Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Handsome Tech Star Staggers Begging for Help, STABBED DEAD

Episode Date: May 1, 2023

Bob Lee made a name for himself in the tech world, as a founder of Cash App. The 43-year-old exec recently move to Florida but was in San Francisco for business. Around 2:30 a.m. Lee calls police sayi...ng he had been stabbed. Surveillance footage captures Lee getting out of a car with another man. Quickly, the man drives away and Lee stumbles along Main Street in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood.  When police reach Lee, he has been stabbed three times, including two wounds in his upper left chest.   The man driving the car that sped away is identified as 38-year-old Nima Momeni, also a tech executive.  Texts from Momeni's married sister sent to Lee,  show a connection between the two. Nima Momeni reportedly confronted, Lee implying "improper behavior"  Momeni was arrested after a nine-day manhunt.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Jarrett Ferentino- Homicide Prosecutor in Pennsylvania, Facebook & Instagram: Jarrett Ferentino Dr. John Delatorre (D La Torrey) - Licensed Psychologist and Mediator (specializing in forensic psychology), Psychological Consultant to Project Absentis: a nonprofit organization that searches for missing persons; Twitter, IG, and TikTok: @drjohndelatorre Irv Brandt - Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch, Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE," and FLYING SOLO: Top of the World"  AVAILABLE ON AMAZON; Top of the World" Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor  Dr. Maneesha Pandey- Chief Forensic Pathologist for Forensic Pathologists LLC in Ohio, Board-certified forensic pathologist Ben Levitan- Telecommunications Expert, Columnist Jen Smith- Chief Reporter for DailyMail.com; Twitter: @Jen_e_smith  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A young tech visionary is stabbed dead, brutally,, literally on Main Street. How did this happen and why? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, I want you to take a listen to our friends at NBC.
Starting point is 00:00:44 Police say Lee was attacked not far from the Bay Bridge at 2.35 a.m. Tuesday. The area, thought to be a safe part of the city, is dotted with surveillance cameras. Before collapsing on a sidewalk, Lee screamed for help on his phone, saying someone stabbed me, according to surveillance footage and records reviewed by the San Francisco Standard. These images obtained by the Daily Mail show tech exec Bob Lee stumbling along Main Street in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood. You see him through the front glass doors of the port side apartment building. He attempts to use the call box, then falls to the ground.
Starting point is 00:01:23 Sources say he had two stab wounds in his upper left chest. He was on the ground for about 10 seconds before standing up. We now know he was walking towards a police car. Minutes later, Lee died at the scene. We have some leads to follow up on. I can't disclose what those are now. It's early on in the investigation, but I'm hopeful and I'm very confident. Can you imagine
Starting point is 00:01:45 what this guy is going through? We know he has two gorgeous little girls he's raising. He has had an incredible rise, a meteoric rise in the tech industry. As I said, a visionary. And in those moments, after he's stabbed multiple times, he's staggering up and down the streets trying to get help. But there is no help. As you heard, this is in the exclusive Rincon area there, the city by the bay. And I've thought about this over and over because my memories of this area are all good.
