Khazar Momeni denies brother killed Cash App founder Bob Lee during murder trial testimony
Khazar Momeni, the sister of the man accused of fatally stabbing tech executive and Cash App founder Bob Lee last year, said her brother didn't kill Lee shortly after she took the stand Thursday afternoon.
Lee was repeatedly stabbed in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023 in San Francisco's Rincon Hill/East Cut neighborhood and died on the operating table at a hospital. 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.
Khazar Momeni, 38, appeared as a witness for the prosecution after the Thursday lunch break and was expected to be asked about her relationship with Lee and the circumstances that led up to Lee's death.
Taking the stand wearing a light blue long-sleeve dress, Khazar took a bottle of water offered to her by her mother before beginning her testimony.
Attorney Shannan Dugan sat in on court Thursday witnessed the stunning moment Khazar entered the courtroom as the room anticipated her recounting of events.
"They were pretty transfixed. They weren't looking down, taking notes. I wasn't noticing any expressions. They were neutral. The jury doesn't want to give away how they're thinking," Dugan said.
After being sworn in, Khazar Momeni was asked by prosecutor Dane Reinstedt how she learned of Bob Lee's death. She replied that a friend came to her house and told her that he had passed away.
When Reinstedt asked her when she learned that her brother killed Lee, she quickly said, "My brother was not the one who killed Bob."
She also said that she had not followed the news about the case and knew no details regarding it, including her brother's attorneys claiming that he killed Lee in self-defense.
The prosecutor proceeded to ask Khazar about a series of text messages she exchanged with Nima. Reinstedt noted that on the evening of April 4, 2023, after Lee had died, she texted Nima that "the Bob thing hit hard."
Khazar Momeni did not remember sending the text, leading the prosecutor to show her the text while asking her if she recognized her number and her brother's number.
"I do not recall those text messages, as I was under the influence the night of Bob's passing and afterwards," she said. "I wasn't doing well so I wouldn't remember these."
As she discussed her lack of recall, the testimony turned towards the drugs she had consumed the day before Lee died.
"Most of us were using cocaine," she said. "I was using cocaine, nitrous oxide."
She also mentioned being provided LSD and GHB, two drugs she said she was not familiar with and had not taken previously.
Earlier Thursday, Lee's friend Borzoyeh "Bo" Mohazzabi had mentioned Khazar "doing a lot of whip-its."
Khazar's testimony also focused on her communication with her brother in the hours and days after Lee's death.
She maintained she was under the influence of drugs during that time, distraught over Lee's passing. and did not recall most texts. She attributed some to bickering with her brother.
"She used that to say she didn't really remember a lot of the time. She was saying to the DA, 'I don't remember. I was under the influence. I don't recall.' So in a way, it was used to give her an out for recollecting a lot of what happened," said Dugan. "But its also important because it appears there could have been a substance abuse issue here."
Inside the courtroom, the prosecution revealed text messages between Khazar and her brother Nima where she refuted claims that she was sexually assaulted. In one exchange, she said that she wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to Bob Lee, at one point saying, "Either I'll ask or the cops will."
"These are the things coming spontaneously from people before they think police officers are going to be involved; before they think 'These texts are going to get subpoenaed for a trial,'" said Dugan.
For the first time, CBS News Bay Area also heard from Bob Lee's brother, Timothy Oliver Lee. He has been present through the trial alongside his dad. He refuted Khazar Momeni's testimony and remembered his brother for his kindness.
"It's very difficult for us and to see her today take that grief from us and use it to repair her image within all of this scenario is difficult," he said. "My brother was about love and he was an awesome person and I'm going to miss him. I do miss him. But 18 months later, a year and a half later, I'm not in shock anymore. I'm angry."
More text messages between the Momeni siblings are expected to be introduced as evidence in the trial.
The murder trial began Monday with prosecutors telling jurors they were "sitting in court with a murderer" and presenting a timeline of events leading to the killing. Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai's opening statement included describing a text from Khazar Momeni to her brother which said, "You're f***ing psychotic at times," in reference to a confrontation her brother had with Lee.
Charging documents have alleged some type of relationship between Lee and Khazar Momeni, who is married to a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon, and described other worried text messages she sent to Lee about her brother confronting Lee. The Wall Street Journal reported Lee and Khazar Momeni belonged to a sex and drugs-fueled underground party scene known in wealthy Bay Area tech circles as "The Lifestyle."
Nima Momeni has pleaded not guilty to the murder and his attorneys will argue that their client acted in self-defense to what they call a "flash of aggression" from a cocaine-addled Lee.
On Wednesday, jurors heard Mohazzabi, a friend of Lee's and fellow tech entrepreneur who testified that on the night of Lee's murder, he and Lee saw Khazar Momeni at a friend's house earlier in the afternoon -- later identified as Jeremy Boivin -- where she was seen using multiple "whip-its," a slang term for nitrous oxide gas canisters that people inhale to get high.
As the men were leaving the apartment, a female friend of Khazar's arrived. The women consumed the drug GHB and had a bad reaction, which led to Khazar's brother Nima coming to pick them up and precipitated Nima's later angry phone call with Lee.
Mohazzabi characterized Lee's mood during those hours as calm and not angry.
Earlier Thursday, Mohazzabi was cross-examined by defense attorneys who focused on the drugs at the home where he and Lee first saw Khazar Momeni that afternoon -- including a bowl of what appeared to be cocaine -- and the amount of drinking that Mohazzabi and Lee had done over the course of the evening.
At one point Mohazzabi and Lee ended up at the private club The Battery where they had several drinks. While Mohazzabi said he told police that they had drunk considerably, he insisted they were "not sloppy." Mohazzabi also repeatedly denied that he and Lee were consuming drugs at the private club.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Monday.
