'Guard dogs for each other': Bob Lee murder accused Nima Momeni was very 'protective' towards sister
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: New facts concerning Nima Momeni's relationship with his sister and his lack of ties to victim Bob Lee have emerged after his brief court appearance on Tuesday, April 25, during which his counsel said the accused plans to enter a not guilty plea at a rescheduled hearing the following week.
Following the dramatic arrest of Nima Momeni, 38, in Emeryville, much of the information was revealed two weeks ago. From court documents, it was discovered that the tech entrepreneur had attended an apartment party on April 3 with his sister, Khazar Elyassnia, who may have also used the name Khazar Momeni at the time. Khazar's marriage may have been in trouble, according to friends who spoke with the police, and some sort of reconnection with 43-year-old Bob Lee may have happened at that party.
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Nima unhappy that anything 'inappropriate' had happened
The two were said to have known each other for a number of years, and at least one witness claims that Nima was unhappy over the prospect that anything "inappropriate" had happened that day between Lee and his sister and that she had been offered drugs.
A few hours later, it appears that Momeni persuaded Lee to accompany him and his sister to her apartment in Millennium Tower. On April 4, Lee arrived at the location at 12:30 am. An hour and a half later, he could be seen on surveillance film riding down the elevator and getting into Momeni's automobile, as reported by SFIST.
The two were next seen in distant, blurry surveillance footage, according to the police, having a brief conversation before Momeni allegedly lunged at Lee and then sped off in his car. Later, Lee could be seen stumbling up Main Street and attempting to attract the attention of someone inside a nearby condo building.
When Lee was killed, and shortly after leaving Khazar's apartment, it's likely that he received a text message from Khazar that read, "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 Bloomberg, Lee was due to travel on a trip on Tuesday, April 4, and friends didn't learn of his murder until two of them went to pick him up to take him to the airport but failed to locate him at his hotel. They found his phone via Find My Friends, and they were astonished to discover it pinging at a police station.
'Their core personalities were opposites'
According to friends and Lee's ex-wife, they never had a romantic relationship, and it appears that they may have only just met at this afternoon gathering. Furthermore, despite the fact that Lee and Momeni enjoyed socializing and partying, "their core personalities were opposites," according to a mutual friend of both the men who spoke to Bloomberg.
'Like guard dogs for each other'
Momeni was described as being very protective of his younger sister, according to a friend, who added they were "like guard dogs for each other...The idea of someone disrespecting her is very upsetting to him." According to Bloomberg, Momeni's counsel, Paula Canny, has already indicated that the plea will be not guilty while requesting an additional week to prepare before the actual arraignment, as per reports.