HOUSTON – OCTOBER 9: Quarterback Steve McNair #9 of the Tennessee Titans looks on against the … [+] Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on October 9, 2005 in Houston, Texas. The Titans defeated the Texans 34-20. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
The 2009 murder-suicide of former NFL player Steve “Air” McNair is the subject of the latest episode of Untold, Netflix’s anthology documentary series that returned for its fourth season on August 20 and tells dramatic stories from the sports world.
The 58-minute documentary explores McNair’s NFL career, including his incredible run to the Super Bowl with the Tennessee Titans in 2000. The film also addresses unresolved questions surrounding his death, including whether the Nashville police got it wrong about how McNair died.
“One of our main objectives was to just lay all the information out as objectively as possible, and to show his full life, which includes his death,” Untold co-producer Taylor Ward told The Tennessean. “There’s some mystery around it and it’s fascinating to people… There’s equal screen time given to his life as well as the investigation surrounding his death.”
Co-producer Rodney Lucas added that they were grateful McNair’s family was involved with making the documentary. “We were fortunate to have the blessing of enough people connected with Steve to know that we were the real deal and weren’t just out looking for the juiciest hit piece,” he said. “There was a real level of diligence done with this.”
Read on to discover what happened to Steve “Air” McNair and why one private investigator still questions the police’s conclusion about his killer.
What Happened To Steve “Air” McNair?
Photo of Steve “Air” McNair in “Untold: The Murder of Air McNair” on Netflix.
A few years after McNair retired from the NFL, he began an affair with waitress Jenni Kazemi. The 39-year-old ex-football player met the then-19-year-old while she was working at Dave & Buster’s restaurant, where football teams often visited.
Kazemi, whose mother was murdered when she was 9, emigrated to the U.S. from Iran at the age of 13, according to The Tennessean.
“They started to really fall for each other, and it was genuine,” said Emily Andrews, a friend of Kazemi and her roommate at the time, in the documentary. “They had conversations about adopting kids one day together and really building a life together.” They also had allegedly been looking at houses.
While they were dating, McNair was still married to Mechelle, his wife of over a decade. But it appears as though McNair didn’t try to hide his fling with Kazemi; they went on vacations together to Vegas and Florida, visited McNair’s farm in Mississippi, and met each other’s families, according to her friends.
Kazemi told friends and family that McNair was going to divorce his wife and marry her, per documents from the investigation obtained by The Tennessean. He even cosigned the purchase of Kazemi’s black Cadillac Escalade.
One day, Kazemi saw another woman leaving McNair’s condo. Her roommate revealed to police that Kazemi confronted McNair about it and that he assured her she was the only one. Just days before their deaths, on July 1, Kazemi told a friend that she found used condoms in McNair’s apartment.
On that same day, she reportedly approached a man she had known for only a few weeks about buying a gun. While Metro Police initially believed that Kazemi barely knew the man, Adrian Gilliam Jr., The Tennessean later reported that they had known each other for weeks.
On July 2, Kazemi was arrested on DUI charges when pulled over with McNair and one of his friends. She refused a breath test and was arrested, while McNair and his friend were allowed to leave the scene. According to The Tennessean, while McNair arranged for her bail, witnesses said that she was angry with him for not picking her up.
The day before their deaths, on July 3, Kazemi texted McNair several times and was panicking. She was having physical symptoms from the stress in her life. By that afternoon, she texted McNair for a time to meet him after making arrangements to purchase the gun.
That night at work, Kazemi allegedly told her shift manager, “My life is just shit and I should end it.”
Who Killed Steve Air McNair?
Photo of Sahel “Jenni” Kazemi from “Untold: The Murder of Air McNair.”
Investigators ruled Steve Air Mcnair’s death a murder-suicide committed by the former NFL star’s girlfriend Sahel “Jenni” Kazemi. The Metro Nashville Police Department determined that Kazemi shot McNair four times and then shot herself at an apartment in Nashville.
The police cited relationship and financial pressures weighing on the waitress as the motive. Kazemi was experiencing money issues and had bill collectors calling, she told friends.
“I know she was stressed out,” her ex-boyfriend, Keith Norfleet, told police at the time. “I know Jenni, and she’s never been stressed out like that before.” Kazemi’s relationship ended with Norfleet the same month Kazemi met McNair. But Kazemi and Norfleet began seeing each other again in the months before their death.
Police interrogated Norfleet after he posted a cryptic quote on his MySpace profile: “never let anything or anyone come in between you and the one you love because when you do you lose everything.”
Norfleet admitted that he was in love with ex-girlfriend but was heartbroken that she was “gonna be with my favorite player of all time,” he recalled in Untold. During the investigation, he told police he had no knowledge of the apartment where McNair and Kazemi were found dead.
What Are The Doubts Surrounding Steve “Air” McNair’s Death?
Steve McNair #9, Quarterback for the Tennessee Titans runs the ball during the American Football … [+] Conference Central game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on 5 November 2000 at the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville,Tennessee, United States. The Titans won the game 9 – 7. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Private investigator Vincent Hill appeared in Untold: The Murder of Air McNair to point out some discrepancies in the murder investigation. “Police made a lot of mistakes,” Hill claimed in the Netflix doc.
The doubts revolve around Adrian Gilliam Jr., the man who sold Kazemi the handgun that was found at the murder scene. Cell phone records show that Kazemi and Gilliam had exchanged 203 phone calls and text messages in the three weeks leading up to the murder.
Gilliam was also reportedly one of the last people to speak to Kazemi at 12:02 am on July 4. He told police he was headed to a friend’s house during the time of the murders, but in a past recording played in Untold, his alibi said that wasn’t true.
Hill published his theories in his book Playbook to a Murder. The private investigator also requested to reopen the case in 2010, but a grand jury found insufficient evidence to do so, according to The Tennessean.
“She didn’t do it,” Hill said at the time of the ruling. “It’s unfortunate they decided to keep it closed. The only person to have that gun was Gilliam, his alibi was contradicted (but) he was cleared as a murder suspect.”
However, Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said the department stood by its findings and pointed out that Hill was never a detective. Hill left the police force after a disciplinary dispute two years before McNair was killed.
Untold: The Murder of Air McNair is streaming on Netflix.
Check out the official trailer for Untold Season 4 below.