Starting point is 00:02:40 We've got an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, but first I want to go to Chief Investigative Reporter for DailyMail.com, Jen Smith, joining us. Jen, thank you for being with us. See, my memories, which are very recent, are all good of this area. I never miss a chance to get the twins and walk across, all the way across and back the Golden Gate Bridge. And sometimes, Jen, you can't see eight feet in front of you because of the fog that rolls in over the city. It's beautiful. And I remember before we had the twins twins one time my husband and I stayed there and we were staying at the top of some hotel I think it was the mark I can't remember anymore but David said quick quick come out here look and we went out on the balcony and you could see
Starting point is 00:03:39 the city from up there looking down and then the fog came in off the bay and it slowly covered the whole, you could watch it rolling over the city and you could see no more buildings, rooftops, nothing. With that thick fog off the bay and the cool breeze coming in and the twins and I have spent days
Starting point is 00:04:06 going up and down the hills of Chinatown, going in every dim sun, everything we could find, every tea company, every fortune cookie company, and just having the best time. This has brought so much ire and scrutiny on the city that someone could be stabbed literally in plain view on main street what happened yeah well i mean everything you just said is right
Starting point is 00:04:38 nancy and it has brought so much added negative attention to san francisco and to this particular neighborhood in San Francisco. Tell me about the neighborhood because I don't know that. Well, Mission, you know, Main Street, near Mission Street, downtown, exclusive. We're talking luxury apartment buildings, nice coffee shops, restaurants, bars. San Francisco, we all know over the last few years has received a lot of bad press about some of the not so nice parts of the town. This isn't really one of them. Okay, now wait a minute, Jen. Guys, with me, and a lot of this case that we have learned is because of exclusive footage and photos obtained by DailyMail.com. See, I didn't see
Starting point is 00:05:23 any of that, and I've been going there forever because my sister is a college professor not very far from San Francisco. So we're always going out there to visit her. But this last time we went and spent so much time downtown, Jen, was during COVID. And there was nobody anywhere. It was deserted. So I didn't see any of what you're talking about. Tell me.
Starting point is 00:05:49 Well, I think it's no secret that many major cities, New York included, San Francisco, another one, have struggled with issues like homelessness and rising crime, especially since COVID. A lot of things have changed. So this attack, a brutal attack in an area that was, like you described, beautiful, nice part of town, it really brought added fear to the community. You know, how could something like this happen seemingly at random to an innocent father of two? You know, what's interesting about what Jen Smith from Daily Mail is saying? First, I want to go to Jarrett Ferentino, homicide prosecutor out of Pennsylvania. Jarrett, thank you so much for being with us.
Starting point is 00:06:37 My pleasure. I can't state why it's disturbing so many people that this tech guru is stabbed dead on Main Street. But I think what's shocking everyone so much is it's out of the norm. For instance, we say, oh, that's a high crime area. My husband told me the other day he was going to have a business lunch on, I'll think of it's a really funny Krog K-R-O-G Krog Street I'm like don't cancel that don't go there and you go what what is wrong with you I said I prosecuted so many aggravated assaults and homicides rapes on Krog Street in the Krog Street area of Atlanta don't go there that That's crazy talk. Who set that up?
Starting point is 00:07:26 Well, since the time I prosecuted, it's been all gentrified. There's all these cool coffee shops and restaurants. The point is, when we hear that a murder occurred in a low or no crime area, everybody's shocked. But crime is everywhere, Jarrett Fiorentino. That's what people don't understand, including this fancy area, highfalutin area of the city by the bay. It is everywhere. There's a tolerance, Nancy, for regions where we call high crime areas, but it is always shocking when you see something so violent and a stabbing. Nonetheless, this isn't a shooting.
Starting point is 00:08:07 This is a very, very close act, a very violent act, multiple stabbings. It's intentional. And the fear is that anyone in that community can now become a victim. And that's why it's so shocking. OK, I liked everything you just said. I cannot even argue with him. Okay, that part I don't like. But what you just
Starting point is 00:08:29 said to Dr. John Delatore joining us, licensed psychologist and mediator. He specializes in forensic psychology. You can find him on TikTok at Dr. John Delatore. Dr. John, what he just said about stabbing.
Starting point is 00:08:45 And we talked about this in depth with the slaying of those four beautiful, vibrant University of Idaho students. Stabbing. And I learned this as a prosecutor. It's a whole different animal than shooting somebody at a distance of even three feet, five feet, 10 feet, 20 feet, sniper shot, drive-by shooting. That is impersonal. You're not up close and personal with your victim. Stabbing is a whole different psychopathy. Yeah, it absolutely is.
