Jury selection begins Tuesday in Nima Momeni murder trial

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) — The trial of Nima Momeni, the man charged with murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, begins Tuesday.

Attorneys will start jury selection Tuesday morning seeking fair and unbias prospective jurors. Opening statements are slated to begin on Monday, October 14.

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Lee, 43, was an executive for cryptocurrency company MobileCoin, and the creator of Cash App.

Prosecutors say Momeni, who worked as an IT consultant, stabbed Lee in the heart on April 4, 2023, near the Bay Bridge and left him to die. Surveillance video from Portside apartments shows Lee staggering , bleeding, and calling 911 for himself before he collapsed on Main Street.

Police found a knife near the crime scene. Momeni’s DNA was on the knife’s handle and Lee’s DNA was on the bloody blade, according to testimony.

Momeni, 40, was the last person seen with 43-year-old Lee alive. The two men were recorded on surveillance cameras leaving Momeni’s sister’s apartment at Millennium Tower together on April 4, 2023. The sister, Khazar, allegedly had a romantic relationship with Lee, witnesses told investigators.

In the hours before the homicide, Momeni confronted Lee about his relationship with Khazar, court documents state. After Lee died, Khazar sent him a text message, court documents state. She wrote, “Just wanted to make sure your doing ok. Cause I know my nima came down wayyyyyyy hard on you. And thank you for being such a classy man.”

Lee’s autopsy report revealed that he had multiple “party drugs” in his system when he was slain, including cocaine and ketamine.

Momeni has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. A Florida-based celebrity defense attorney, Saam Zangeneh, is representing Momeni at trial.

On Monday, Zangeneh filed a motion for the judge to ban Lee’s ex-wife, Krista Lee, from being inside the courtroom and attending the trial. Defense attorneys are accusing Krista Lee of tampering with witnesses.

Krista Lee previously told KRON4 that she has no doubt Momeni killed her ex-husband.

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