The glamorous sister of accused Bob Lee’s murderer, who allegedly attended drug-fueled sex parties with him, has arrived in court to support her brother in his arraignment.
Khazar Momeni’s brother Nima, 38, appeared in an orange jumpsuit and pleaded not guilty to stabbing the Cash App founder, 43, in the heart with a four-inch black-bladed kitchen knife.
Prosecutors believe he killed the man after questioning him about his alleged sexual relationship with his married sister.
Khazar has supported her brother since his arrest – but walked into the San Francisco courtroom this morning for her brother’s arraignment without her husband, plastic surgeon Dr Dino Elyassnia, by her side.
Judge Victor Hwang denied Nima Momeni bail – and said he would remain in custody until his next hearing.
Nima’s mother, Mahnaz Momeni, was also in the courtroom to hear her son plead not guilty.
Khazar Momeni arrived in court this morning in San Francisco
Khazar, known as a city party girl, arrived in court in an all-black outfit with sunglasses
Wearing sunglasses, the defendant’s sister walked out of court after learning her brother had been denied bail
Nima Momeni, charged with murder in the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, enters the Hall of Justice courtroom. He pleaded not guilty on Thursday
Judge Victor Hwang denied Nima Momeni bail – and said he would remain in custody until his next hearing
Prosecutor Omid Talai had argued that Momeni should be denied bail because the stabbing was “premeditated”.
“It was not done by accident, it was done violently,” Talai told the court.
The attorney claimed Bob Lee’s DNA was not found on the gun, arguing the attack was not in self-defense.
Nima’s attorney, Paula Canny, said the prosecutor’s version of events was “not accurate.”
Canny said: “My client is the one who threw the knife away to protect himself and make sure no one else had access to that knife. My client had no idea that Bob Lee was mortally wounded. Everyone, including my client, is heartbroken that Bob Lee is dead.
Khazar was previously pictured in court in San Francisco with her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia. He was nowhere to be seen this morning
She continued, “It was never a ‘thriller? It’s a ‘what happened?’
Lee and Khazar were among a crowd of affluent San Francisco partygoers known as “The Lifestyle” who attended debauched events where swingers and cheaters congregated for casual drug-fueled sex, a he has since emerged.
The Cash App founder was stabbed to death on April 4.
On the fateful night, at a party in San Francisco, Nima Momeni is believed to have confronted Lee and asked if his sister was doing drugs or “something inappropriate”. According to a witness, Lee told Momeni that nothing inappropriate happened.
Authorities say Nima and Lee reunited later that night at Khazar’s luxury apartment in the Millennium Tower.
Surveillance footage showed the pair entering Nima’s white BMW around 2 a.m. on April 4 and leaving the scene.
He is accused of then driving Lee to a secluded area of several streets, where he stabbed the Cash app founder multiple times with a kitchen knife.
Nima then allegedly left Lee to bleed out in the middle of the street.
Defense attorney Paula Canny, representing Nima Momeni, said: ‘It was never a ‘thriller? It’s a ‘what happened?’
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins speaks at a press conference following the arraignment of Nima Momeni
Khazar arrives for the arraignment of his brother Nima Momeni
The Cash App founder was stabbed to death on April 4. Khazar’s brother is the suspect
Nima Momeni (left) vowed to ‘fall very hard’ on Lee hours before the stabbing. Prosecutors say it was a planned attack in which he used a kitchen knife to stab Lee in the heart
Friends of tech executive Nima Momeni have previously said his life was “falling apart” in the weeks and months leading up to the alleged stabbing.
Lee was seen tripping and calling for help that night before collapsing near the Bay Bridge, just 16 minutes from Khazar’s apartment.
Police said Khazar was texting Lee around the time of his death.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay because I know you really liked nima,” she wrote in one such post.
“And thank you for being such a classy man who handles this with class. I love you p**** selfish.
Khazar and Nima Momeni left Iran for the United States when they were children.
He was known to be more reclusive, as she married a plastic surgeon and was a glamorous party girl in San Francisco’s so-called “The Lifestyle.”
Thursday’s court appearance comes after Momeni’s lawyer asked for his client’s release because police were relying too heavily on grainy CCTV.
Friends say Cash App founder Bob Lee was a regular at underground sex and drug parties with other San Francisco elites, including the sister of the man accused of killing him
Lee was seen in surveillance footage near the building clutching his injury
In a court filing on Monday, attorney Paula Canny said the narrative created by law enforcement against her client, Nima Momeni, rests on flawed foundations and does not prove he killed Lee in the early hours of the morning. April 4.
According to San Francisco StandardCanny argues that police spent eight days after the murder creating a video compilation consisting of blurry surveillance footage.
She said the case relied too much on those images and that they were too blurry to identify Momeni or Lee.
Lee’s stabbing death on April 4 was originally thought to be the result of random violence in the crime-ridden city of San Francisco.
But as the web of connections between Lee, Momeni, Momeni’s sister, and alleged involvement in underground sex and drug parties, other crime theories emerged.
The video Canny is referring to begins with a bloodied and dazed Lee staggering along Main Street following the 2:30 a.m. attack.
Before that, he appears to have had a run-in with a dark figure across the road, who prosecutors believe to be Momeni.
At the intersection with Harrison Street, just steps from the Embarcadero’s iconic waterfront, Lee got in front of a car and appeared to be leaning over the hood for help.
The interaction only lasted a few seconds, but the driver of the unidentified red vehicle drove off.
Lee then stumbled towards the Portside apartment building at 403 Main Street, but before he could hit the electronic intercom he collapsed.
The dying man remained motionless on the ground for several moments but managed to get to his knees and fumble with his phone.
When a second car passes, he tries to wave it again, his outstretched hands covered in blood – but the motorist drives away again.
Eventually, Lee stood up, his face flushed of all color, and he walked out of the picture at 2:36 a.m., clutching his chest and leaving a trail of blood spatter on the sidewalk.
In separate CCTV, a mysterious hooded figure is seen searching flower beds on the same street where Lee was stabbed, shortly after the attack.
