Gaddy: McNair Not Getting Divorce

((HT: Tennessean/Jim Wyatt))

Steve McNair and his wife were selling their Nashville home to buy another one, not to prepare for a divorce, said the longtime friend who called 911 after McNair's bloodied body was found Saturday.
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Robert Gaddy ((pictured, thanks Tennessean/Bill Steber)) said talk that the former Titans quarterback and his wife, Mechelle, were splitting is off base.

"People need to quit talking about what they don't know. Mac never said anything to me about he was going to get a divorce, and ever since this has all happened everybody is trying to paint a certain picture and they need to talk about what they know," Gaddy said Tuesday. He has been friends with McNair for nearly 20 years, dating to their playing days in college.

Gaddy said the McNairs' house in the Green Hills section of Nashville is on the market because they were moving somewhere else together. A local real estate agent said he showed another house to the McNairs more than six months ago.

"People can have all the theories they want, but we haven't even put my man to rest yet or put him in the ground," Gaddy said. "Show some respect for the family. It's crazy.''

Gaddy also defended another friend's decision not to immediately call police after first arriving at the crime scene on Saturday. "The man just panicked," Gaddy said of Wayne Neely, who rented the condominium with McNair.

McNair was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest and died early Saturday. Sahel Kazemi, the 20-year-old woman McNair had been dating, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, and a semi-automatic pistol was found on the floor under her body.

Police aren't classifying the deaths as a murder-suicide, though state medical examiner Bruce Levy has said it's a likely scenario based on the evidence.

Police say Neely called Gaddy after he discovered the bodies around 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Gaddy called 911 around 1:35 p.m.

Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said Monday that detectives were concerned about the length of time it took for police to be called.

Aaron said police do not believe the bodies were moved. When asked if other evidence may have been moved, he said he couldn't comment.

Gaddy said he called police within 60 seconds of walking in the room and seeing the bodies.

He said Neely reacted like others might have. In a panic, Neely called Gaddy three more times while he was en route to the condominium, Gaddy said.

"You have to understand, it freaked me out so, with Wayne being the person he is. He saw (the bodies) and didn't know what to do. He was nervous about it,'' Gaddy said. "Maybe he should have called 911 first, and I wish he had, because then I wouldn't have seen what I saw. Because that is not how I want to remember my best friend.

"Wayne thought he was doing the best thing. A lot of people don't think so, but at the time and the moment, who can question what anyone would have done in that circumstance?''

Police and emergency officials have declined to release the tape of Gaddy's 911 call, citing the ongoing investigation.

Gaddy was questioned by police on Saturday. He said Tuesday that he doesn't know what's going on with the investigation.

He was not with McNair on Friday night. He said he knows very little about Kazemi, whom police say McNair had been dating for several months.

"I told (detectives) what I knew about the young lady, which wasn't much," Gaddy said. "I just want to know the truth. I just can't fathom what went through that young lady's head.''

When asked if he'd ever met Kazemi, Gaddy replied:

"I am not talking about that young lady. I have a best friend's wife I am more concerned with than that. Don't ask me nothing like that, because I care not to comment.''

Gaddy, a former player for the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League, said he and McNair remained in close contact, last talking the Tuesday before the slayings.

Kazemi's family members have said the 20-year-old told them McNair had plans to leave his wife, something Gaddy disputes.

The McNair home is on the market.

Sean Simons, an agent with Shirley Zeitlin & Co. Realtors, said he showed Steve and Mechelle McNair a home on Two Rivers Road in Franklin at the end of 2008.

"Steve was there, so was Mechelle and the boys,'' Simons said. "It had 9 acres, too. … Their agent said they were looking at two other properties but I never heard back after that. But they looked happy. Everyone was out there together.''
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Mechelle McNair has not spoken publicly about the death.

Kazemi's family has said she believed McNair was in the process of divorcing his wife when they met at her job at an Opry Mills restaurant several months ago and began dating. There is no record of a divorce filing for the McNairs.

Gaddy said if they had plans to divorce, he would have known.

"That's one thing that I can get straightened out," he said. "Steve and Mechelle both put that house for sale. He was getting ready to sell that house, and they were going to buy another house. They have been house-hunting for some time now. ... Steve and Mechelle were fine.''

Gaddy, however, said he isn't. He said he hasn't slept since Saturday's discovery, his mind filled with guilt and an image he believes will haunt him forever.

"All I do is picture what I saw and what could have transpired to cause it, and all I think about is what I could have done to prevent it,'' he said.

"I am constantly beating myself up, thinking what I could have done. I wasn't there for my man."