Police: McNair Mistress Knew Gun Seller for Weeks

FILE -- In a July 4, 2009 file photo police remove a body out of the Nashville apartment where Steve...

FILE -- In a July 4, 2009 file photo police remove a body out of the Nashville apartment where Steve McNair was shot on Saturday, July 4, 2009 in Nashville, Tenn. Nashville police released text messages Monday night Oct, 19, 2009, as part of a case summary and detailed the exchanges between McNair and Sahel Kazemi hours before the July 4 murder-suicide. (AP Photo/Ed Rode/file)

(AP)

Ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair's mistress exchanged messages for weeks with the man who sold her the gun she used to kill McNair and herself, police said Tuesday.

The findings came a day after investigators released 50 text messages between McNair and Sahel Kazemi they say supports their conclusion of a murder-suicide because she was desperate over money and feared their relationship was ending.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said Kazemi also was in contact weeks before the July 4 killings with Adrian Gilliam, who pleaded guilty to gun charges for selling the weapon to her.

Aaron declined to say more about the exchange of messages, first reported by CBS News, because Gilliam was awaiting sentencing in December. Police say Kazemi bought the gun from Gilliam the night of July 3, and used it hours later.

"The Police Department has been aware that their relationship was more than we were initially led to believe," Aaron told The Associated Press.

According to the CBS report, Gilliam and Kazemi exchanged more than 200 calls more than three weeks before the murder-suicide, including 49 texts and calls the day before.

Police also said Kazemi texted McNair on July 3 to say she was so stressed she might have a breakdown and asked for $2,000 to pay bills. Texts show McNair had someone transfer the money.

Aaron repeated Tuesday that there's no reason to believe the case should be reopened.

"Given the totality of the evidence as we know it now ... the conclusion of the murder-suicide classification has not changed," he said.

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