More discrepancies in Las Vegas Metro Police reports on October 1 Massacre

LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released the final batch of its October 1 records pertaining to the criminal investigation of the worst mass shooting in modern American history and the largest homicide investigation in the history of the department.

The Baltimore Post-Examiner has reported in several prior stories the discrepancies and false statements that were contained in both the LVMPD’s Preliminary Investigative Report that was released in January 2018 and its final report that was released in August 2018.

The recently released documents on March 20 contain more discrepancies and raise more questions.

According to the timeline in the LVMPD final report on September 30, 2017 Stephen Paddock at 3:20 p.m. was seen in a guest elevator with two rolling suitcases and took them to his room.  At 7:52 p.m., Paddock drove from the Mandalay Bay Hotel to Mesquite, Nevada and arrived there at 8:57 p.m.

The report’s timeline for Paddock’s movements on October 1, 2017, states that from 2:23 p.m. to 7:40 p.m., the doors for Rooms 32-134 and 32-135 were manipulated multiple times.  For example, the doors were opened, closed, and the deadbolt locks were engaged and disengaged several times.

In neither of the September 30 or October 1 timelines does the LVMPD report indicate that Paddock was seen at the Luxor Hotel, which is adjacent to the Mandalay Bay Hotel, at 4:00 p.m. on both days.

According to a report filed by LVMPD Detectives A. McClelland and D. Emerton, on October 5, 2017, they made contact with Johana Magsanoc at her residence and conducted a recorded interview with her. Magsanoc stated that she had contact with Stephen Paddock on the evening of  September 30, 2017, and  October 1, 2017.

Magsanoc is employed as a store clerk at the “Essentials Store” at the Luxor Hotel.

Magsanoc told the detectives that on Saturday around 4 p.m.  Paddock entered the store and inquired about how long the store would be opened and she advised him that the store stays open 24 hours.

Later that evening on Saturday, Paddock went back to the store and purchased two eyeglass repair kits and attempted to charge it to his room and was unsuccessful and then used his credit card as well as a player’s card to receive a discount on his purchases.  Magsanoc also recalled that the player’s card had the name “Marilou Danley” on it.  She said that she noticed that Paddock’s Nevada identification card had a Mesquite address on it and she asked him if he was on a “Staycation,” and he replied “yes” for about two days.

On October 1, 2017, Paddock entered the store at 4 p.m. and asked her specifically if they sold charging cables and she advised him that they did have charging cables in the store and showed him where they were located.  Magsanoc said that Paddock continued to converse with her specifically but did not purchase anything at that time.  He began to ask her about the “Route 91” event and was specific in asking if there were lots of people that attended the event and she replied yes and then he started to ask her questions about “Life Is Beautiful,” just referencing if that event had taken place about a couple of weeks ago and she replied yes.

[The Route 91 Harvest music festival was a three-day event.  Paddock had a full view of the venue from his hotel suite.  Paddock was also in the area of “Life Is Beautiful” from September 17- 28.  He rented three different condos during this period of time at The Ogden in downtown Las Vegas all of which faced north and overlooked the area where ‘Life Is Beautiful” was set up.]

Paddock continued to converse with her, now asking personal questions referencing her nationality, specifically if she was Filipino and if she was married.  She asked him if he had a girlfriend or married and he said: “no, he was not.” Paddock advised her that he would probably be back later for the charger/s if he needed them and then left the store.

Several hours later that is when the incident occurred and the following day, October 2, Magsanoc recognized Paddock’s photo from the news to be the same person that entered the store on both Saturday and Sunday and also recognized the name from the identification he presented along with his credit card and the room number from the player’s card used for the discount.

There is no mention in the detectives report that the police confirmed what Magsanoc had told them.  Surveillance video from the Luxor Hotel as well as Paddock’s credit card transaction would corroborate her account.  Again, there is no mention in the timeline of Paddock’s movements in the LVMPD final report that mentions Paddock being at the Luxor Hotel on either of those days.

Magsanoc said Paddock purchased two eyeglass repair kits on September 30, 2017.

Were there eyeglasses found on top of Paddock’s head after the shooting?     

When police leaked the crime scene photographs of Paddock and his Mandalay Bay Hotel suite it compromised the criminal investigation. In those photographs, no eyeglasses were visible on top of Paddock’s head or in the immediate area of his body in those photographs.

In our January 3, 2019, Baltimore Post-Examiner article, ‘Las Vegas Metro Lt. William Matchko describes why he moved Paddock’s body,’ Matchko makes no mention that eyeglasses were on top of Paddock’s head when he rolled over his body: “Then we found his main phone – well no, we rolled him – so I grabbed him by the arm. I picked the suspect up on his side. The blood came out of his mouth, went out next to his face. Trzpis checked him for phones. He still had a gun underneath him. I rolled him back. He was obviously dead because he had a bullet in his head.  So I put him back down, he went back in the same position but now the blood on the side of his face is from me rolling him. He had nothing on him.”

None of the coroner’s reports released mention eyeglasses on top of Paddock’s head.

The first LVMPD crime scene analyst to arrive at Room 32-135 of the Mandalay Bay Hotel about one hour after Paddock’s body was discovered by the entry team, makes no mention of eyeglasses being on top of Paddock’s head in her report, however about 18 hours later, another LVMPD crime scene analyst states there were eyeglasses on top of Paddock’s head.

