If he had used a good simulator @ home, he would be able to try them at least. While we make it sound harder 'mechanically' to impress the girls, flying isn't mechanically that difficult. It is when everything goes bad and rapid and sometimes difficult decisions must be made and executed is where pilots earn their flight pay. Dead man stall is just flying straight up to stall, falling away on your back avoiding the spin. Easier to envision than do in the less than mighty Q400 I'd imagine.. BTW, while props 'can' stall it would be the wing in this case.
From Drudge linked article:
“The 29-year-old man used a machine called a pushback tractor to first maneuver the aircraft so he could board and then take off Friday evening, authorities added.
It’s unclear how he attained the skills to do loops in the aircraft before crashing about an hour after taking off into a small island in the Puget Sound, authorities said.”
And starting both engines with the levers in the right sequence? Knowing when airspeed sufficient for that craft? Sounds fishy.