Tech executive Nima Momeni was seen exchanging heart symbols with family in court after the 38-year-old was accused of stabbing cash app founder Bob Lee.
Momeni allegedly stabbed Lee in the heart after vowing to “get down on him hard” and grilling him about his relationship with his married sister, with whom the Cash App founder exchanged intimate text messages, prosecutors in court claimed.
He is accused of murdering Lee around 2:35 a.m. on April 4 in San Francisco after spending about two hours with him at his married sister Khazar’s home.
Khazar appeared on Friday with her plastic surgery husband, Dr. Dino Elyassnia, in court wearing designer sunglasses. She and her brother immigrated to the United States from Iran as children.
Tech executive Nima Momeni was seen exchanging heart symbols with family in court after the 38-year-old was accused of stabbing cash app founder Bob Lee
Momeni (left) vowed he had “come down a lot hard” hours before the stabbing. Prosecutors say it was a planned attack in which he stabbed Lee in the heart with a kitchen knife
Momeni appeared before Judge Christine Van Aken charged with the stabbing murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee
Prosecutors shared new facts about the case in a bid to keep Momeni behind bars.
In a motion filed in court, they revealed a text from Khazar to Lee in which she gushed about what a “classy guy” he was.
Hours before his assassination, Nima questioned Lee about his relationship with Khazar, who is married to a prominent local plastic surgeon, and demanded to know if she had “did drugs” or had anything “inappropriate” while spending time with him.
He had been having drinks with her and one of Lee’s friends earlier that day.
At 00:39, Lee was seen entering Khazar’s residence. Nima was already inside.
Khazar and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia, at her brother’s indictment on Friday. Prosecutors laid out part of her case on Friday, and she is at the center of her brother’s alleged motive
In a text message to Lee earlier in the day, Khazar gushed: “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay because I know Nima hit you hard and thank you for being such a classy man to deal with that.” handles class. ‘I love you, selfish p***s’
At 2:03 am, Lee and Nima left the apartment building and got into Nima’s BMW, who had offered to drive him to his hotel.
Instead, prosecutors said he took him to a shadowy downtown street, where he stabbed him three times, including once in the heart, and fled.
An unnamed witness who said he had been friends with Bob for 10 years told police he believed Lee and Khazar were intimate and that their marriage may be “at risk.”
Both he and Khazar lived in Mill Valley, an exclusive San Francisco suburb, before Lee moved to Miami in October last year.
In a text message to Lee earlier in the day, she gushed: “Just wanted to make sure you’re okay because I know Nima hit you hard and thank you for being such a classy man to go along with it.” class bypasses.
‘I love you selfish p***s.’
Momeni is pictured in a court sketch on Friday. His sister was in the courtroom to support him. The two immigrated to the United States from Iran as children
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Lee is said to have met Momeni through his sister Khazar, whom he also recently met. She is shown with her husband, a prominent local plastic surgeon
She was seen in court on Friday, accompanied by her husband, on her brother’s charges.
Lee had also been drinking with Khazar at 3:30 p.m. the day before his death. The friend was there too. Lee invited Khazar to go to his hotel room but she said no.
Once in the hotel room, Nima called Lee on Facetime. It was about him picking up Khazar from the house they had been in before.
‘[Nima] was in question [Lee] about if his sister was on drugs or anything inappropriate… [Lee] had to reassure him that nothing inappropriate had happened,” according to court documents.
They then went to the friend’s apartment, where they continued to hang out until 12:30 am.
Lee was seen entering Khazar’s apartment at 00:39. Nima had been there since 8:31 p.m. Surveillance footage showed them walking together at 2:03 a.m., 30 minutes before the stabbing.
Neither Khazar nor her husband have commented on her brother’s arrest
Nima Momeni’s loft, where neighbors say he both worked and lived. It was searched Thursday morning
On April 4, security cameras caught Lee stumbling into an apartment building in downtown San Francisco at 2:35 a.m. after being stabbed. Police searched the nearby home of Momeni’s sister Khazar yesterday. It’s unclear if they were together or at the apartment earlier in the night
The day after the murder, Khazar’s friend called and asked if Lee had gone to her apartment. She said he had time “for a second” but she “fell asleep” and didn’t know when he left, according to the documents.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has charged Momeni with murder, along with another charge of special enhancement over use of a knife.
In the application filed on Friday, her office said it was a premeditated attack by the angry brother.
Surveillance recordings are also said to have captured the stabbing in Momeni’s BMW.
He then sped off, throwing his knife into the street and sending Lee staggering through the streets of San Francisco in a last-ditch effort to cling to life.
He was taken to the hospital but died from his injuries.
Lee’s family have vowed to work with prosecutors to bring Momeni before “justice.”
They thanked the police for the arrest in a joint statement released last night.
San Francisco officials have also welcomed the fact that the murder was not accidental or a symptom of the city’s crime problem, as many had assumed.
Momeni was denied bail and will remain in custody pending his next court hearing.
The 38-year-old lived alone in this building. He is due to appear in court this afternoon
Police searched her property in addition to the attic where Momeni was arrested yesterday.
Neighbors told he was “warm and welcoming” and they were stunned by his arrest.
However, questions have arisen about his background.
Online, he claims to be a UC Berkeley graduate, but the school says there is no record of him ever taking classes.