San Francisco prosecutors made opening statements Monday in the murder trial of a technology consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, reviewing a timeline of events before the death and subsequent efforts by the defendant to hide his actions.
Lee’s death at age 43 – after stumbling down a quiet street in downtown San Francisco looking for help – shocked the tech community, and fellow executives and engineers paid tribute to his generosity and intelligence. Lee was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died. He is the father of two children.
Prosecutors said Nima Momeni, 40, planned the attack on April 4 after a dispute over her younger sister, Khazar, who was friends with Lee. They said Momeni took a knife from a set at her sister’s condo, took Lee to a secluded area and stabbed him three times, then fled.
“Stabbed through the heart and left for dead,” said Omid Talai, assistant district attorney, “our victim was stabbed repeatedly, once in the chest, once in the hip, and once through the heart. Robert Lee. Known as Bob.”
Defense attorneys disagreed, and they said that Lee, who was addicted to drugs, attacked Momeni. They plan to make opening statements after lunch.
“Our theory is that Bob was holding the knife, and Nima acted in self-defense,” attorney Saam Zangeneh told The Associated Press last week.
He said his client is eager to tell his side of the story, but they have not yet decided whether Momeni will testify in his defense. Momeni, who lived near Emeryville, California, has been in custody since his arrest days after Lee died in a San Francisco hospital.
On Monday, Momeni sat with his lawyer, wearing a dark suit.
Her mother, who is always present at court hearings, appeared in court alone Monday morning. On the other side of the courtroom sat members of Lee’s family, including his ex-wife, father and brother.
Talai, the assistant district attorney, said jurors will hear from Lee’s friend, who spent time with him and Momeni’s sister the day before Lee was stabbed.
The friend would testify that Momeni angrily rebuked Lee on the phone that night for his sister, drugs and “naked girls,” acting like “an overprotective guy who wants to be tough” while Lee was gentle and happy, he said. Talai.
Surveillance video of Lee’s last night showed him entering the luxurious Millennium Tower downtown, where Momeni’s sister lives with her husband, a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon.
Talai said the jury would see video of Lee and Momeni leaving the building after 2 a.m. and driving away in Momeni’s car. Another video shows the two men getting out of the car at a secluded spot near the Bay Bridge, and then Momeni stabs Lee three times, throws a knife from his sister’s kitchen set and quickly drives away.
Talai said prosecutors would share text messages in which Momeni, the next morning, told her sister she didn’t know what happened to Lee that night.
The attorney said video recorded by a San Francisco police detective trailing Momeni before his arrest showed him making three stabbing moves outside his attorney’s office earlier, but there was no re-enactment of the knife grab his attorney said Lee used first.
Police found a 4-inch (10 centimeter) knife in the remote area where Lee was stabbed. Prosecutors said tests showed Momeni’s DNA on the gun’s handle and Lee’s DNA on its blood-stained blade. But the defense said police should have tested the handle for fingerprints, namely Lee’s.
Lee was found around 2:30 a.m. in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighborhood, which has tech offices and condominiums but little activity in the morning.
He called 911 as he staggered, bleeding to death and asked for help, Talai said.
Momeni and Lee’s family members declined to comment Monday.
Momeni, who has pleaded not guilty, faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon told jurors that the trial could last until mid-December.
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