San Francisco prosecutors lay out homicide case in opposition to marketing consultant in dying of Money App’s Bob Lee

SAN FRANCISCO — DNA from a bloody knife and video footage are essential items of proof in opposition to a tech marketing consultant charged with homicide within the stabbing dying of Money App founder Bob Lee, who was discovered bleeding on a abandoned San Francisco avenue in April, prosecutors argued Monday.

The San Francisco prosecutor’s workplace started laying out its case in opposition to Nima Momeni, 38, at a preliminary listening to through which a choose will determine if there’s sufficient proof to go to trial.

Prosecutors say Momeni deliberate the assault, drove Lee to a secluded spot and stabbed him thrice after a dispute associated to Momeni’s youthful sister.

They haven’t spelled out a motive, however beforehand provided a timeline in a case that has drawn outsized media consideration, partly as a result of Lee’s standing within the tech world. Lee created Money App, a cell cost service, and was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency MobileCoin.

Momeni, who has been in jail since his arrest April 13, has pleaded not responsible. He faces 26 years to life if convicted.

The arrest got here greater than per week after Lee, 43, was present in a abandoned a part of downtown San Francisco early April 4. He later died at a hospital.

On Monday morning, Assistant District Lawyer Omid Talai launched proof, together with images of a knife that prosecutors say Momeni used to stab Lee, a path of blood left by Lee as he staggered for assist, and video footage displaying the 2 males go away Momeni’s sister’s rental constructing earlier than the stabbing.

Talai mentioned at a Might listening to that the weapon was a part of a novel kitchen set belonging to his sister and that evaluation confirmed Momeni’s DNA on the weapon’s deal with and Lee’s DNA on the bloody blade. Police recovered a knife with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) blade on the scene.

Saam Zangeneh, considered one of Momeni’s legal professionals, recommended to reporters Monday throughout a break that the investigation performed by the San Francisco police was removed from thorough.

He questioned why the rubber deal with of the knife was examined for under DNA and never fingerprints. SFPD crime scene investigator Rosalyn Test mentioned that it’s tough to get prints off rubber.

“Once you wish to see if somebody’s touching one thing, you do fingerprint evaluation, proper?” he mentioned. “They usually weren’t completed on the deal with, which is a very powerful, related portion of who, if any, was dealing with that merchandise.”

Zangeneh has but to elaborate on the defendant’s model of occasions.

Momeni introduced in Zangeneh and Bradford Cohen, each primarily based in Florida. His first legal professional, Paula Canny, withdrew in late Might, citing a battle of curiosity that she declined to reveal.

At prosecutors’ urging, Momeni has been held with out bail. In arguing for launch pending trial, Canny mentioned that Momeni was not a flight threat and wouldn’t go away the 2 folks he loves most, his sister and mom. She mentioned Momeni must struggle the costs or face deportation to Iran, a rustic that his mom fled when the youngsters had been youthful to flee a violent husband.

An unnamed pal of Lee informed murder investigators that they had been hanging out and consuming with Momeni’s sister the day earlier than the stabbing, prosecutors mentioned of their movement to disclaim bail.

The pal mentioned Momeni later questioned Lee about whether or not his sister was doing medication or in any other case partaking in inappropriate conduct and Lee mentioned she had not.

Surveillance video confirmed Lee later coming into the luxurious Millennium Tower downtown, the place Momeni’s sister Khazar lives together with her husband, distinguished San Francisco plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia. Video footage then confirmed Lee and Momeni leaving the constructing collectively shortly after 2 a.m. and driving off in Momeni’s automotive.

Lee was discovered shortly after 2:30 a.m. within the Rincon Hill neighborhood, which has tech places of work and condominiums however little exercise within the early morning hours.