Nima Momeni: Bob Lee murder suspect exchanged finger hearts with sister and brother-in-law in court
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Tech executive Nima Momeni was reportedly seen exchanging hearts with his sister Khazar and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr Dino Elyassnia, during a court appearance for his arraignment hearing on allegations of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee. Momeni reportedly arrived at the courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit and made a finger heart using both of his hands towards his sister and brother-in-law. Khazar and Dr Elyassnia also responded to the gesture by making finger hearts of their own while sitting at the courtroom gallery, reported Daily Mail.
The moment was not recorded on camera, as Judge Christine Van Aken reportedly barred the media from taking pictures during the hearing, The San Francisco Standard noted. Khazar and Dr Dino Elyassnia were also accompanied by three other family members, all of whom were identified by Momeni’s stand-in attorney Robert Canny, the publication noted. Canny’s sister, private attorney, Paula, will represent Momeni in the rest of his court hearings. However, she did not appear in court during the hearing on Friday, April 14. Momeni has been accused of stabbing Lee to death on April 4. He was arrested on Thursday, April 13, in the town of Emeryville.
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Who is Khazar Momeni? Bob Lee's murder suspect met him through his sister
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office arrested Momeni on charges of murder, alongside an additional charge of special enhancement for using a knife. During Friday’s arraignment, Jenkins’ office said Lee was killed in a “pre-meditated attack carried out by the angry brother.” Momeni did not enter a plea deal or make any comment in court except for saying “yes, your honor” when the judge questioned if he agreed to decline his right to a speedy trial. The tech executive will remain in custody without bail and is scheduled to appear in court again on April 25.
Khazar’s connection with Bob Lee came under scrutiny amid Nima Momeni’s arrest
In the wake of Nima Momeni’s arrest, his sister Khazar’s connection with Bob Lee came under scrutiny. “What we have at this point - and what we've been willing to release to the public - is the fact that Mr Momeni does have a sister who was connected to Mr Lee and apparently is what connects the two men, but at this time, we're not revealing any more than what's contained in our detention motion,” San Francisco District Attorney Brook Jenkins said during a press conference, as per CBS News.
Lee and Khazar both lived in Mill Valley, an exclusive San Francisco suburb before the former moved to Miami in October last year, the Daily Mail noted. Amid the ongoing investigation, an unnamed witness, who said he had been friends with Lee for 10 years, told police that he believed the Cash App founder had an “intimate relationship” with Khazar and that the latter’s marriage with Dr Elyassnia might have been in “jeopardy,” the publication noted.
In a motion filed in court, a text message from Khazar revealed that she called Lee a “classy guy” for handling her brother, who “came wayyy down hard” on the tech mogul. “Just wanted to make sure your doing OK because I know Nima came wayyy down hard on you and thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class. Love you Selfish pr***s,” the text read.
Nima Momeni grilled Bob Lee hours before the latter’s murder
Court documents revealed that Momeni reportedly grilled Lee over the latter’s relationship with his sister hours before the Cash App founder’s murder. The documents mentioned that Lee was having drinks with Khazar and a friend inside a Mission District apartment at 3:30 pm, the day before his murder. Several hours later, Lee and the friend left the apartment to head to the former’s hotel room. Lee allegedly asked Khazar to accompany him to the hotel room but the latter declined the offer.
The friend told officials that Lee received a phone call from Momeni after they arrived at the hotel. “The conversation was about the defendant picking up the younger sister from the house where they had earlier met her... (The) defendant was questioning victim regarding whether his sister was doing drugs or anything in appropriate... (The) victim assured Defendant nothing inappropriate had happened,” the documents read as per CBS News.
Shortly after, Lee reportedly went to the friend’s apartment to hang out until 12:30 am. He was later seen entering Khazar’s apartment around 12:39 am, as per surveillance footage obtained from the Millennium Tower camera. Momeni had already been inside his sister’s apartment since 8:31 pm. Further footage showed Lee and Momeni leaving the apartment around 2:03 am and getting into the latter’s BMW together.
Prosecutors alleged that Momeni offered to drive Lee to his hotel but took him to a shady downtown before stabbing the tycoon to death and fleeing the scene in his car after throwing his knife on the street. A harrowing CCTV footage later showed an injured Lee stumbling through the streets of San Francisco. Officials arrived at the scene and found Lee lying on the streets with two stab wounds on his chest and on his hip. He was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries.