And McNair Makes Six

When I first heard the circumstances surrounding the deaths of former Tennessee Titans/Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair and his twenty-year old Iranian girlfriend Sahel Kazemi, the first thing that came to my mind was-honor killing. This was pretty much reinforced when I heard Sahel's family had disapproved of the relationship between her and McNair due to the "age" of McNair.

Then again, Middle-Eastern women who are the victims of honor killings tend not to look and dress like this.



I think its pretty cut-and-dried, a case of murder suicide. For one thing, Kazemi purchased a gun just two days before the deaths, though whether the gun used in the deaths of the two is yet to be made clear.

For another, McNair and wife Mechelle had recently arranged for the sale of their Nashville home, and intended to purchase another home together. Putting two and two together, it looks like Kazemi received notice that McNair was not planning on leaving his wife, which would suggest the relationship between her and McNair was going nowhere. It might have been more than she could process rationally, especially if McNair had led her to believe otherwise.

It could well be that the Cadillac Escalade the two of them had been pulled over in, Kazemi being then arrested for DUI, might have been intended as a parting gift. I have read reports, from family, friends, and co-workers (she was a waitress when McNair met her) that she was a free-spirited sort, easy-going by nature, who would never hurt a fly. And, I have read she was a pot-head who didn't seem to have a lot on the ball. No one is qualified to judge based on such scant knowledge, which in the case of family can hardly be considered objective.

One things for sure, this has definitely been a bloody and death filled last couple of weeks for celebrity figures. Robert McNamara just died too, by the way, so make that seven.