Starting point is 00:09:15 It's one of those things where it's more intimate, right? You get up close with someone and you can feel the life draining out of them as you continue to stab them. So this is someone who has a very personal vendetta against the victim that's willing to walk up to someone and do this kind of act. Because it's also physically exhausting. So you've got to be determined to do this act. And there were multiple stab wounds here, either two or three. I mean, there was no way this guy was going to walk away alive. Irv Brandt joining me, senior inspector, U.S. Marshal Service, International Investigations, author of Solo Shot, Curse of the Blue Stone, and Flying Solo, Top of the World, both on Amazon. Flying
Starting point is 00:09:58 Solo, Top of the World, awesome. I haven't read Blue Stone yet, but I'm going to. Irv Brandt, what Jarrett Farentino just said, that we, quote, tolerate crime in high crime areas. I don't tolerate crime anywhere, but we're not numb, but we're not. What? Shocked when we hear about a murder, an ag assault, a rape in a high crime area, because we are conditioned to believe that. But in a, let me just say, fancy, influential, prestigious area like this, we are shot because it never happens. That's correct, Nancy. And just like the prosecutor said, and I live in Las Vegas, and if this sort of thing happens on the Las Vegas Strip, people are stunned. It's all over the news. If it happened on the west end of Las Vegas where people buy drugs and things like that, not so much.
Starting point is 00:11:01 The news coverage wouldn't be so much. Okay, what about this? You're talking about Vegas, Irv Brandt? That's correct. It's one thing if somebody dies in the area where there's hookers and drugs. That life is no more or less important than if somebody's stabbed in the lobby of the very expensive Wynn Hotel. That's correct. But we're more shocked because it is so rare in an area like the Wynn Lobby.
Starting point is 00:11:30 Is that what you're saying? That's exactly what I'm saying. It's a wow factor. If someone gets stabbed while they're watching the fountain show in front of the Bellagio. You mean like in Ocean's Eleven? Yeah, that could have been me.
Starting point is 00:11:43 Yes, that's psychology. I'm glad you said that because I believe Dr. John De La Torre. Everybody jump in. Do I have to tell you? This is not high tea at Windsor Castle with King Charles. All right, jump in. Let's brainstorm on this. It could have been me, factor.
Starting point is 00:12:03 I think that's why when people, I noticed a lot during the Eliza Fletcher case, the young teacher out of Memphis, she had two or three children, little preschool-aged children and younger. He went jogging at 4 a.m. and she was brutally attacked, raped, and murdered by a repeat offender that had an outstanding rape. He was out wandering free. Everyone said, oh, why was she out jogging at 4 a.m.? Like it's her fault. It was dark. Why was she out? Well, why shouldn't she be? And I think people say that not because they're ill-spirited
Starting point is 00:12:45 or mean-hearted. I think that they like to think, well, that's never going to happen to me. And they continue to feel safe, Dr. Delatore. It makes them feel they can go through life feeling safe with blinders on to the fact that they're not safe. Just like this guy, Bob Lee, was not safe. No, he wasn't safe because it's the threat that you are never taken to account. So in some ways, it's a threat that comes from someone in your inner circle, or sometimes the threat comes from a complete stranger because you're not prepared for something like that. There's a comfort nature when it comes to routine. And so the more often we're doing routines, the less likely we are to pay attention to our surroundings and to recognize when things might happen to us
Starting point is 00:13:30 that are nefarious in nature. And so the more often we feel comfortable, the more we turn our blinders on. And that's when we can find ourselves very vulnerable. Well put. Guys, let's move this forward. Take a listen to Chief Bill Scott, San Francisco PD. At approximately 2.30 a.m., San Francisco police officers from Southern Station responded to the 300 block of Main Street for a report of a stabbing.
Starting point is 00:13:55 Officers arrived on scene and located the victim, later identified as 43-year-old Robert Lee, suffering from an apparent stab wound. Officers rendered aid and summoned medics to the scene. Mr. Lee was transported to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Despite efforts by first responders and medical personnel, Mr. Lee died from his injuries. Pause for a big thank you to our partner making today's program possible. It's Fox Nation and its brand new series, Scampreneur. Hey, do you love a good con artist story? Then you need to check out the new Fox Nation series, Scampreneur.
