The man charged with murder in the 2023 stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee is expected to take the stand and claim he killed Lee in self-defense, according to court documents detailing the coming trial.
Lawyers for defendant Nima Momeni, whose trial is expected to begin Friday, explained their defense strategy in newly filed court documents. The lawyers claim that Lee was wielding a kitchen knife he took from the home of Momeni’s sister, where both men were seen together before the incident. Momeni turned the knife against Lee, lawyers say.
A defense wound expert is expected to testify that Lee’s wounds are consistent with this explanation, per the document:
… in accordance with the physical evidence, including the order and pattern of the wounds, the trajectory and angle of the knife wounds and entry points, the knife being maintained in Mr. Lee’s hand when the wounds occurred in the process of a struggle for the knife and the lack of defensive wounds and timing of the incident reasonably suggest that the defendant acted in self-defense.
A medical expert is expected to testify that the drugs in Lee’s bloodstream would have impacted his “decision-making and coordination and caused or contributed to his erratic behavior,” according to the document.
The defense also plans to put a DNA expert on the stand who will testify that the DNA testing by the San Francisco Police Department was flawed, as it only took samples from part of the knife.
The defense also expects to call to the stand Momeni’s sister Khazar Momeni, Lee’s alleged drug dealer Jeremy Boivin, and a person named Dangerous Rose.
Lee was stabbed to death under the Bay Bridge in the early morning of April 4, 2023. Prosecutors alleged in court filings that the killing was related to Lee’s relationship with Momeni’s sister, Khazar, the wife of San Francisco plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia. Lee was the 43-year-old chief product officer of MobileCoin, a crypto currency entity.
Bob Lee was in possession of the knife for the
Retired SFPD Officer Steven Pomatto, from court documents
entirety of the incident that led to his death. … It is reasonable to conclude that all three injuries were the result of the defendant acting in self-defense.
Over the last year and a half, Momeni has swapped defense teams and asked for a change in venue, believing he could not receive a fair trial in San Francisco. He posed in his jail cell for photos that were published by The Standard.
Drug parties and threats
The day before his death, Lee was partying with Momeni’s sister and others at the home of his alleged drug dealer, Boivin. According to court documents, Khazar woke up nearly nude and in a daze after taking drugs Boivin gave her. Another woman helped Khazar contact her husband and brother, who took her home.
That same day, Nima Momeni contacted Lee and chastised him for encouraging Khazar to do “inappropriate” things at Boivin’s home, according to court documents.
Messages from Khazar were found on Lee’s phone in which Khazar apologized for her brother’s behavior. Prosecutors called this evidence of motive.
Momeni’s attorneys have said in court that the facts of the case do not point to a cold-blooded killing but instead show that Momeni was angry at Boivin.
“Mr. Momeni acted in self-defense,” wrote defense attorney Saam Zangeneh in court documents. “Specifically, that Mr. Momeni stood his ground after Mr. Lee attacked him with a weapon.”
A homicide inspector with the San Francisco Police Department testified at the preliminary hearing that Lee’s ex-wife, Krista Lee, told him that when Boivin visited Khazar’s apartment the day before the killing “Mr. Momeni was behaving in a threatening manner and saying, ‘Fuck you, I’ll kill you.’”
Differing stories
Though the defense will argue that Lee brought the knife to the fatal confrontation, police have said that DNA collected on its handle links it solely to Momeni. Defense attorneys claim that Momeni’s DNA was on the handle because he threw the knife over a fence.
Some details about the hours before the killing have emerged. Both men were seen entering and exiting the Millennium Tower, where Khazar lives. The two men left together and drove to the Bay Bridge in Momeni’s car.
Surveillance video captured at the scene shows a struggle between two men who appear to match the description of Lee and Momeni. Video taken later shows Lee stumbling away and attempting to flag down several cars.
Surveillance footage reviewed by The Standard shows Lee walking up Main Street away from the Bay Bridge at around 2:30 a.m. He crosses the intersection at Harrison Street before walking up to a parked car.
Lee then lifts his shirt — as if to indicate he is wounded — and falls after the car drives away. He gets up and walks back toward the Bay Bridge before falling to the ground again outside an apartment building.
At 2:34 a.m., Lee dialed 911 and screamed for help, saying he needed to go to the hospital. Police arrived less than six minutes later and found him unconscious on the ground, they said. He died at a hospital.