The sister of the man accused of fatally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee was cross-examined by the defense on Tuesday, testifying that Lee was “all over the place” and “aggressive” while high days before his death of cocaine and ketamine.
Prosecutors in the high-profile murder case against technology executive Lee have charged Nima Momeni the fatal stabbing of Lee in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill/East Cut neighborhood. Momeni was arrested nine days later. Prosecutors allege Momeni stabbed Lee with a kitchen knife after a heated argument about his sister’s relationship with Lee and their alleged drug use.
Tuesday was the first day of cross-examination for the suspect’s sister, Khazar Momeni was on stage for the first time last Thursday. Her testimony focused largely on her own drug use and on the drug use of Lee, her brother and others involved in their late-night and early-morning gatherings.
The prosecutor also highlighted her text message communications with Lee, Nima Momeni and Jeremy Boivin, the man she described as a drug dealer. whom she accused during her testimony on Monday of sexually assaulting her while incapacitated by LSD and the date-rape drug GHB.
On Tuesday, the defense wanted to prove in court that their client had no motive to stab Bob Lee.
The defense has argued that Nima was – in their words – forced to stand his ground in an attack caused by Lee, who had taken drugs just days earlier.
They have also argued that it could have been Lee who took the murder weapon, a 9-inch paring knife that matches a brand found in Khazar Momeni’s apartment.
Early in the cross-examination, defense attorney Saam Zangeneh Khazar asked Momeni about text exchanges with Lee on Saturday morning, April 1, 2023, when Lee came to her Millennium Tower apartment. When Zangeneh asked Momeni if Lee used drugs, she replied, “Yes, cocaine and ketamine.”
“He was definitely under the influence,” she added.
When Zangeneh asked, “He was behaving unusually?” Khazar said Lee: “…was everywhere, aggressive.”
According to the testimony, Lee stayed in the apartment for about two hours, taking drugs and drinking, until he left at 7 a.m. to attend a party at Twitter headquarters. He requested Khazar Momeni to come to the party and bring her friend.
Zangeneh also asked Khazar Momeni about a return visit from Lee on the morning of April 3, the day before the fatal stabbing. She confirmed that Lee and Boivin came to her apartment with a tank of nitrous oxide and took drugs and drank for hours.
The cross-examination then turned to Lee’s visit to see Khazar Momeni at Boivin’s apartment later that same day, when she had continued to use cocaine and nitrous oxide with Boivin and her friend. At that time, Boivin also allegedly gave them GHB and LSD and the alleged assault took place.
On Monday, Boivin’s lawyer Valery Nechay issued a statement claiming that Khazar Momeni’s relationship with her client was consensual and consensual. She also said Khazar’s testimony is “false and full of blatant lies.”
Zangeneh continued his cross-examination Tuesday afternoon, focusing on the moment Khazar and her boyfriend were taken from Boivin’s apartment back to her Millennium Tower home by her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia, and her brother Nima. Khazar confirmed this when she told her brother that she had been touched without her consent while high on GHB and LSD.
When Zangeneh asked Khazar if Nima “was aggressive or violent” toward Boivin when she was arrested, she replied, “No, he was very calm.”
She also noted that she did not mention Lee when her brother and husband arrived. Despite her accusations against him, Boivin returned to Khazar’s apartment with her jacket and remained in the apartment until 11:45 p.m.
Khazar testified that there was no argument between her brother and Boivin at the time and that things were “cordial” when he left.
According to testimony, a short time later, Lee texted Khazar and told her to give Nima his phone number. Khazar responded that she wished he had more compassion, citing a previous disagreement.
In her testimony, she said she quickly made up and invited him to her home, where the three gathered until about 30 minutes before the stabbing. While she noted that drugs were present, she said she did not know how much alcohol and drugs the two men had consumed.
