The sister of Bob Lee’s accused killer who ‘attended sex and drug parties’ with him arrives at court
The glamorous sister of Bob Lee’s accused killer, who allegedly attended drug-fueled sex parties with him, has arrived in court to support her brother in his charges.
Khazar Momeni’s brother Nima, 38, appeared in an orange jumpsuit and pleaded not guilty to stabbing the Cash App founder, 43, in the heart with a four-inch black kitchen knife.
Prosecutors believe he killed Lee after questioning him about his alleged sexual relationship with Nima’s married party sister.
Khazar has been supportive of her brother since his arrest — but she entered the San Francisco courtroom this morning for her brother’s indictment without her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia, by her side.
Judge Victor Hwang denied Nima Momeni bail – and said he would remain in custody until his next hearing.
Nima’s mother, Mahnaz Momeni, was also in court to hear her son plead not guilty.
Khazar Momeni arrived in court this morning in San Francisco
Known as a party animal in the city, Khazar arrived in court wearing an all-black outfit with sunglasses
Wearing sunglasses, the suspect’s sister stepped out of the courtroom after learning her brother had been denied bail
Nima Momeni, accused of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee, enters the Hall of Justice courtroom. He pleaded not guilty on Thursday
Judge Victor Hwang denied Nima Momeni bail – and said he would remain in custody until his next hearing
Prosecutor Omid Talai had argued that Momeni should be denied bail because the stabbing was “premeditated.”
“This was not done by accident, this was done by force,” Talai told the court.
The lawyer claimed that Bob Lee’s DNA was not found on the weapon, arguing that the attack was not in self-defense.
Nima’s attorney Paula Canny said the prosecutor’s version of events was “not accurate.”
Canny said, “My client is the one who threw the knife to protect himself and make sure no one else has access to that knife. My client had no idea that Bob Lee was mortally wounded. Everyone, including my client, is heartbroken that Bob Lee passed away.”
Khazar previously pictured in San Francisco court with her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia. He was nowhere to be seen this morning
She continued, “This is never a “whodunit?” It’s a “what happened?”‘
Lee and Khazar were part of a mob of affluent San Francisco revelers known as “The Lifestyle,” who attended riotous events where swingers and cheaters gathered for casual, drug-fueled sex, it has since surfaced.
The founder of the Cash App was stabbed to death on April 4.
On the fateful night, at a party in San Francisco, Nima Momeni confronted Lee and asked if his sister was on drugs or “something inappropriate.” According to a witness, Lee told Momeni that nothing inappropriate had happened.
Authorities say Nima and Lee met again later that night at Khazar’s luxury apartment in Millennium Tower.
Surveillance footage showed the two getting into Nima’s white BMW and leaving the scene around 2 a.m. on April 4.
He is accused of then driving Lee to a remote area several blocks away, where he stabbed the Cash app founder several times with a kitchen knife.
Nima then allegedly left Lee to bleed to death in the middle of the street.
Lawyer Paula Canny, representing Nima Momeni, said: ‘This has never been a whodunnit. It’s a “what happened?”‘
San Francisco Attorney General Brooke Jenkins speaks at a press conference following the indictment of Nima Momeni
Khazar arrives for her brother Nima Momeni’s arraignment
The founder of the Cash App was stabbed to death on April 4. Khazar’s brother is the suspect
Nima Momeni (left) vowed to “come down really hard” on Lee hours before the stabbing. Prosecutors say it was a planned attack in which he used a kitchen knife to stab Lee in the heart
Friends of technical director Nima Momeni have previously said his life was ‘unraveling’ in the weeks and months leading up to the alleged stabbing
Lee was seen stumbling and begging for help that night before collapsing at the Bay Bridge, just 16 minutes from Khazar’s apartment.
Police have said Khazar texted Lee around the time he died.
“Just wanted to make sure you are okay because I know nima came at you really hard,” she wrote in one of these posts.
‘And thank you for being such a classy man who does it with class. I love your selfish p****s.”
Khazar and Nima Momeni moved to the US from Iran as children.
He was known for being more reclusive, as she married a plastic surgeon and was a glamorous party girl at San Francisco’s so-called “The Lifestyle.”
Thursday’s trial comes after Momeni’s lawyer demanded that her client be released because police relied too heavily on grainy CCTV footage.
Friends say Cash App founder Bob Lee was a regular at underground sex and drug parties with other San Francisco elites, including the sister of the man accused of killing him
Lee could be seen on surveillance footage near the apartment building holding his wound
In a court case Monday, attorney Paula Canny said the story prepared by law enforcement against her client, Nima Momeni, was built on a flawed foundation and does not prove he killed Lee in the early hours of April 4.
According to the San Francisco standardCan states that eight days after the murder, police were in the process of making a compilation video consisting of blurry surveillance footage.
She said the case relied too heavily on these images and it was too blurry to identify Momeni or Lee.
Lee’s stabbing death on April 4 was originally believed to be the result of random violence in the crime-ridden city of San Francisco.
But as a web of connections between Lee, Momeni, Momeni’s sister and alleged presence at underground sex and drug parties, other theories about the crime have emerged.
The video Canny references begins with a bloodied and dazed Lee, stumbling down Main Street after the 2:30 a.m. attack.
Before that, he appears to be having an altercation with a dark figure on the other side of the road, who prosecutors believe is Momeni.
At the intersection of Harrison Street, a short walk from the iconic Embarcadero waterfront, Lee stepped in front of a car and appeared to lean over the hood to beg for help.
The interaction lasted only seconds, but the driver of the unknown red vehicle drove off.
Lee then stumbled to the Portside apartment building at 403 Main Street, but before he could reach the electronic intercom, he collapsed.
The dying man lay motionless on the floor for a few moments, but managed to get to his knees and fiddle with his phone.
As a second car drives by, he makes another attempt to wave it down, his outstretched hands covered in blood – but the motorist pulls away again.
Finally, Lee stands up, his face empty of all color, and he stumbled out of the frame at 2:36 a.m., clutching his chest and leaving a trail of blood spatter on the sidewalk.
Separate CCTV footage shows a mysterious hooded figure searching flower beds on the same street where Lee was stabbed shortly after the attack.