Steve McNair Shooting Update

By TChris, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 04:04:48 PM EST
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More facts have come to light in the shooting death of Steve McNair. Police yesterday ruled the death a homicide, a fairly obvious conclusion given that McNair was shot twice in the head and twice in the stomach. The remaining question is whether the single shot in the head of McNair's girlfriend resulted from another homicide or a suicide.

One of the factual uncertainties noted in our original post -- that the presence of a gun was not immediately apparent when the police arrived -- has been resolved by news that the gun was found under the girlfriend's dead body. Evidence in support of the murder-suicide theory became stronger today as police revealed a report that the girlfriend purchased a gun a couple of days before she was found dead. While the police have wisely refrained from jumping to conclusions, this increasingly looks like a tragic case of murder-suicide.

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Steve McNair Shooting Update | 14 comments (14 topical)

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I have to give the police credit (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by nycstray on Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 06:20:18 PM EST

from what I've seen. The guy was pretty specific in saying it was important to not be blinded by what seems obvious and to be thorough. I do think we will get a murder/suicide "verdict", but best to have it right.

Very sad all the way around. Hopefully some of his charity work will continue in his name.

The whole thing is a shame. (5.00 / 3) (#4)
by Anne on Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 08:05:10 PM EST

And what is happening is exactly what I was afraid of - the outstanding career of a dedicated athlete, whom teammates and contemporaries all remember as a consummate professional with a huge heart, is being lost in the swirling truth and rumors of infidelity and speculation about the circumstances of his death.

I guess that's to be expected when someone dies in such a violent manner, but everyone seems to have a theory about what happened; maybe it's all the CSI and Law & Order that people have been watching that has turned them all into forensics specialists and criminal lawyers.

I think - here's my two-cent theory, lol - that with multiple gunshots, there's no question McNair did not kill himself. The one gunshot wound to the temple of Ms. Kazemi certainly could have been self-inflicted, but I don't think that's definitive. As for the police not looking for suspects, that could be as simple as their believing that all the suspects are already known to them, and they don't have to look for some unknown person.

Steve McNair was a great football player; that's not in question, and this shouldn't change that. No one can know everything that was on someone's inside by what they see on the outside, so it's not my place to judge. The paths our lives take are a combination of the choices we make and the choices others make that involve us. Whatever choices McNair made, maybe he'd have made different ones if he knew how it was going to turn out, but then again, maybe it wasn't his choices that led to his violent death, but hers.

Who knows? I just hope his kids get a lot of help dealing with this.

911 (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by Jlvngstn on Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 08:26:01 PM EST

how many times have you watched a real crime news program and they insinuate guilt because the person who found the bodies didn't immediately call 911?

His roommate found the bodies and called someone else.

EVERYONE acts differently in these situations, it is silly to assume that someone who does not call 911 immediately is guilty of wrongdoing..

"she was so happy... (none / 0) (#1)
by Dadler on Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 04:22:54 PM EST

"...she just had it made, you know, with this guy taking care of everything."

this quote from her sister/aunt seems to point in that direction, as well.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......... (none / 0) (#6)
by cpinva on Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 03:40:05 AM EST

perhaps i'm the intellectual victim of too many csi-like shows, both real and fictional, but something just sounds weird about this to me.

i'll wait for more data, like testing for gunshot residue on the gf's hand/wrist, which there presumably would be, if she was the shooter. as well, the location of the gun bothers me, given the reported fatal head wound to her; she shot herself in the head, and her arm ended up (with gun in hand) underneath her?

as i said, perhaps i've been conditioned by too much "educational" and fictional tv, but i'll wait for the forensics on this.

aside from all that, clearly this is a tragedy, for both them and their respective families. i always liked steve "air" mcnair, thought he was an excellent qb, and seemed like a stand-up team mate and regular guy. i even hoped at one point, when he was released by tn, that the redskins might pick him up.

The girlfriend did it (none / 0) (#7)
by jbindc on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 04:36:26 PM EST

Shot McNair as he probably was asleep.

She had GSR on her hands.

Really... (none / 0) (#8)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 04:48:07 PM EST

...did she have firearms training, much less ever fired a gun? Pretty good, no too good, of a shot at that distance from just having bought the gun within days of the shooting.

It is possible that a 3rd party put the gun in her hand and fired off a round to get the GSR on her hand.

Pretty fishy that someone shoots themselves in the head and gun ends up underneath them--given the recoil of a pistol.

Could have been the ex, could have been one of her family members (an honor killing)--could have been any number of things. Let's not find her guilty until all the evidence is in.


Yes Amazing (none / 0) (#9)
by squeaky on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 05:05:50 PM EST

How quickly some will jump to conclusions, or just parrot what the police say. Not to mention that the 20 year old woman has somehow turned into a "girl". Must have been that GSR reverses aging.


Um (none / 0) (#11)
by jbindc on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 05:50:18 PM EST

What on earth are you talking about? Who called her a "girl"? She was his "girlfriend" - a standard term. I guess we could say she was his lover, but that conveys way more information than we all need.


: Change (none / 0) (#12)
by squeaky on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 06:01:00 PM EST

Start local, go global.

Huh? (none / 0) (#10)
by jbindc on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 05:49:07 PM EST

How much firearms training do you need to shoot someone in the temple from next to their head?

They said they believe she sat down on the couch next to him because she wanted to fall into his lap, but apparently fell on the floor, so that's how the gun ended up behind her.

Plus she told many people for weeks her life was a mess and she "wanted to end it".

But it's the police saying it, so of course, they must be wrong.


Well... (none / 0) (#13)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 09:11:45 PM EST

...we'll just say that I have reasonable doubts. The DA probably wouldn't want me on the jury.

I'll leave it up to the Court to determine her guilt or lack thereof, not the police.


: Not sure which Court (none / 0) (#14)
by jbindc on Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 11:27:21 AM EST

you want to conclude anything. The case is closed and since she's dead, they aren't going to try her or anything.

Rove did it. (none / 0) (#15)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 12:08:08 PM EST

Nice catch.
