SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A San Francisco prosecutor repeatedly called Nima Momeni a “coward” and a “fake tough guy” during opening statements Monday in the trial of the former tech worker accused of stabbing and killing Cash App founder Bob Lee in 2023.
Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai called Momeni a dangerous, unstable person who killed Lee because he thought Lee had been doing drugs with Momeni’s sister Khazar, and was a bad influence on her. Momeni has pleaded not guilty, and his defense has repeatedly said that he stabbed Lee in self defense. He faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted by the jury.
Talai said Momeni drove Lee to a location underneath the Bay Bridge in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023, and stabbed him three times, killing him.
“He was driven to a dark secluded area after 2 a.m. and was violently stabbed,” Talai said of Lee. “Ladies and gentlemen, you are sitting in court with the murderer. Sitting behind me is an individual and a coward who stabbed an unarmed man three times.”
Talai outlined the day before the murder for the 12-member jury. He said Lee and a friend spent some time hanging out with Khazar Momeni, one of her friends and a person named Jeremy Boivin at Boivin’s residence. Talai said Lee’s friend told investigators that cocaine was present, but said Lee and his friend left shortly after 5 p.m. to go back to Lee’s hotel room.
“It’s an uneventful hangout of four friends for less than an hour,” Talai said, showing a camera still of Lee leaving with his friend.
In Lee’s hotel room around 9 p.m., Lee received a phone call from Nima Momeni. He put Momeni on speaker. Talai said Lee’s friend heard the “strange” call on speaker.
“The defendant is being aggressive,” Talai said. “What was happening with my sister over there? What inappropriate things were going on?”
Talai called the phone call an “interrogation,” saying Momeni was playing the role of “overprotective wannabe tough guy who wants some answers.”
Eventually Lee went to Khazar Momeni’s residence at San Francisco’s Millennium Tower near 1 a.m. on April 4. Talai showed the jury elevator surveillance footage of Lee and Nima Momeni leaving Millenium Tower around 2 a.m.
Lee and Momeni got into Momeni’s BMW, Talai said, and Momeni drove Lee to the location under the Bay Bridge where they stayed for about five minutes, before a security camera caught a man wearing the same clothes as Momeni advancing on Bob aggressively before throwing an object over a fence.
Talai said police responded within minutes and found a “massive trail of evidence left behind,” including blood that led to a Caltrans fence. Behind the fence was a knife, which was later tested and had Lee’s DNA on the blade and Momeni’s DNA on the handle.
Talai said the argument of self defense doesn’t hold water because only Momeni’s DNA is on the handle.
Before ending his statement, Talai showed the jury text messages where Khazar Momeni called her brother a “fucking psycho,” and another message Khazar sent to Lee where she asked if Lee was okay because Nima “came down way hard” on him.
Talai promised to introduce more text messages and a crucial piece of video evidence collected by an San Francisco police investigator surveilling Momeni which he says shows Momeni reenacting the attack for his criminal defense lawyer.
“He doesn’t do 10 stabs, he doesn’t do two stabbing motions. He does three,” Talai said.
After he does the three stabbing motions, he does a throwing motion, Talai explained, just like the figure captured on video the night of the murder.
“You don’t see defensive tactics, you don’t see him moving, attempting to get the knife. Because that’s not what happened,” Talai said.
Momeni’s attorney Saam Zangeneh said during his opening arguments that Momeni acted in self defense. Zangeneh said evidence would show that Lee had barely slept in five days and was on a cocaine-fueled bender, pulling a knife on Momeni and forcing him to act in self defense.
Zangeneh said that text messages show that Lee and Momeni were not at odds after the “interrogation call” and that they were being cordial with each other — Lee invited Momeni to go to a strip club in a text message shortly after.
Zangeneh said that video from under the Bay Bridge will show Lee was the aggressor and had no defensive wounds.
At the closing of his argument, Zangeneh said he is not disputing that Momeni had the knife last. However, he said investigators failed to test the knife for fingerprints and said video evidence will show Momeni backing away from Lee both before and after the confrontation, allowing Lee to run up the street, which Momeni would not do if he was trying to kill Lee.
“While Bob Lee was sleep deprived, this case is evidence deprived. Nima Momeni was forced to stand his ground,” Zangeneh said.
Testimony continues Tuesday. The trial is expected to last until mid-December.