mandalay Bay Hotel from which Paddock launched his assault found no fewer than 23 guns, including a Kalashnikov and AR-15 assault rifles, and a vast stockpile of  of military grade .223 calibre ammunition.  

Pictures have emerged from the hotel room showing Paddock lying dead, surrounded by weapons and spent ammunition.

At least two of the weapons had been set up on tripods at windows overlooking the concert site. 

Police said they believed he had used 10 suitcases to smuggle the weapons up to the room, which he had checked into using an ID belonging to Ms Dandy four days earlier. 

Officers also found Ms Danley's slot machine card, which he had apparently been using to gamble with.

Pictures emerged on Tuesday of Paddock in the Philippines at what appeared to be a gathering of her family. 

Security expert Jeffrey Simon, author of Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat, said: "I think the girlfriend is key. Hopefully, she may be able to provide some answers.

"But we may have America's worst mass shooting and never know really why it happened."

In brief | Worst US mass shootings