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

Episode Date: November 9, 2024

Nineteen some odd months after the fatal San Francisco stabbing of tech exec Bob Lee, his accused killer's trial is underway. Tech entrepreneur and consultant Nima Momeni's sister, who is at the center of the case has testified.  During the prosecution's case, the lead police investigator lead jurors through the twists and turns of the two-day drug binge Lee was on with Khazar Momeni. Nima Momeni reportedly believed his sister was also attacked by Lee.   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 saying 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.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Remember the founder of Cash App, Bob Lee? He was murdered, according to prosecutors, and now taking a very controversial center stage in the courtroom is his glamorous sister. But why? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. It seems like just yesterday, in a very disturbing 911 call played in court, Lee, the Cash App founder, is heard begging for help before his death. Help, help, help, he says to the dispatcher who asks his location. He goes on, somebody stab

me. Help me, please help me. I'm standing on the street, I need to get to the hospital, moaning in pain. You can hear him begging before sirens are heard in the background and the 911 call abruptly ends. The dad of two could not be saved. He died. Prosecutors are now accusing the brother of the so-called glamorous Khazar Momini of carefully planning the knife attack and even taking a very unique knife from his sister's kitchen before driving Bob Lee to a secluded area and stabbing him dead. Now, I find it really interesting that a lot of outlets, the headline is that this glam sister of Cash App founder Bob Lee debuts a new look.

This is while she's being blamed for the fight that caused Bob Lee's murder. Okay, why is her outfit so important? Well, I can just tell you this. She showed up to court wearing a pastel blue silk Valentino dress with a bow at the neckline that sells for nearly $6,000. Okay. She accessorized the look with large white-framed glasses and a small white clutch. Now, her stunning new appearance is very different from the last time she was seen with darker hair and an all black outfit. Whatever. Don't care. What happened to the Cash App founder?

I want you to take a listen to our friends at NBC. 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. Someone stabbed me, beating me around. 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 Portside apartment building. He attempts to use the call box, then falls to the ground. 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 investigation, but I'm hopeful and I'm very confident. Can you imagine 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. 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. 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, 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. Tell me. Well, I think it's no secret that many major cities, New York included, San Francisco, another one, have struggled with, you know, issues like homelessness and, you know, 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. My pleasure. I can't state that 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 think 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's crazy talk. Who did, who set that up? 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 it's stabbing. Nonetheless, this isn't a shooting. 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, what you just said to Dr. John Delatore joining us, licensed psychologist and mediator. He

specializes in forensic psychology. You can find him on Tik TOK at Dr. John Delatore, Dr. John, what he just said about stabbing. 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. 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 Solo, Top of the World, awesome. I haven't read Blue Stone yet, but I'm going to.

Irv Brandt, what Jarrett Fiorentino 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. 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. 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. Yes, that psychology. I'm glad you said that because I believe Dr. John Delatore. 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. 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 age 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 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 that are nefarious in nature. And so the more often we feel comfortable, the more we turn our blinders on. And that's 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. 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. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. It's all coming to a head in a court of law. Cash App founder Bob Lee's ex-wife, Krista, was seen entering the courthouse wearing a somber black outfit. The defendant, Nima's attorneys, have requested the ex-wife, Krista, who called Niman's sister the, quote, whore of Hightower. Hmm. The defense is asking that Bob Lee's ex-wife, Krista, not be allowed in the courtroom when the glam sister of the defendant, Kazar, testifies. The defense claims that Krista, Bob Lee's ex-wife, has been, quote, playing detective and has no intention of stopping. But why would that exclude her from the courtroom? Can we get back to the facts?

What happened? Dr. Pandy, 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, you know, 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. 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. 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. Don't I, am I remembering correctly that there was a glass wall he staggered up to? There was, yeah. He was, 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, if he

was looking for anyone in particular. It seemed to 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 yeah, a man in the final moments of his life. I'm just imagining that. And of course, as you know, Jarrett 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 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, 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 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 are getting stabbed in the lungs.

