OAN Staff Avril Elfie
3:40pm – Monday, October 14, 2024
The murder trial of Nima Momeni, who is accused of stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee to death, began on Monday.
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According to prosecutors, on April 4,thMr. Momeni attacked Mr. Lee over an argument over his sister, Mr. Hazard, who is close to Mr. Lee.
According to wall street journalLee's death was initially thought to be the result of indiscriminate violence in a city where crime is on the rise, but his friends later attributed it to the Cash App founder's extravagance in the upper echelons of Bay Area society. They suggested that this was most likely the result of a poor lifestyle. Hard drugs and orgies are common there.
Prosecutors allege Momeni, a technology consultant, took a knife from his sister's apartment, chased Lee to a secluded area in the Rincon Hill neighborhood, stabbed him three times and fled.
“He was stabbed in the heart and left to die,” Assistant District Attorney Omid Tarai said in his opening argument to the jury, laying out the evidence jurors could expect.
But the defense argued that Lee was “high on drugs” and tried to attack Momeni, but that the suspect was only acting in self-defense.
“Our theory is that Bob had a knife and Nima acted in self-defense,” said lawyer Saam Zangeneh.
Mr. Zangeneh noted that Mr. Momeni is very keen to tell his side of the story, but he has not yet decided whether he will testify in Mr. Momeni's defense.
Momeni was arrested days after the attack and has been in custody ever since. Lee died at a San Francisco hospital.
Momeni's mother has been a consistent presence in court, appearing in court on Monday along with Lee's brother, father and ex-wife.
Prosecutors said in court documents that Lee's friend told homicide detectives that he had gone drinking with Momeni's sister the day before the stabbing. The friend said that when Momeni later asked Lee if her sister was using drugs or acting inappropriately, Lee said she had not. .
Surveillance footage from last night showed Ms. Lee entering the residence of Ms. Momeni's sister in the Millennium Tower downtown, where she lives with her husband, a well-known plastic surgeon in San Francisco, California.
Shortly after 2 a.m., Lee and Momeni were seen on camera leaving the building together and leaving in Momeni's car. Lee was found in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood around 2:30 a.m. The area is home to high-tech companies and apartment buildings, but there is usually little activity in the early morning hours.
Police found a knife with a 4-inch blade at the scene. Prosecutors said Momeni's DNA was found on the handle of the weapon and Lee's DNA was found on the bloody blade. But the defense argued that police should have looked for Lee's fingerprints on the steering wheel.
Momeni has maintained his innocence, but if convicted, he could face 26 years to life in prison.
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