The trans was not sealed? If thats the case then someone would have had to button it up to run it, correct?-Common sense would suggest that they would take a look inside-assuming the trans was indeed open.
Gord, was it open and did you take a look inside?
Hypothetically, what might happen if a transmission was run on a pass with no gear oil? Might it seize and grenade itself? I point this out because if it was buttoned up by someone else-it might be assumed it was ready to go and might still need to be filled. When I do a Muncie for somone I always put a tag saying to make sure they fill it before use.
The other interesting point is that the seller suggests he was going to run it and he knows it was checked before he got it-It would be logical for him to make the statement that he shared all he knew about the trans. Not sure that his phrasing is an indication he was trying to deceive.
Again you can only know what happened if you were there, but these gentlemen certainly have very different versions of the incident.