Your lungs now start filling up with blood. And when you're inhaling, exhaling, you'll start aspirating. And then you aspirate the blood. And then you can just, you know um 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 why because stabbings happen every day and seemingly nobody cares. Well, take a listen to our cut to this is Miguel Amigur 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? 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. 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. 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. 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 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. It's a whole different mindset. You see the world in code like a page full of numbers. And that makes sense to you. 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. 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,

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. 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 who were 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 cut 00D. Just after 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, Bob Lee called police. 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. 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 thedailymail.com shows Lee staggering away after the attack. Police later found a text message from Kazar Momeni on Lee's phone. Just wanted to make sure you're doing okay, because I know NEMA 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. Crime Stories with see Grace. A suspected killer's glamorous sister who was allegedly at sex parties with the Cash App founder, Bob Lee, before he was stabbed dead, the sister taking center stage. How is that? Well, at the middle, millionaire cash app founder Bob Lee's murder trial is the suspect, the suspected killer's sister. She is a plastic surgeon's wife who was reportedly involved in San

Francisco's underground party scene, which can often involve drugs and swinging sex. What is wrong with rich people? Why can't they just go home, have dinner, watch TV, and count their money? Whatever. Khazar Ilyasnia, 38, was allegedly partying and sleeping with Bob Lee when her brother, Nima Momini, stabbed Lee dead on April 4. Now, that night, Bob Lee was found bleeding sister, Kazar Ilyasnia's really expensive Millennium Tower home with brother Momini. Apparently, the couple went to such a party together the night of the murder. Momini claims he was under the impression Lee had drugged and raped his sister, prosecutors argue. Hmm, is that motive for murder? Momini, according to prosecutors, decided to get revenge for his sister.

Text messages have become the focus in front of a jury. The glam sister, Kazar, calls her own brother effing psychotic. Hours later, in damning text messages. Now, prosecutors argue these text messages are a key part of the evidence that will prove Momini is guilty of murder one. Now, to ramp up the drama in the courtroom even more, Momini's lawyers, as I mentioned, tried to have Bob Lee's ex, Krista, barred from the courtroom after she called the glam sister, Kazar, the whore of Hightower. That's a reference to the apartment in a luxury high-rise where she lived. Whatever. Irrelevant. What matters is who stabbed Bob Lee, multi-millionaire cash app founder,

dead. 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? Yeah, all of that is exactly right. He lived in the 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 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 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 it. There's so much more than video. 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. Those would be suspects. And those would be perpetrators, those would be suspects, and those would be potential witnesses. Digital evidence gives us three things. Who is 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. 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. evidence come to the forefront in the Idaho student slaying because the prime suspect, Brian Koberger's phone shows him in the area repeatedly. 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 430 a.m. leaving the crime scene. And you can follow his trail. So Ben Levitan, 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 to our cut, 8CBS. 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. Law enforcement did not give details or a motive for the killing. Hold on. Nima Momeni, a tech company owner. Well, that's a bunch of BS. You know, a bunch of BS. Jarrett Fiorentino, homicide prosecutor. That's a bunch of bs 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 momini he sure did uh 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.

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. 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 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 listen our cut seven this is brooke jenkins and remember the da has endured a real hailstorm because of the crime in this area this once wonderful beautiful area is now home it's 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,

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 Smithith 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. 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 Ben Levitan is right about that. And I know, Jarrett Farentino, 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. 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 are close to Bob Lee and Kazar Momeni, the glamorous sister, they believe 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 Bob Lee about it hours before the stabbing 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. 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 mamini 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 Momeni was playing the role of the protective big brother.

The speculation is that Lee may have been involved in procuring some kind of narcotics for Tina is her nickname, Nima'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. 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, Jared 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 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.

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. What else do we know about the so-called glam sister now at the middle of a murder trial? Well, apparently she's been married to a high profile plastic surgeon, very prominent, who specializes in nose jobs. Okay. His name all across magazines for years, always talking glowingly about his marriage and his wife.

I don't know if he knew she allegedly was attending drug and sex parties. That has not been proven. Those are just allegations, possibly even a way to smear the woman. I don't know. But what I do know is Bob Lee was stabbed dead. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.