A Sunday morning autopsy revealed that McNair died of four gunshot wounds — two in the head, two in the chest — sometime early Saturday. The woman police say McNair was dating, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, died of a gunshot wound to the side of the head. A semi-automatic pistol was found on the floor under her body.
It will take many days of interviews with their families and friends and witnesses who saw the 36-year-old McNair out on the town Friday night before police will rule whether the deaths were a murder-suicide or a double homicide.
“While it is clear McNair’s death is a homicide, the police department is not classifying Kazemi’s death, pending further investigation and interviews with persons who knew her and McNair,” police spokesman Don Aaron said at press conference this afternoon.
Rumors are swirling wildly around the deaths of the local sports hero, who is married with four boys, and the vivacious young waitress he had been seeing for several months.
Both their names appear on the title of the new Escalade she was driving, and the two were seen often together both at her Hermitage apartment and at the rented Second Avenue condominium where both of them died.
Police have little to say about the crime scene itself. The door of the condominium was locked securely when one of McNair’s friends arrived Saturday morning. He found McNair dead on the couch and Kazemi sprawled on the floor nearby.
The autopsy was able to answer some questions — contrary to rumor, initial results indicate Kazemi was not pregnant. Both victims were found fully clothed.
But many questions remain. It will be weeks before toxicology tests reveal whether either of them had alcohol or drugs in their systems. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives are tracing the gun’s registration to determine whether it belonged to McNair or someone else. McNair is licensed to carry a handgun in Tennessee.
Police are still trying to trace their final hours. Witnesses saw McNair at several night clubs around town, including the Blue Moon Lagoon and Losers. He returned to the condominium around 1:30 a.m. and neighbors said Kazemi’s Escalade was already in her parking spot.
Just days earlier, Nashville police had stopped the Escalade on Broadway and charged Kazemi, who was not even old enough to drink legally, with driving under the influence. Aaron said she has no other criminal record in Davidson County.
McNair was in the passenger’s seat and was not charged, in spite of the fact that as the co-owner of the car he was legally liable. He was arrested for driving under the influence and illegal gun possession in 2003.
Around 7 a.m. on the Fourth of July, McNair’s friend, Wayne Neeley, unlocked the condo he was co-renting with McNair. He spotted McNair on the couch and Kazemi on the floor, but walked past them to the kitchen, apparently not realizing anything was amiss. It was only when he returned to the living room that he realized both had been dead for several hours, Aaron said.
He then called another friend who joined him at the condo. They placed a call to police at about 7:35 a.m.
For now, Aaron said, police are considering every possibility as they try piece together what happened that night. They are not ruling out the possibility that someone else might be responsible for the deaths.
“We can’t be close-minded…All scenarios are on the table, he said “We’ve already begun talking to their friends to ascertain any squabbles they were having, were they upset with each other and if so, why.”
Story/pix via Tennessean.com
No comments:
Post a Comment