I have to say that this smacks of the story of Osama bin Laden’s body being pitched off a ship at an undisclosed location in the ocean, but the word from Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock’s brother is that his brother’s body was cremated, but getting the coroner to deliver the remains to him was another issue.
Eric Paddock, who made national headlines with his infamous interview where he seemed to almost spill the beans on his brother but stopped himself, spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday and told them about his brother’s remains and the difficulty he has had obtaining them.
“The coroner seems to think that there has to be some chain of custody because of the criminal investigation,” Paddock said of Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg. “But his remains have nothing to do with the investigation.”
“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 added. “He told me he was going to do something, but he didn’t have it in place.”
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However, Fudenberg had apparently said he would attempt to ship the remains to the Orlando Police Department and let Paddock make arrangements to pick them up.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal added:
Fudenberg had sent Stephen Paddock’s brain tissue to Stanford University School of Medicine for a neuropathological examination to look for possible disorders that might explain his erratic behavior. On Oct. 1, Paddock fired into a crowd of concertgoers with high-powered rifles from his 32nd-floor Mandalay Bay hotel room, leaving 58 people dead and more than 500 others injured.
Eric Paddock said his family did not object to the Stanford examination of his brother’s brain.
Fudenberg released a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“We are working to deliver the remains in a secure manner to ensure the suspect’s next of kin receives the remains,” he said. “Due to security concerns, we will not be discussing any details related to this.
“As you know, we recently released the cause and manner of death in this case.”
Paddock is said to have shot himself in the head as police sought to enter his hotel room.
Eric Paddock said his family had not received a report concerning the autopsy performed on his brother either. It’s been more than three months since the man died! Why was no autopsy report sent to the family?
Since just days after the shooting, Eric Paddock has been trying to get the remains sent to Orlando, where he and his mother live. He was also the one who made the request to have his brother cremated.
However, on Thursday, a day after the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran the story, Paddock received his brother’s remains, but he had to purchase airline tickets and fly to Las Vegas to pick them up.
Again, from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
The remains were contained in a black plastic box sealed with red tape with the word “evidence” written on it. The label bears Stephen Paddock’s name and says his body was cremated on Dec. 21.
Fudenberg issued a statement Thursday confirming that his office turned over the ashes to Eric Paddock.
“Due to security concerns, we felt it was important to deliver the remains in a secure manner, which was accomplished,” he said. “At this time we are not releasing any additional information related to this case.”
Paddock said he did not understand why Fudenberg “decided to play games” with his brother’s ashes.
“This is a thing that is done when someone dies. That’s all it is,” Paddock said. “If it had just been handled that way, it would have been done the day after he was cremated.”
Paddock said it would have cost $157 for the coroner’s office to mail his brother’s remains to him in Orlando. Instead, he had to pay $1,500 for an airline ticket.
“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,” Paddock said. “I don’t want someone to do something stupid.”
“I’m going back to my life,” Paddock said outside the coroner’s office.
I”m not exactly sure why the man’s ashes would be considered “evidence.” However, it appears they will be finding their final resting place inside a bank somewhere in Florida.
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