Lawyers for the suspect charged with the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, surveillance video played during the closing arguments of his murder trial, which they say shows Lee using a knife to snort cocaine hours before his death.
Lawyers representing Nima Momeni – a self-described tech entrepreneur – argued that it was the same knife Lee used to confront their client with a bad prank in April 2023, which led to him fending off the attack in self-defense and Lee later dying. from stab wounds, according to KTVU.
Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh said Lee used the knife to “scoop and snort” cocaine during a bender that ended with a struggle among the Bay Bridge, the station reported.
“I’m telling you, we did the measurements, we broke it down, it holds the exact same shape and size as the knife that was found outside the Caltrans parking lot. That’s the knife!’ Zangeneh said this outside court on Tuesday.
CASH APP FOUNDER BOB LEE DIES WITH DRUGS AND ALCOHOL IN SYSTEM AFTER SAN FRANCISCO STING
Nima Momeni, left, is jailed in San Francisco on murder charges in the death of Cash App founder Bob Lee. San Francisco police say the two knew each other. (Nima Momeni/LinkedIn, Bob Lee/Facebook)
The case is expected to go before the jury for deliberation on Wednesday.
Prosecutors, who delivered closing arguments Monday, said Momeni planned the attack after learning that the tech mogul had introduced his younger sister to a drug dealer who she said gave her GHB and other drugs and then sexually assaulted her in his apartment.
Momeni lured Lee to a secluded spot near the Bay Bridge, stabbed him three times with a knife from his sister’s kitchen set and drove away in his car, they say.
If convicted, Momeni, 40, faces 26 years to life in prison.
Surveillance video shows the two men leaving the apartment of the defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, around 2 a.m. on April 4, 2023, and getting into Momeni’s BMW.
BOB LEE died while pleading 911 for help: REPORT
Attorney Saam Zangeneh, above left, speaks to reporters after leaving the Hall of Justice courtroom for the murder trial of Nima Momeni, on Tuesday, December 3, in San Francisco. (AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Other surveillance footage shows them getting out of the car near the Bay Bridge, where the stabbing took place.
Lee was found staggering on a deserted street in downtown San Francisco at 2:30 a.m., dripping a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died in a hospital.
Momeni testified at the trial that he stopped his car at the Bay Bridge after driving over a pothole that caused Lee to spill the beer he was holding.
“I made a bad joke. I said if it was my last night on the town I was going to hang out with my family instead of hanging out at strip clubs. It confused him. He just blew up in front of me he went from zero to one hundred. He was very angry,” Momeni said, according to KRON.
A court sketch shows Nima Momeni’s appearance in court as prosecutor Omid Talai makes opening statements during his trial in San Francisco, California, on October 14. (Vicki Ellen Behringer)
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However, the prosecutor has mocked Momeni’s story, pointing out that he never called the police to report Lee’s alleged attack, or even after learning that Lee had died of stab wounds on the street where he had last seen him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