Starting point is 00:14:37 This series takes a deep dive into the outrageous lies and elaborate scams pulled off by three master manipulators, Elizabeth Holmes, Carrie Farrell, and Anthony Gignac. In episode one, meet the Silicon Valley swindler, Elizabeth Holmes, who cons the world and wealthy investors into her wishful thinking. Will she pay the price for her crimes? Episode two, learn about the hipster grifter, Carrie Farrell, who scammed her own family and friends out of thousands, but the police had a plan of their own. Episode three, learn about the fake Saudi prince, Anthony Gignac, who spent two decades committing low-level grifts, but his next get-rich-quick scam turns out to be his biggest mistake. Through interviews with
Starting point is 00:15:25 investigators, victims, and whistleblowers, Scampreneur reveals how these con artists were captured and punished for their crimes. Don't miss this incredible series, Scampreneur, streaming now on Fox Nation. Thanks, Fox Nation, for being our partner. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm just wondering, too, Dr. Manisha Pandey, renowned pathologist, the chief forensic pathologist for Forensic Pathologist LLC Ohio. And you can find Dr. Pandey at theforensicpathologist.com.
Starting point is 00:16:21 Dr. Pandey, thank you for taking time to be with us. I'm just imagining what Bob Lee, I mean, did he think about Dagny and Scout, his two little girls, in his last moments? I know he had time to think. You know, so many times we get a shooting wound, a GSW, to the head or to the heart or the chest, and we know the person either dies immediately, instantly, or within 10-15 seconds. The heart pumps out all the blood in their body. They bleed out. In this case, Bob Lee had time to suffer. He knew he was dying and there's video of him staggering up and down the streets asking for help. What would he have physically and mentally experienced in those moments, Dr. Pandy? So, yes, you're right. He did have some time to think if he was probably stabbed to the left chest or in that area.
Starting point is 00:17:23 He's probably gotten struck in the lungs as he's bleeding internally slowly. He's probably not thinking that he'll die, but he's not thinking what's happening, but he's trying to save himself and trying to see that, you know, what's going on. When your lungs begin to fill up with blood, Dr. Manisha Pandey, what does the victim experience? They suffocate internally. So moment by moment, it's harder and harder, more difficult for you to breathe. And this guy continues walking. Jen Smith, chief investigative reporter, DailyMail.com.
Starting point is 00:18:02 The video doesn't show him walking up to trying to get to a building and the wall like a lobby of a hotel or an apartment is glass. And he's going up there looking inside the glass and he's staggering and bleeding and his lungs are filling up with blood. It's starting to come up in his mouth and his nose when he takes a breath. Am I remembering correctly that there was a glass wall he staggered up to? There was, yeah. He was staggering towards what we now know was an apartment building lobby. We don't know whether or not he knew where he was going,
Starting point is 00:18:39 if he was looking for anyone in particular. It seemed to me, and I think to everyone else who watches the video that this was a man who was just utterly desperate for help. He would have taken it from anyone and it's pretty disturbing footage. He is really struggling to walk. He's holding on to his wounds. He is, it looks like he's quite disorientated which anyone would be given the circumstances and um yeah a man in the final moments of his life i'm just imagining that and of course as you know jared fiorentino high profile prosecutor the state if this ever does go to a trial is never allowed to put the jurors in the shoes of the victim but you can say things like one can only imagine what Lee was going through as he staggered bleeding
Starting point is 00:19:39 the blood by now going down his pants coming out of his abdomen, in his lungs, slowly backing up to where he can't take another breath. You can't say, what if that was you? Or what if that was your father or your brother or your son? You can't say that. But you can certainly strike a visual image in the hearts and minds of the Gerards. Isn't that true? Absolutely, Nancy. And you know, the imagination can't help but run wild. You know, the footage is grainy, and when you know what's actually happening there, you start to fill in the details. You start to fill in, like you described,
Starting point is 00:20:18 the blood filling into his mouth and his nose and the desperation you see he's trying to use his phone. Some things you don't have to say to a jury. They're going to go there themselves. And you're going to say, as a human being, how can't you put yourself in those shoes? How can't you think about a time you couldn't breathe or needed help and was desperately seeking someone's assistance? And that really is such a powerful piece of evidence that will ultimately and hopefully be presented in a trial for this case. Dr. Manisha Pandey joining us, Chief Forensic Pathologist for Forensic Pathologist LLC. Dr. Pandey, I remember the
Starting point is 00:20:56 first time and I was into, I guess this was my third or fourth homicide trial. I went to the medical exam and I said, what is that? I don't understand this blood pattern at all. And she said, I think she used the word aspirate. There was a fine mist of blood on something. And it's where the victim was breathing in and would exhale a mist of blood. That's correct. That's what happens if you're getting stabbed in the lungs. Your lungs now start filling up with blood.
