Eric McLean, Who Shot Wife’s Student Lover, Appears on the TODAY Show
FOR THE LATEST NEWS ON THE MCLEAN-POWELL STORY click here.
I guess Eric McLean, the husband of Erin McLean who was having an affair with her 18-year-old student Sean Powell, really did want to go on the TODAY show.
This morning McLean told TODAY host Matt Lauer that the shooting was an accident - he never meant to kill Powell, just scare him. The interview took place in the jail where Eric is being held on a first-degree murder charge. Also present was his attorney, Bruce Poston.
I watched the second half of the interview. (You can view it on the MSCNBC website.) Eric was extremely emotional, crying and barely able to get the words out when Lauer asked him about the affair. You could tell that he was consumed with guilt and loved his wife and children.
Erin McLean’s affair with her student turned his world upside down, and pushed him hard enough to kill his wife’s teenage lover. Yet you had to wonder why he was appearing on the TODAY Show. Even Lauer thought so:
Lauer observed, “It’s hard not to sit across from you and not feel some compassion for what you’re saying. And then there’s a part of me, Eric, that wonders if perhaps I’m being taken for a little bit of a ride here. And if the young man across from me plotted to commit a crime and is not trying to get off with a lesser crime.”
So what do you think? Why did Eric McLean and his lawyer appear on the TODAY Show? Is Eric faking his guilt? Was the murder premeditated?
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Eric McLean, Erin McLean, student-teacher affair, sexual abuse, child abuse, Knoxville Tennessee, shooting, murder, TODAY Show, Matt Lauer, jail, prison
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:47 am
I think that husband should get a reduced sentence for future testimony against his wife. I would be happy seeing him jail for at least 10 years. As far as pre-meditation, there’s no way that it could be true. Eric had no idea that his wife’s lover would be coming over that day. He reacted in the worst way that you can and should be punished for it. But if he really wanted to “plan” out the murder, I’m sure he would have been smart enough to devise a murder scheme anywhere else but the driveway to his house!
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
As for Matt Lauer, he is no different in his thinkings than Saddam Hussein. But enough of that butthead, let’s take this one step at a time. First of all Erin, the loving wife as she is (sorry…I just choked) is going to walk freely away from this. She will move, start a new life under protective custody and live a very fruitful life. Why? Because she’s an idiot and idiots in America are protected. As is Matt Lauer. How do you define an intruder? An intruder by dictionary terms is someone who walks in or intrudes without permission and forcefully. This young punk did just that. Eric did the right thing. He called 911. Then seven minutes later another 911 call. But where were the police during this time? Dunkin Donuts was having that two for one again. We will not know what happened in that seven minutes and yes Matt, when it is revealed, you will have a lot of egg on your face. How could this be premeditated when the young punk slept in front of their house for two days. Two keen opportunities to splatter that young punk’s brains. But Eric didn’t. As a jury member on a capital murder trial where the State of Arkansas wanted the death penalty for a man who had invited a young “punk” girl into his home for Christmas because he had a phone and she had an ankle bracelet courtesy of the Pulaski County Jail and he could not see her spending Christmas in jail and she could have spent it with him and his family. But then enters her punk brother who decided he was bigger than the average bear and run the household and the man of the house asked him to leave. Instead of walking out the front door, the young punk decides to walk through the house and after a brief scuffle, the drunk homeowner reached into his pocket and pulled out a loaded 22 revolver and shot the young punk. We gave this poor fellow 10 years even though I wanted him to walk out of that courthouse a free man. The only difference in these two cases; Eric called the police. Now, the police has to answer where they were?
God bless Eric and prayers are with him. As for Erin, Matt Lauer needs to rake her ass across the coals like he did her husband. And I just read she tried to commit suicide…Dang, it didn’t work?
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 pm
[...] Teacher’s Husband, Eric McLean, Shoots and Kills his Wife’s Love Interest, Student Sean Powell March 19th, 2007 by Anne-Marie Nichols FOR THE LATEST NEWS ON THE MCLEAN-POWELL STORY click here and here. [...]
March 26th, 2007 at 4:46 am
[...] Daycare Worker Tani Firkins has Sex with Teen, Gives Birth to a Daughter, Gets Six Years in Prison March 26th, 2007 by Anne-Marie Nichols Blame Matt Lauer, but there seems to be an awful lot of stories in the news these days about older women having sex with young boys. The twist on this one? She had a daughter by her teenage victim. [...]
April 17th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I knew both Eric and Erin. His children went to the pre-school that I worked at in Indiana. While I didn’t know them incredibly well, I did see Eric on a regular basis and he was a nice guy and appeared to be a good father.
Erin on the other hand, barely came to the pre-school and when she did, she was not friendly, always in a hurry, and kind of yanking her son out the door. When my friend called me about this story, it took me a minute to even remember Erin.
Although I don’t know the intimate details of this case, I think that what you see is sadly what you get. It seems like Erin didn’t treat him very well and he just snapped when he found out about the affair.
Above all, it makes me sad for both families being ripped apart. Sean Powell’s parents tragically lost their son, and Eric’s kids will be permanently affected by this and most likely grow up without their father…who loved them very much.
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:17 am
[...] Nichols Eric Mclean’s lawyer got him on TV again, this time on NBC’s Dateline. (The first time was on The Today Show.) The program featured an interview with Eric, and interviews with friends and relatives of the [...]
November 8th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
The wife is free to continue acquiring minor children as lovers and nothing is done. I think the trajedy has been handled well by the court system and I think an otherwise good and honest man has been given a reasonable chance to piece a life back together after being treated in a way that is so beyond what anyone should endure that it’s unimaginable. I predict a trail of craziness will follow the ex any place that she goes. So far that has been the case. I can’t remeber if I’ve ever been on the side of someone in Eric’s position, but this was a very different case and I wish him all the best and hope that he can be left to restore his life and care for his children. I truly believe he came across as an honest and kind man trapped in a nightmare. I can’t believe his wife got to walk away, not even attend the trial, and continue to pursue sexual relationships with young boys. Why do we stand by as women committ actions of child molestation and do nothing? What a vile double standard.