LVMPD Crime Scene Analyst Lara Alexander’s Crime Scene Investigation Report said that she arrived at the Mandalay Bay Hotel at 12:27 a.m. on October 2, 2017.  Alexander described Paddock’s body as follows:

The decedent, a male adult, was on the floor south of the chair and side table.  He was wearing black pants, a long sleeve brown shirt, black gloves, and grey shoes.  He was on his back with his head to the south, feet to the north, and arms at his sides.  There was apparent blood surrounding his nose and mouth, and on the floor under his head.  There was also apparent blood on the front of his shirt.  A rifle was on the floor under his legs.  A grey box cutter was on the floor between his feet. There were cartridge cases on the floor surrounding him.  A silver-colored/black “Smith @ Wesson” revolver with apparent blood on it was on the floor south of the decedent’s head. 

No mention in Alexander’s report of eyeglasses being on top of Paddock’s head.

LVMPD Crime Scene Analyst Brooke Cornell’s Crime Scene Investigation Report states that she arrived at the Mandalay Bay Hotel at 7:19 p.m. on October 2, 2017.  Cornell describes Paddock’s body as follows:

The decedent was a white male with grey hair, beard, and mustache.  He was on his back with his feet to the north and his head to the south.  The decedent was wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt, black pants, black loafers, and brown gloves.  There was a pair of eyeglasses on the top of his head.  A black rifle was on the floor underneath both of his legs. There was apparent blood coming from his mouth and his nose.  There was apparent blood on his face and in his hair.  A pool of blood was on the carpet underneath his head and to the east of his head.  There were no visible injuries or signs of trauma.  [She does not indicate apparent blood on the front of his shirt.]

For more on why Paddock’s body remained in the room for over 22 hours you may want to read the Baltimore Post-Examiner’sDecember 1, 2018 article, ‘Las Vegas Police delayed the release of Paddock’s body to the coroner because FBI hadn’t arrived at the room.’

Cornell also indicates in her report that “A camera was taped to the interior side of the east door inserted into the peephole, with the unattached wire hanging down, but not connected to anything.”  The LVMPD’s final investigative report states“…a laptop computer which provided a live-feed to the camera attached to the peephole of the door.”

Unintentional or Intentional discharge of SWAT officer’s firearm?

According to the LVMPD’s final investigative report:

As the breach occurred and the team began to move, SWAT Officer O’Donnell felt he should change the rate of fire on his rifle to “select fire” which puts the gun into a three-round burst mode.  As he made the switch, which takes hand manipulation, SWAT Officer O’Donnell’s hand slipped which caused the weapon to fire a three-round burst into the wall.

SWAT Officer Levi Hancock stated during his recorded interview with detectives that:  Apparently, Sean from what I gathered had put his gun on select fire and then had the accidental discharge. I asked him if he had seen anything, obviously, that caught me off guard. He said, “I thought I saw something,” and there was – as I peeked the corner, we just had a lot of smoke from the explosive breach.

Brass casing found during Paddock’s autopsy

According to the postmortem examination report an autopsy examination was performed on Stephen Paddock by the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (CCOME), on October 6, 2017, starting at 4:22 p.m.

The body was received within a sealed body bag with seal #541486.  That number was consistent with the coroner’s investigator’s report as the seal number that was placed on the body bag inside Room 32-135 on October 2, 2017, prior to removing the body.

The postmortem examination report states, “Of note, during processing, a brass-like casing adjacent to the head is found.” 

There is no mention of what caliber and/or if it was a pistol or rifle casing that was found next to Paddock’s head during the examination.

The report also does not indicate what seal number was placed on the body bag after the autopsy was concluded, however according to LVMPD Crime Scene Analyst J. Smith’s report, Smith, at approximately 12:52 p.m. on October 14, 2017, Smith responded to the CCOCME.

“At this location digital images were taken of CCOCME tag with the name ‘Stephen Paddock’ and seal #725682.  Seal #725682 after being cut and removed from the body bag and the new seal, #725674, placed on the body bag.  No further action was taken.”

Smith’s report does not indicate why the seal was broken on the body bag eight days after the autopsy was conducted and a new seal number was placed on the bag.

So, why were there eyeglasses on top of Paddock’s head when they weren’t there earlier?

And what type of eyeglasses were they, corrective lenses or just ordinary shooting glasses and where did they come from and who put them on top of Paddock’s head?

There are also numerous LVMPD Crime Scene Investigation Reports that indicate that bullets and bullet fragments were recovered by crime scene analysts that were removed from victims and the areas in and around the Route 91 Harvest music festival.

To date, the FBI has not released any of its forensic analysis reports to the public.

Doug Poppa

Doug authored over 135 articles on the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas Massacre, more than any other single journalist in the country. He investigates stories on corruption, law enforcement and crime. Doug is a US Army Military Police Veteran, former police officer, deputy sheriff and criminal investigator. Doug spent 20 years in the hotel/casino industry as an investigator and then as Director of Security and Surveillance. He also spent a short time with the US Dept. of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration. In 1986 Doug was awarded Criminal Investigator of the Year by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia for his undercover work in narcotics enforcement. In 1992 and 1993 Doug testified in court that a sheriff’s office official and the county prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence during the 1988 trial of a man accused of the attempted murder of his wife. Doug’s testimony led to a judge’s decision to order the release of the man from prison in 1992 and awarded him a new trial, in which he was later acquitted. As a result of Doug breaking the police “blue wall of silence,” he was fired by the county sheriff. His story was featured on Inside Edition, Current Affair and CBS News’ “Street Stories with Ed Bradley”. In 1992 after losing his job, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Doug infiltrated a group of men who were plotting the kidnapping of a Dupont fortune heir and his wife. Doug has been a guest on national television and radio programs speaking on the stories he now writes as an investigative journalist. Catch Doug’s Podcast: @dougpoppa1