Starting point is 00:21:31 And when you're inhaling, exhaling, you'll start aspirating. And then you aspirate the blood. And then you can just, you know, when you are exhaling, the finest of blood and fluids come out along with your breath, and you're really struggling. I don't understand when this stabbing first occurred. There was so much media surrounding it, and I thought, what is this about? Is it because it's an expensive area?
Starting point is 00:21:58 Why? Because stabbings happen every day, and seemingly nobody cares. Well, take a listen to our cut to this is miguel amagur with nbc the father of two who had recently moved to miami was more than a tech icon his wife saying bob lee was the most incredible and beautiful human being he was everyone's best friend police still have no suspects or motive for the murder. It's going to be hard to imagine a world where you can't call Bob and say, hey, I have this problem I'm thinking through. Can you help me through it?
Starting point is 00:22:31 He was an absolutely instrumental person in the tech industry. This morning, the high-profile murder of a tech pioneer killed while walking the streets in a city under increased scrutiny for its safety. A visionary, a tech guru, and there's more. Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. He's been described as that person that everyone wants to be around. Bob Lee's gregarious personality drew people in. Friends describe Lee as happy-go-lucky and an enthusiastic ball of energy.
Starting point is 00:23:02 Lee had been a water polo star at Lindbergh High School outside of St. Louis, but in college his passions turned to technology. In fact, in the early 2000s while in college, Lee developed a solution to the code red virus, which plagued computers worldwide. He wrote and released a program that users could implement to deflect the virus. Lee's muscle in the tech world grew. He published an influential manual on the code language Java, then worked with Google's AdWords.
Starting point is 00:23:31 In 2010, Square recruited Lee to become its CTO, Chief Technical Officer, where he helped build Cash App. When Square went public in 2015, Lee, the extrovert, social technical genius, and father of two, became a millionaire overnight. So this is the guy that created Cash App. It's a P2P, person-to-person transferring app on your phone. This is the guy that created that, kind of like Venmo.
Starting point is 00:23:59 And there's more. I want you to take a listen to our cut for Rob Nesbitt, K-R-O-N. Lee had a successful career in tech as a founder of Cash App, former chief technology officer of Square, and chief product officer at MobileCoin. His death caused a firestorm of posts on social media about violent crimes in San Francisco. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins posted on Twitter Wednesday saying, quote, protecting public safety and holding violent repeat offenders accountable is a top priority for my administration. The DA extended her condolences to Lee's friends and family who are trying to figure out the tough question of why. I can't imagine anyone targeting
Starting point is 00:24:34 Bob. He was not a person who garnered any sort of animosity towards people. If anything, he garnered respect and love and people really enjoyed hanging out with him. Joining me right now is our own tech guru, Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining us out of Raleigh. You can find him at benlevitan.com. You know, Ben, I've admired you for so long because the way you think, tech experts think differently than Shakespearean literature majors or lawyers.
Starting point is 00:25:12 It's a whole different mindset. You see the world in code, like a page full of numbers, and that makes sense to you. It doesn't make sense to everybody else. Is it a different mindset? And how did somebody like Bob Lee rise to the very top of his industry? It's really, thanks for that intro.
Starting point is 00:25:31 That's the best intro I've ever had, Nancy. Thank you. The fact is, you know, I've been an engineer for 30 years, focused on the cell phone network. We think very black and white. Things either work or do not work. There's no gray area with engineers, focused on the cell phone network. We think very black and white. Things either work or do not work. There's no gray area with engineers,
Starting point is 00:25:52 but Bob Lee's magic or what made him so successful is he's able to understand what people want, what non-engineers understand. The best engineer is going to be someone who understands what a non-engineer wants to see. That's why Apple's been so successful.
