Attorney for Cash App founder murder suspect speaks outside court
Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh speaks on Tuesday, Dec. 3, after playing video allegedly showing Bob Lee using a knife to snort cocaine hours before his stabbing death. (Credit: KTVU)
Attorneys for the suspect accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco played a surveillance video during closing arguments of his murder trial that they say shows Lee using a knife to snort cocaine hours before his death.
Lawyers representing Nima Momeni – a self-described tech entrepreneur -- argued it was the same knife that Lee used to confront their client over a bad joke in April 2023, which resulted in him fending off the attack in self-defense and Lee later dying of stab wounds, according to KTVU.
Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh said Lee used the knife to "scoop and sniff" cocaine during a bender that ended with a struggle under the Bay Bridge, the station reported.
"I'm telling you that, we’ve done the dimensions, we’ve broken it down, he’s holding the same exact shape, size of the knife that was found outside of the Caltrans parking lot. That’s the knife!" Zangeneh said outside court on Tuesday.
CASH APP FOUNDER BOB LEE DIED WITH DRUGS AND ALCOHOL IN SYSTEM AFTER SAN FRANCISCO STABBING
Nima Momeni, left, is jailed in San Francisco on a murder charge in the stabbing 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 to the jury for deliberation on Wednesday.
Prosecutors, who delivered their closing arguments Monday, say Momeni planned the attack after hearing that the tech mogul had introduced his younger sister to a drug dealer who she says gave her GHB and other drugs and then sexually assaulted her at his apartment.
Momeni lured Lee to an isolated spot by 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, the 40-year-old Momeni faces 26 years to life in prison.
Surveillance video has shown the two men leaving the condo of the defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, around 2 a.m. on April 4, 2023, and getting into Momeni’s BMW.
BOB LEE DIED PLEADING WITH 911 FOR HELP: REPORT
Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh, top left, speaks to reporters after exiting the courtroom at the Hall of Justice for the murder trial of Nima Momeni, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, in San Francisco. (AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Other surveillance footage then shows them getting out of the car near the Bay Bridge, where the stabbing took place.
Lee was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street at 2:30 a.m., dripping a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died at a hospital.
Momeni testified during the trial that he stopped his car near the Bay Bridge after going 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 in town, I’d go hang out with my family instead of f------ around in strip clubs. It set him off. 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 depicts Nima Momeni’s appearance in court as prosecutor Omid Talai delivers opening statements during his trial in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 14. (Vicki Ellen Behringer)
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However, the prosecution has mocked Momeni’s story, pointing out that he never called police to report Lee’s alleged attack or even after he learned Lee had died of stab wounds on the street where he had last seen him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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