The late father of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock was reportedly a bank robber who was placed on the FBI Most Wanted list.
Eric Paddock, the shooter’s brother, told the Orlando Sentinel that their father was Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, who also went by Patrick Benjamin Paddock.
Historical newspaper articles obtained by Fox News indicated that Benjamin was behind three bank robberies in Arizona in 1960, escaped from a Texas prison, and lived a double life as a manager of a bingo parlor in Oregon.
The Arizona Republic reported that Benjamin, then 34, was indicted on October 6, 1960, for stealing nearly $25,000 from three bank robberies in Phoenix. The 34-year-old tried to run an agent over with his car during his arrest, according to an article by the Tucson Daily Citizen.
The New York Daily News reported that Benjamin made his way onto the Most Wanted list in February 1969 after escaping from the Federal Correctional Institution at La Tuna in Texas, where he was serving a 20-year sentence.
A few months after his escape, Benjamin carried out a bank robbery in San Francisco—leading the FBI to add him to their Top 10 Most Wanted list, according to VICE.
His wanted poster described the fugitive as being “diagnosed as psychopathic,” and having “suicidal tendencies.”
Authorities located Benjamin in the late 70s running a bingo parlor in Eugene, Oregon. Reason.com reports that he was arrested in 1978 but was released on parole. He faced seven racketeering charges in 1987 in Oregon but was only fined $100,000.
Public records indicated that Benjamin returned to Texas, where he died in 1998.
One of the Las Vegas shooter’s brothers, Bruce Paddock told NBC News that Stephen—unlike their bank robber father—was “law-abiding” and didn’t suffer from a mental illness.
“He never got into fights. He never did anything violent. He’s kinda laid-back, never in a hurry,” Bruce said. “I don’t know how he could stoop to this low point, hurting someone else … He killed a bunch of people and then killed himself so he didn’t have to face whatever it was.”
[Featured Image: Facebook/FBI]