Starting point is 00:26:10 It's very, very simple. Bob understood that people wanted a quick, easy way to pay each other, exchange money. The big thing that he understood was not everybody has a bank account. The other big thing he understood is it had to be simple and instant and that they wouldn't mind paying a small percentage of that for him to facilitate the services. Ironically, Nancy, in this case, the best evidence is going to come off the Cash App. Every time you make a transaction, the Cash App is going to record your location. It's going to record the two parties
Starting point is 00:26:52 who are doing the transaction. It's going to have their mobile phone numbers. There's going to be so much evidence right there. So you just put that in a way that even I, a literature major, can understand. Okay, so who would do this thing to a tech guru, a visionary known around the world, and a father of two, I might add. Take a listen to our cut, double O-D. Just after 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, Bob Lee called police.
Starting point is 00:27:25 He was near San Francisco's Bay Bridge. He reportedly yelled into his phone, help, someone stabbed me. Surveillance footage showed Lee struggling to walk up a city street. He tried to wave down a white Camry with its hazard lights on. The Camry drives away, and Lee collapses on the ground. Six minutes later, the police arrive, and Lee is unconscious and bleeding uncontrollably. Lee has been stabbed three times, once in the hip and twice in the chest.
Starting point is 00:27:51 So now a mystery car emerges, a car that speeds away when Lee circles back to it. Why? Here's more from our friends at NBC. Authorities calling it a planned and deliberate attack. There is evidence regarding motive that has been located in this case, but certainly we have to make sure that we look at every avenue. This video obtained by the DailyMail.com shows Lee staggering away after the attack. Police later found a text message from Kazazar Momeni on Lee's phone.
Starting point is 00:28:27 Just wanted to make sure you're doing okay, because I know Nima came way down hard on you, and thank you for being such a classy man, handling it with class. Love you. Okay, well it looks like, yet again, Ben Levitan is right. The cops are combing through Lee's cell phone, his pings, following him through the evening. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Let me understand,
Starting point is 00:29:13 Jen Smith, DailyMail.com investigative reporter, he was now, he had moved to Miami, his two children, his two little girls were there, his ex-wife's there. They're raising the children together. His father, very, very close relationship with the father, who also moves to Miami to be with Bob Lee. He comes back to San Francisco for a tech conference, right?
Starting point is 00:29:41 Yeah, all of that is exactly right. He lived in the Bay bay area a suburb actually just north of san francisco for some time and then late last year i think it was the fall of 2022 bob lee moved his whole family to miami that's including his ex-wife and his father ben levitan telecommunications expert joining us out of raleigh ben we learned that in this very ritzy area, there are cams everywhere, surveillance cameras, rings, all sorts of surveillance. And that is how we get some of the video we see of him staggering around for help as he's bleeding out.
Starting point is 00:30:22 But you say texts and pinging and following the trail of where he was that night went out on the town at the end of the day after the conference let out can give us so much more information. Now, I want to ask you about surveillance video cams. Do they still tape over themselves like at the end of 72 hours
Starting point is 00:30:44 like they did in the Chandra Levy case? It depends on how much you're spending on this technology. A lot of them do overwrite, but memory is so cheap nowadays. And if you're just recording low resolution like what we saw in the Daily Mail video, that's very low resolution. You could keep that for years, but you know what's critical is the 24 hours prior and everybody's going to have but there's so much more than video though every time you walk around with your phone you're leaving digital footprints all over the place so certainly in that office lobby they know everybody who came near that building. So those would be perpetrators.
Starting point is 00:31:25 Those would be suspects. And those would be potential witnesses. Digital evidence gives us three things. Who was at the scene? And those are potential suspects, yes. Those are potential witnesses. And that's the most important thing. People may have walked by and didn't even know what was going on.
