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In the aftermath of a deadly mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in October 2017, conspiracy theorists latched on to an entirely unrelated tragedy in upstate New York, falsely claiming a link between a murder-suicide perpetrated in Fairport, New York, and the actions of the Las Vegas shooter: Articles explicating this conspiracy theory contained many details and factual claims that were not supported by any real evidence, and even cited evidence that, in reality, comprehensively disproved any link between the deaths of John Beilman and his daughter and the Las Vegas shooting massacre. Here is what we know to be true: On 4 October 2017, police in the town of Fairport, New York (about 10 miles from Rochester) confirmed that 60-year-old John Beilman had shot and killed his 27-year-old daughter Nicole before shooting and killing himself. Beilman left a note for his wife, but the motive behind the shooting is not known. Police confirmed that Nicole Beilman was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can severely impair an individuals ability to speak, walk, eat and breathe. Two days later, the Rochester newspaper Democrat and Chronicle, citing anonymous sources, reported that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had searched the Beilman home on 3 October 2017, the day before the shooting. That article does not provide any specifics as to the reason for the purported search. Claims that Beilman's actions have anything to do with the Las Vegas massacre rest on the following evidence: This claim is inaccurate, and was known to be inaccurate at the time both articles were written. On 6 October 2017, NBC News reported that investigators, after earlier being puzzled by the presence of the phone charger, have now been able to match all of the cell phone chargers found in the room with multiple cell phones that Paddock had with him. Without providing any evidence, both articles claim that S.V.R. (Russian intelligence) sources had identified the device as charging a CP502520 3.0V 600mAh Li-MnO2 Non-rechargeable Thin Cell Battery. Setting aside the fact that there is no evidence to support this claim, we know it to be impossible. The battery specified is non-rechargeable -- there is no charger that is compatible with it, so the charger found in the Las Vegas shooter's hotel room cannot be associated with it. The entire conspiracy theory falls down around this point alone, but let's briefly address some of its other components. Even if the charger could work with the type of battery specified (it cannot) we know that this battery is used in both professional & consumer applications, according to its manufacturer, Ultralife Corporation. There is nothing particularly notable about its use, or the use of the (imaginary) charger associated with it. Some of the common applications listed include: smart security cards, bank theft tracking systems, and medical devices. None of these are exclusive to U.S. special forces or the CIA. This appears to be accurate. Beilman's public LinkedIn profile lists him as an employee of Ultralife from 2007 to 2012 and mentions that he performed electromechanical assembly of lithium ion batteries, chargers, and other devices. Whereas conspiracy theorists posited that Beilman worked on various top-secret communications systems for the US military, there is no evidence to support this claim. Given that police have paired the charger found in Stephen Paddock's hotel room with one of his phones, and the battery at the center of this conspiracy theory cannot be charged anyway, John Beilman's work history is, of course, irrelevant. There was no evidence to support these claims. It appears that the creators of this theory started with the fact of John Beilman and his daughter's death, and worked backwards, via his professional history, in an effort to find some way of connecting him with the Las Vegas shooting. There is no valid connection, and the evidence offered actually refutes the entire theory. In fact, this tale was yet another fabrication that originated with the conspiracy-mongering WhatDoesItMean fake news site, which RationalWiki describes as follows: Nonetheless, the WhatDoesItMean.com fabrication gained enough currency online that the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle felt a need to debunk it as well: The 1 October mass shooting in Las Vegas has prompted a slew of conspiracy theories and hoaxes, many focused on the involvement of second shooter. During a press briefing on the day after the massacre, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo directly rejected such theories:
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