Steve McNair Memorial Service, Sahel Kazemi Funeral Leave Living with Questions Unanswered

As they held a public viewing Friday for Steve McNair in Mt. Olive, Mississippi, his hometown, friends and family of his girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, were placing her in the ground in Jacksonville, Florida. The 20-year-old had been taken back to Florida after authorities had released her body, according to the New York Daily News. Nashville Police determined Wednesday that Sahel Kazemi was responsible for the shooting death of former NFL football player Steve McNair and was also responsible for her own death.

A possible motive suggested by the Nashville Police was voiced by Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas: "She believed McNair was involved with another woman and that, too, participated in her state of mind, we think."

Sahel Kazemi had moved from Jacksonville to Nashville with her boyfriend at the time, Keith Norfleet. After breaking up with him, she had begun dating Steve McNair five months ago. She had told her family that Steve McNair was getting a divorce and that she planned to marry him.

But she became afraid that McNair was cheating on her with another woman. The police said that she had even followed a woman she suspected after having seen McNair with her. Police spoke with that person but did not divulge a name.

A memorial service was held for Steve McNair in Nashville Thursday. Thousands of fans, friends, and family showed up to pay their final respects, according to various sources. His former teammates from the Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens were there. Jeff Fischer, the Titans coach, said a few words in honor of the fallen quarterback. The Tennessean reported that people from every walk of life had attended the memorial service. One gentleman, a welder, said that McNair was just a country boy at heart and he hoped that his wife forgives him.

But that is an unknown quantity in this equation. Steve McNair's wife, who has yet to speak publicly since the death of her husband, was said to have not known about her husband's affair with Sahel Kazemi. Robert Gaddy, friends of McNair's for over 20 years, said that McNair had never mentioned divorce to him, and he admonished people for speculating on things they didn't know after rumors began to fly about divorce when it was discovered the McNairs had their Nashville house up for sale.

But that was the primary driving force behind the story of Steve McNair's death. As clues about Steve McNair and the secret life he led with his young mistress, Sahel Kazemi, were gathered by the press or given grudgingly by the Nashville Police, speculation ran wild about who did what, where, when, and how. But the most intriguing aspect was the why of it. As each piece of the puzzle was added to the collective whole and a clearer picture began to form, the why of the killings remained shadowy and dark.

And by Wednesday, when Nashville Police classified the killings as a murder-suicide, having found gunshot residue on Sahel Kazemi's hand, the picture only became slightly clearer. Jealousy was offered as a possible motive by the police. Jealousy and the fear of losing the man she thought she might one day marry.

But was that why Sahel Kazemi killed Steve McNair? Was it as simple as that? Jealousy and fear of loss?

Doubtful.

But the whys of Sahel Kazemi's actions died with her, and the police nor the public will ever truly know what drove her to that desperate point, a place where she found that killing her boyfriend was part of a two-part solution.

As for Steve McNair, much of his secret life died with him also. Those who spoke at his memorial service were discreet. They spoke of his love for his wife and four sons.

But funerals and memorial services only dispense with the corporal. Memories of the dead linger on. And with those memories come questions. For Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi, questions about their life together and what brought them to their deaths can now never be fully answered.

But there certainly will be questions...

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Source:

Tennessean.com