Nashville police confirmed this afternoon that former NFL QB Steve McNair was the victim of a murder-suicide when he was found dead with his 20-year-old mistress, Sahel Kazemi, on Saturday.
“Steve McNair was murdered by Sahel Kazemi,” chief Ronal Serpas said today at a news conference.
Updates from the news conference below:
The totality of the evidence clearly points to a murder-suicide.
The chief said speculation was wild and inaccurate in the days after the deaths.
McNair was likely asleep when he died, seated on the sofa. After four shots into McNair, Kazemi positioned herself on the sofa next to him and shot herself in the side of the head.
There was no gunshot residue evidence on McNair’s hands and there were no signs of a struggle.
“We believe it was likely Kazemi shot Mr. McNair and he didn’t know,” Serpas said.
The chief described Kazemi as “distraught” in the final days of her life. Kazemi believed that McNair was involved with another woman, the chief said.
The chief called it “unusual” but not “unheard of” that there was a 44-minute delay between Wayne Neely finding the bodies and police being notified.
There was no suicide note.
Keith Norfleet, Kazemi’s ex-boyfriend, is “no longer a suspect,” Serpas said.
Timing of the shots is difficult to place. But the four shots fired at McNair were “likely very quick,” the chief said.
No drugs and no drug paraphernalia were found at the scene.
Kazemi told a co-worked that she “was thinking about ending it,” Serpas said. “These last several days of her life it was obvious that she was starting to make some very poor decisions.”
Kazemi had suspicions that McNair was involved with another woman before she was arrested for DUI on July 2, two days before the deaths.
Wayne Neely acknowledged moving one shell casing. But Serpas said police were satisfied that critical evidence was not moved.
Police think Kazemi tried to position herself so that she would slide into McNair’s lap after she delivered a fatal gunshot wound to herself. She eventually fell near his feet.
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