My NFL Forums | NFL Forums & Blogs

Jealousy Drove Lover To Kill Dozing NFL Hero

Jealousy drove a former American football quarterback's 20-year-old girlfriend to shoot him dead while he slept and then kill herself, a Nashville police chief has said.

Sahel Kazemi is believed to have fired at 36-year-old Steve McNair's head while he dozed on the couch of his condominium early on July 4.

She then blasted three more bullets into his skull and body, police said.

After the killing, the young woman sat down beside the NFL star and shot herself in the head, apparently intending to fall into his lap. Her body later slid to the floor.

Kazemi was working as a waitress in Nashville, Tennessee, when she met McNair, who bought her a 2007 Cadillac sports utility vehicle and took her on vacations.

Several days before the slaying, Kazemi had seen someone she thought might be McNair's new girlfriend leaving the apartment and followed her, the chief said.

Kazemi, who came from an immigrant Iranian family, bought a gun for $100 (£87) after concluding McNair, who was married with four sons, had another lover, police said.

Her relatives have said she believed McNair planned to divorce his wife and marry her - but no divorce papers were ever filed.

A memorial service was scheduled for Thursday at Nashville's LP Field, before a burial in McNair's native Mississippi.

Police said Kazemi was also worried about money. They discovered she was paying for two cars and her rent was doubling.

Officers had stopped the couple for speeding and suspected drink driving just two days before their deaths. Kazemi had been at the wheel.

She was caught on a police dashboard camera trying to walk along white line for a sobriety test.

The young woman was arrested and placed in the back of a police car but McNair was not charged. He later bailed Kazemi out of jail.

McNair did extensive charity work in Nashville, having played most of his 13 seasons in the NFL with the hometown Tennessee Titans and its predecessor team, the Houston Oilers.

He had the reputation of being a fearless quarterback who overcame many painful injuries.

McNair led the Titans to the Super Bowl in 2000 but lost the game to the St Louis Rams, and was the NFL's co-Most Valuable Player in 2003.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...%2C_Police_Say