One year after former Tennessee Titan Steve McNair's murder, we are finally getting to hear what police found out from the only person ever charged in the case.
Convicted felon Adrian Gilliam said he had a gun his fiance wanted him to get rid of, so he sold it to a woman named Sahel Kazemi on July 3, 2009.
Police said that hours after the sale, Kazemi ended up using that gun to kill her lover, former Tennessee Titan Steve McNair.
But Gilliam's story to police seemed to often change about how well he knew the so-called stranger to whom he sold the gun.
"I hold myself accountable for the transaction that occurred," said Gilliam on Dec. 18, 2009.
That's what he told a federal judge by video that day right before being sentenced to two and a half years in prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon.
That weapon was a loaded 9 mm pistol. It was sold in the parking lot outside Dave and Busters at Opry Mills Mall, according to Metro police.
The buyer was 20-year-old Kazemi, or Jenni as she was known to friends and co-workers. Police said sometime in the early-morning hours of July 4, 2009, she pulled the trigger, killing McNair, before turning the gun on herself.
On July 5, Metro police went to question Gilliam at his home in LaVergne about the gun sale.
"I sold it to some young lady. I don't even know her name," Gilliam said.
A detective asked what she looked like.
"She was small (and had) dark, black hair. She drove a Kia Rio, Kia something," said Gilliam.
Detectives next asked Gilliam how he met the woman.
"I met her, I met her, I was selling cars and she said she was trying to get rid of her Kia. I was trying to help her sell her car," Gilliam said. "Through talking to her about selling her car, she eventually asked me about a gun."
Detectives asked Gilliam if Kazdemi ever said why she needed a gun. Gilliam said she didn't and that he "didn't even know her name."
Gilliam was persistent that he didn't know Kazemi's name, but when detectives went back to talk to him again -- 19 days later on July 24 and after he'd been arrested for having the gun -- his story changed.
Gilliam said he did know Kazemi and had met her three weeks before. Through the second interview, police determined that Gilliam actually desired more from Kazemi.
"We used to text frequently all the time. I mean, she was flirting with me and trying to lure me in, but we never, we never really could, you know, never really able to, never really got a chance to do nothing," he said.
Gilliam also told police the last time he spoke with Kazemi was on the phone just two minutes after midnight on July 4. They questioned him about his whereabouts that night.
"I was in Antioch, Tenn. I was at a BP gas station, and I pulled up. I'm going to tell you how I know where I was at because I had just left my friend's house," Gilliam said.
He went on to say he didn't see Kazemi that night, but sent her a text message later.
"Do you recall sending her a text message, on July 4 at 1:17 a.m. in the morning, and you said, 'You good?' Why did you send her that text message?" the detective asked Gilliam.
"'Cause I hadn't heard from her; I don't know," Gilliam said.
Gilliam has never been charged with anything but selling Kazemi the murder weapon, but early on, investigators did not rule out Gilliam as a suspect in McNair's murder.
In December, Sgt. Pat Postiglione of Metro police said, "Gilliam was eliminated based on our investigation. Our investigation determined clearly that we were looking at a murder-suicide, not a double homicide made to look like a murder-suicide."
Gilliam is currently being held at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, Ga. He is set to be released in September 2011.
Channel 4 News contacted him for comment, but he did not respond.
Calculated criminals may be targeting your neighborhood while you're sleeping. Security footage caught a group of at least five trying to break-in into cars in a South Nashville cul-de-sac, and this likely isn't the first time they've stuck an unassuming neighborhood.
More >>Calculated criminals may be targeting your neighborhood while you're sleeping. Security footage caught a group of at least five trying to break-in into cars in a South Nashville cul-de-sac, and this likely isn't the first time they've stuck an unassuming neighborhood.
More >>Nashville's Jeffery LeCave and a few of his Mechanical Engineering buddies at Dayton University are on the right track: Creating a device that will help Larry Gunter. He's an Air Force Veteran who is now blind, but always an athlete.
More >>Nashville's Jeffery LeCave and a few of his Mechanical Engineering buddies at Dayton University are on the right track: Creating a device that will help Larry Gunter. He's an Air Force Veteran who is now blind, but always an athlete.
More >>The Tennessee Titans released their 2018 preseason and regular season schedule.
More >>The Tennessee Titans released their 2018 preseason and regular season schedule.
More >>Many websites don't charge sales tax when we shop online and those lower prices are part of the draw. But that could change nationwide depending on a ruling expected from the U.S. Supreme Court. South Dakota argues states are losing out on billions of dollars by not charging sales tax when someone orders out of state. A small business owner in Tennessee shared how the decision could impact him. Denton Hunker creates handbags in Nashville, selling most of his stuff online.
More >>Many websites don't charge sales tax when we shop online and those lower prices are part of the draw. But that could change nationwide depending on a ruling expected from the U.S. Supreme Court. South Dakota argues states are losing out on billions of dollars by not charging sales tax when someone orders out of state. A small business owner in Tennessee shared how the decision could impact him. Denton Hunker creates handbags in Nashville, selling most of his stuff online.