Starting point is 00:31:48 Someone may have seen someone running away from Bob Lee and thought nothing of it. And when the police pull up their footprint, they'll say yes. And you know what, Ben Levitan, we really see this kind of evidence come to the forefront in the Idaho student slaying because the prime suspect, Brian Koberger's phone, shows him in the area repeatedly. No. And then the night of the murders, he conveniently turns off or puts into airplane mode his phone, and then it picks up right after the murders around 4.30 a.m. leaving the crime scene. And you can follow his trail so ben levitan
Starting point is 00:32:27 telecommunications expert is right now looking at the victim bob lee's texts and messages a name emerges and boy does it take a listen our cut 8 cbs these haunting security camera images posted by london's daily mail show the final moments of Bob Lee's life. And tonight, police say that brutal stabbing was not a random attack. We can confirm that Mr. Lee and Mr. Momene knew each other. San Francisco's police chief says 38-year-old Nima Momene, who owns a tech company, was arrested this morning in the suburb of Emeryville and booked on one charge of murder. Officers confronted him with bullhorns.
Starting point is 00:33:11 Law enforcement did not give details or a motive for the killing. Uh, hold on. Nima Momeni, a tech company owner. Well, that's a bunch of BSs you know a bunch of bs jared fiorentino homicide prosecutor that's a technical legal term but there's really no other way to put it i mean i don't think they have a latin phrase for that lawyers could throw around in the courtroom but uh jen smith he's not a successful tech owner didn't he lie about graduating from berkeley i'm talking about momentum. He sure did.
Starting point is 00:33:49 He would love the world to think, or at one stage, he would have loved the world to think that he was this high-flying tech executive. We're not talking about the kind of success that Bob Lee enjoyed, though. This man had a small shop. He worked out of his apartment. He worked out of his apartment. That's correct. He has an IT domain name, I would say, at best. That's about as far as it goes at the moment. That's what we know anyway.
Starting point is 00:34:11 He had lied about his college education. He said he went to Berkeley. Berkeley says he did not. And really, the rest of his life is somewhat of a mystery. But like you say, he was working out of his apartment in Emeryville, which is about five miles from where the attack took place. And there's nothing wrong with working out of your apartment or home. Many people do it, especially since COVID. But to lie about it, Dr. John Delatore joining us, psychologist and mediator specializing in forensic psychology. Why do people have to lie about it? Who cares if you work out of your place, your loft? Nobody cares.
Starting point is 00:34:52 But why lie about it? Nobody cares where you went to college. Great. They may care for a minute when you're trying to get your first job. But then after that, why lie about it, Dr. Delatore? Yeah, because you have a high impression manager. Just because the world doesn't look at you as being somewhat important, that doesn't mean that you don't view the world as needing you to be important. So of course, you're going to lie. And of course, you're going to embellish if you
Starting point is 00:35:18 believe that the world is going to judge you in ways you don't want to be judged. You know, I came off a red dirt road drinking well water. I don't know how somebody like me managed to worm my way into Valdosta College and then Mercer University and then NYU. It's a miracle. I've always been amazed at people that lie about everything to do with their background. But there's more at play here. Take a listen to our cut seven. This is Brooke Jenkins. And remember, the DA has endured a real hailstorm because of
Starting point is 00:35:54 the crime in this area. This once wonderful, beautiful area is now home. It's drenched in crime. And I don't know why the mayor is bragging and crowing hey this wasn't a homeless person that committed the crime lady they committed a crime on main street and nobody would help this guy it's crime ridden listen to this while in some cases we do immediately have a suspect, that was not the situation here. As a result of their hard work, Mr. Lee's killer has been identified, arrested, and now will be brought to justice. I am here today to formally announce the charges against Mr. Nima Momeni for the murder of Bob Lee. The specific charges that we are filing today include murder in violation of Penal Code Section 187, as well as a special allegation, also known as an enhancement,
Starting point is 00:36:53 alleging that this murder was committed with a knife. I wonder why it's an enhancement. If anybody on the panel knows, unless they're trying to curb knife violence. And speaking of knives, Jen Smith, chief investigative reporter, DailyMail.com. This guy, Momeni, has a history with knives. Explain that little matter regarding a switchblade. Yeah, he sure does. We know now that in 2011, Nima Momeni was charged with attacking a woman with a switchblade. Obviously, this came to light after his arrest in the Bob Lee case. I know, speaking of the knife in this case, Nancy, we're not talking about a switchblade.
