Khazar Momeni testimony at Bob Lee murder trial: drug-fueled gatherings, alleged sex assault
A second day of testimony from Khazar Momeni in the Bob Lee murder trial revealed new insight into her drug use the days before the killing and a claim she was sexually assaulted.
On the stand Monday, the sister of defendant Nima Momeni testified more about her relationship with Lee, the tech executive and founder of Cash App, and the people who frequented their drug-fueled gatherings.
At a late-night/early-morning gathering at her apartment two days before Lee's murder, Khazar Momeni testified Lee arrived with Jeremy Boivin, who she alleged in her testimony was a drug dealer. She testified that after everyone left the gathering in which people were consuming cocaine and nitrous oxide "whip-its," she and Boivin went out together and eventually ended up at his apartment along with a girlfriend she called to accompany them.
Khazar Momeni said aside from the cocaine and nitrous oxide she had consumed earlier, Boivin gave them GHB, a depressant drug that comes in liquid form and is also known as the "date-rape drug." In addition to multiple "shots" containing GHB, she testified she also was given the hallucinogen LSD. She said she consumed both drugs for the first time ever that night.
Both Momeni and her friend ended up passing out at Boivin's home, she testified, alleging that Boivin sexually assaulted her while she was in an incapacitated state.
On Monday, Boivin's attorney issued a statement saying Khazar Momeni's testimony "is false and riddled with blatant lies" and that his client's encounters with her were consensual.
"She should be cross-examined on the duration and frequency of her voluntary, sexual relationship with Mr. Boivin," said attorney Valery Nechay. "Her testimony proves she is not a credible witness. Mr. Boivin looks forward to clearing his name at the right time and place."
Lee was fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023 in San Francisco's Rincon Hill/East Cut neighborhood. Nima Momeni was arrested nine days later, with prosecutors alleging that he stabbed Lee with a kitchen knife after a heated discussion regarding his sister's relationship with Lee and their alleged drug use.
Testimony on Monday also touched on Nima Momeni's alleged drug use. Prosecutor Dane Reinstedt showed Khazar Momeni text messages between her and her brother in which she questioned whether he took a stash of cocaine from her.
When asked whether her brother was using cocaine in a way that would make her think he would take her cocaine, Khazar Momeni answered, "No, he was doing fine."
Reinstedt then showed her a text she sent her brother two days later, the evening after Lee had been stabbed to death, in which she said the drug "messes up your mind and makes you lunatic."
"Was your brother using?" Reinstedt asked.
"I can see how you could connect these, but he was totally fine," she said.
"It's important because she needs to lay a foundation for those texts," said legal analyst Shannan Dugan. "The prosecution wants the texts introduced into evidence that show that her brother was exhibiting behavior that could be interpreted as aggressive. 'You're acting lunatic. You crazy when you're on blow.'"
It is the encounter between Boivin and Khazar that could shed light into a potential motive for the fatal stabbing.
"Bob Lee was apparently the one who introduced this alleged drug dealer to her two days before this incident. So that could be a reason why Nima Momeni is extremely upset," said Dugan.
According to prosecutors, Lee and his friend were not present during the alleged sexual assault, and Khazar testified that later that night, Khazar invited Bob and Nima over to continue their night where Khazar says the two men acted like buddies.
"She also humanizes him. She says now twice in her testimony, 'He's a nice person. He was just acting like a regular protective brother,'" said Dugan. "Then it goes, again, to the motive of Nima Momeni to take out this anger or direct this anger toward Bob Lee, the person who introduced his sister to the person who allegedly assaulted her. So it provides a direct line and it goes to motive."
The family of Bob Lee was visibly unsettled during her testimony. At one point, she described Lee as being "very erratic" in the hours before his death. Lee's family grumbled in the court room and the victim's brother Timothy Oliver Lee briefly left the room. He says Khazar Momeni's words cannot be trusted.
"It was very difficult today. It was difficult because Bob isn't here to speak for himself and you're not here to experience what Bob was like," he said. "She's characterizing this in a way that really helps Nima and may not be based on the reality of the moment."
On Thursday, Khazar Momeni began her testimony by asserting her brother did not kill Lee, while also saying that she had not followed news about the case, which includes her brother's attorneys saying he killed Lee in self-defense.
Lee and Khazar Momeni were reportedly known in wealthy Bay Area tech circles as participants in what the Wall Street Journal described as a sex and drugs-fueled underground party scene. Charging documents allege some type of relationship between Lee and Khazar Momeni, who is married to a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon.
On the stand Monday, Khazar Momeni denied she had a sexual relationship with Lee. Also on Monday, it was revealed that San Francisco police seized Khazar Momeni's phone and that days after Lee's death, Khazar Momeni's husband had Googled how to erase an iPhone. Her husband has not been charged with any crime and has not been identified as a potential witness.
Khazar Momeni was set to be cross-examined by the defense beginning Tuesday.