More >>TBI's online crime data used to be a cumbersome compilation of black and white charts. Now, it's colorful, clear, and easy to use. Their new program, called "Crime Insight" was paid for by a grant. Tennessee is the second state in the nation to get it and essentially, it tells you what type of crime is happening, where in Tennessee and when. "It's as simple as 1, 2, 3. Really, all you have to do is select your jurisdiction, the year, the type ...
More >>TBI's online crime data used to be a cumbersome compilation of black and white charts. Now, it's colorful, clear, and easy to use. Their new program, called "Crime Insight" was paid for by a grant. Tennessee is the second state in the nation to get it and essentially, it tells you what type of crime is happening, where in Tennessee and when. "It's as simple as 1, 2, 3. Really, all you have to do is select your jurisdiction, the year, the type ...
More >>A new law requires that school districts must now report detailed information about their use of corporal punishment to the Tennessee Department of Education annually. Gov. Bill Haslam signed House Bill 2331 into law Thursday afternoon, allowing the state to collect information about a practice it previously did not track.
More >>A new law requires that school districts must now report detailed information about their use of corporal punishment to the Tennessee Department of Education annually. Gov. Bill Haslam signed House Bill 2331 into law Thursday afternoon, allowing the state to collect information about a practice it previously did not track.
More >>Metro Nashville Police confirmed that 14 students were arrested following a brawl Tuesday at Johnson Alternative Learning Center in Chestnut Hill.
More >>Metro Nashville Police confirmed that 14 students were arrested following a brawl Tuesday at Johnson Alternative Learning Center in Chestnut Hill.
More >>Predators player Ryan Hartman has been suspended one game for a hit during Game 4 against Colorado.
More >>Predators player Ryan Hartman has been suspended one game for a hit during Game 4 against Colorado.
More >>The Republican-led Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill aiming to require certain able-bodied TennCare recipients to spend 20 hours a week working, volunteering or attending schools.
More >>The Republican-led Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill aiming to require certain able-bodied TennCare recipients to spend 20 hours a week working, volunteering or attending schools.
More >>The Tennessee Department of Education says some school districts experienced delays with the TNReady testing system on Thursday morning.
More >>The Tennessee Department of Education says some school districts experienced delays with the TNReady testing system on Thursday morning.
More >>Calculated criminals may be targeting your neighborhood while you're sleeping. Security footage caught a group of at least five trying to break-in into cars in a South Nashville cul-de-sac, and this likely isn't the first time they've stuck an unassuming neighborhood.
More >>Calculated criminals may be targeting your neighborhood while you're sleeping. Security footage caught a group of at least five trying to break-in into cars in a South Nashville cul-de-sac, and this likely isn't the first time they've stuck an unassuming neighborhood.
More >>Predators player Ryan Hartman has been suspended one game for a hit during Game 4 against Colorado.
More >>Predators player Ryan Hartman has been suspended one game for a hit during Game 4 against Colorado.
More >>The Republican-led Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill aiming to require certain able-bodied TennCare recipients to spend 20 hours a week working, volunteering or attending schools.
More >>The Republican-led Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill aiming to require certain able-bodied TennCare recipients to spend 20 hours a week working, volunteering or attending schools.
More >>Police in Louisiana say a woman came home to discover a naked stranger in her tub, eating her Cheetos while taking a bath.
More >>Police in Louisiana say a woman came home to discover a naked stranger in her tub, eating her Cheetos while taking a bath.
More >>Metro Nashville Police confirmed that 14 students were arrested following a brawl Tuesday at Johnson Alternative Learning Center in Chestnut Hill.
More >>Metro Nashville Police confirmed that 14 students were arrested following a brawl Tuesday at Johnson Alternative Learning Center in Chestnut Hill.
More >>Toby the cat has finally found a loving family after the folks he felt the closest to tried to have him put down.
More >>Toby the cat has finally found a loving family after the folks he felt the closest to tried to have him put down.
More >>Schneider Electric is recalling more than one million electric safety switches after learning the power can stay on even when the safety switch handle is off, posing a shock hazard.
More >>Schneider Electric is recalling more than one million electric safety switches after learning the power can stay on even when the safety switch handle is off, posing a shock hazard.
More >>The Tennessee Titans released their 2018 preseason and regular season schedule.
More >>The Tennessee Titans released their 2018 preseason and regular season schedule.
More >>The first call to 911 from 16 year-old Kyle Plush is haunting. He's trapped in his car but the dispatcher is having trouble hearing him. Dispatcher: "Where are you?" Kyle Plush: "If you don't send help I'm gonna die soon."
More >>The first call to 911 from 16 year-old Kyle Plush is haunting. He's trapped in his car but the dispatcher is having trouble hearing him. Dispatcher: "Where are you?" Kyle Plush: "If you don't send help I'm gonna die soon."
More >>A Missouri bill now in the works aims to fight the opioid epidemic by giving drug users a ‘safe space’.
More >>A Missouri bill now in the works aims to fight the opioid epidemic by giving drug users a ‘safe space’.
More >>