Starting point is 00:37:33 We're talking about a kitchen knife, a large one. That is what police say he used to attack Bob Lee. A kitchen knife, but he, before that, had a history of trying to sell an illegal switchblade is that correct yeah that's absolutely right this guy has a long history with violence clearly specifically associated with knives well the evidence is largely electronic and uh ben levitan is right about that and i know jared farino, you love electronic evidence, digital evidence, because it doesn't lie. Like an eyewitness may have had bad vision and left their glasses at home, not so with digital information. Take a listen to our cut nine from our friends at NBC.
Starting point is 00:38:15 The moments before, during, and after the murder of Bob Lee were recorded on surveillance cameras and helped detectives track down their suspect. According to court documents, the tech titan's relationship with this woman, Kazar Momeni, may have been the reason her brother, Nima Momeni, killed the 43-year-old. Is Mr. Lee's relationship with the suspect's sister a major part of this case? His relationship with the suspect's sister is certainly the connection it appears between the two and so that is something that's very important to this investigation. In a nutshell, Jen Smith, before we run out of time, why would Mamini kill Bob Lee over Mamini's sister? She's married to a very successful, well-known plastic surgeon in that area? Well, it's all now emerging that friends who were close
Starting point is 00:39:06 to Bob Lee and Kazar Momeni, the glamorous sister, they believed that the pair were having a romantic relationship. And it gets darker than that. There is a suggestion that Kazar Momeni was using drugs. She had a drug problem that she was hiding. You mean the sister, the sister? Kazar Momeni, yes, the sister. There is a suggestion that she had a drug problem she was hiding from her husband and that she was perhaps partying with lee on the day before the murder her brother nina older than her didn't like obviously that she was engaging in this type of behavior he we, we know, questioned Bob Lee about it. Hours before the stabbing,
Starting point is 00:39:48 he wanted to know the extent of their relationship and he wanted to know from Lee whether or not his sister had been getting into anything that wasn't exactly proper, shall we say. Bob Lee assures Nima Momeni that his sister, Kazar, this woman that he is apparently having an affair with, was not using drugs, that everything was fine. That speaks to the text message that was discovered on Bob Lee's phone from the sister.
Starting point is 00:40:15 What happens after that, Nancy, we're not exactly sure. But clearly, it set Nima Momeni, the brother, into a very violent rage. Jarrett Fiorentino, homicide prosecutor of Pennsylvania, number one, the state never, ever has to prove the motive under the law. It's a practical matter. The jury wants to hear what the motive would be. And I'm very curious about the way this whole thing went down because, Jarrett Fiorentino, it doesn't wash with me that these two had been out going to restaurants and bars or whatever since the tech conference got out that day, you know, hitting the town. And then all of a sudden, Mimini gets mad and stabs him dead. That doesn't quite ring true to me well nancy what's shaping up here is that it's looking like mameni was playing the role of the protective big brother the speculation is that lee may have been involved in procuring
Starting point is 00:41:15 some kind of narcotics for tina uh is is her nickname uh nema's sister And that may be what triggered him when he discovered that Lee had been involved in procuring narcotics for Tina. And he's playing the big brother. They get into an argument, they being Nima and Bob, and the stabbing ensues. But like you said, the fact that they're out on the town having dinner, traveling in the same social circles over the course of that evening doesn't necessarily jive with it exploding into a violent conflict. You know the old phrase, Jerry Fiorentino, sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. The reality is I don't care what they argued about. I don't care what they argued about. I don't care what Mamini thought. He stabbed this guy, an unarmed victim, dead and left him to stagger around this exclusive area to die, begging for help from a car and passersby.
Starting point is 00:42:17 Nobody would help him. He knew he was dying. He was spitting up blood. I don't care what they talked about. This is murder and it's murder one. In the last hours, we know that a continuance has been granted to the defense for an arraignment and the defendant remains behind bars as he should. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.