LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — In response to the now publicly available FBI documents, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is reiterating its position from 2018, when the joint investigation concluded. At that time, and still to this day, law enforcement is unable to determine Stephen Paddock's motive.
Metro cautions that speculating on a specific motive causes more harm to the victims from that horrible night. They want to emphasize these are the same documents examined in the original investigation - so while this information has now been made public, they don't believe it sheds new light on the case.
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While the motive will most likely never be known, we do have insight on Paddock's behavior.
13 Investigates spoke with a body language expert in 2018 when MGM released security camera video.
Dr. Jack Brown analyzed Paddock's movements in these videos over several days leading up to 1 October.
He zeroed in on two telltale signs that he says illustrate something was not right with Paddock.
"There's not any one thing that says, 'this guy's a killer,' or this is an absolute, 'call the police right now kind of behavior'," he said. "But, there are definitely anxiety tells and abnormal behavior to the point where it depends on your screening level."
Dr. Brown said Paddock was clearly anxious, but trying hard to appear casual. He noted the rocking back and forth motion Paddock was doing outside the elevator as a significant sign of anxiety countered by forced casual postures inside the elevator to make him seem relaxed.
He also pointed to a specific facial expression he could only describe as "spooky."
"That center forehead going up, a little bit of a mouth smile, that's a person with low empathy and low sincerity, and that's also got a very high correlation with sociopathic behavior," Dr. Brown said.
Dr. Brown said while that's an expression we all make once in a while, it raises red flags when a person does it often, like in the cases of convicted serial killers and foreign leaders. Dr. Brown specifically singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin to 13 Investigates - saying Paddock's expression is eerily similar.
Again, none of this analysis helps reveal motive, but Dr. Brown said it did provide clues into Paddock's state of mind.
