SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Nima Momeni, the accused killer of Cash App founder Bob Lee, pleaded not guilty in a San Francisco courtroom Thursday morning. A judge denied granting bail to keep the accused killer behind bars as he awaits a preliminary hearing.
Momeni, 38, is accused of stabbing Lee to death on April 4 in a well-to-do enclave of San Francisco near the Bay Bridge. He was arrested eight days later at his Emeryville loft, and charged with murder.
Hours before Lee’s death, the wealthy tech executive had been socializing and drinking with Momeni’s younger sister, Khazar Elyassnia, prosecutors said. A witness saw Momeni confront Lee to find out is he was doing drugs or anything “inappropriate” with his sister, court documents state. Momeni’s friends reportedly said he was very protective of his sister.
Defense attorney Paula Canny said her client is not a murderer. She says that fact that her client didn’t try to flee before his arrest shows he is innocent. Momeni has no previous convictions for violent crime. In court, prosecutors successfully argued that Momeni should remain in jail.
Lee, 43, was an admired and successful figure in the Bay Area tech industry. He was a divorced father of two, chief product officer of cryptocurrency company MobileCoin, and the former CTO of Square. San Francisco Police Department homicide detectives unlocked Lee’s cellphone and found a text message sent from Elyassnia.
Elyassnia’s text message said, “Just wanted to make sure your doing ok. Cause I know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you. And thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class. Love you Selfish pricks,” according to court documents.
Momeni’s suspicions about illicit drug use were not unfounded.
The city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released Lee’s toxicology and autopsy report to KRON4. It revealed that he had multiple “party drugs” in his system, including cocaine, ketamine and norketamine, also known as “Special K.”
A witness spent hours hanging out with Lee and Elyassnia in luxury hotel rooms and apartments leading up to the homicide. The witness “was unsure if (Lee) and (Elyassnia) had an intimate relationship. (Elyassnia) was married but the relationship had possibly been in jeopardy,” court documents state.
The last time the witness saw Lee alive was when the Cash App founder left his apartment on April 4 at 12:30 a.m. to walk to Elyassnia’s apartment in Millennium Tower on Mission Street. The tower’s security cameras recorded Lee and Momeni leaving the tower together at 2:03 a.m. The Cash App founder called 911 at 2:36 a.m. reporting that someone stabbed him, according to his autopsy report.
Jenkins said the alleged murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, had been taken from Elyassnia’s apartment before it was found by police at the crime scene. Prosecutors said DNA from blood on the blade matched Lee, and DNA from the handle matched Momeni.
Krista Lee was in the courtroom Thursday when her ex-husband’s suspected killer pleaded not guilty. Bob Lee’s ex-wife and teenaged daughters plan to attend all of Momeni’s court appearances as they wait for justice, the district attorney said.
Elyssania and her husband, a prominent plastic surgeon, supported her brother during his April 14 court appearance by making “heart hands” in the courtroom. Elyssania returned to the courtroom gallery on Thursday, once again wearing dark sunglasses indoors.
Canny previously told News Nation, “There is a huge backstory to this. More will be revealed later. Who would like to see their sister, who they are super protective of, potentially be drugged? Nobody. Any good brother would be upset about it.”
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, “Regardless of whether somebody has, or has not done drugs, that does not give someone a license to kill them.” Jenkins said a tactic often used by defense attorneys is to smear a homicide victim’s character.
Momeni is the sole suspect in the Bob Lee murder case.
Canny said Momeni was with Lee the night he died. But Lee’s death was not a premeditated murder, she added. The incident was “a cross between self-defense and accident. There was no premeditation, deliberation, absolutely not,” Canny told reporters Thursday.