The jury was shown the moment Bob Lee was stabbed on camera.

Jurors in the trial of Nima Momeni, accused of stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee to death, today saw for the first time security camera footage that prosecutors say captures the stabbing that occurred in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023.

As the courtroom watched in silence, many standing to get a better view, prosecutor Omid Talai played blurry, zoomed-in images of Momeni and Lee as witness and video rescue officer Milad Rashidian described what he saw. It is difficult to distinguish the features of the two men, but before and after images show Momeni wearing white and Lee wearing black.

After watching the two figures stand still, Talai noted Momeni’s sudden movement towards Lee. Then the two separate. As Momeni speeds away in her car, Lee starts walking down the street and tries to signal for help.

After watching the video, Rashidian said, “I noticed white moving towards black.”

Talai: The progression that you’ve observed, have you noticed any movement like this at any time before what we just talked about?

Rashidian: I didn’t.

Rashidian said he saw Momeni make another move after the alleged stabbing; Meanwhile, prosecutors said Momeni threw the murder weapon over a nearby fence.

Talai: What do you see happening now?

Rashidian: The person in white (Momeni) appears to be walking towards the fence and leaning on it.

Later, clearer video footage shows Lee stumbling away; He quickly comes across a car waiting at a red light and seemingly tries to attract the attention of its occupants.

“It looks like it’s giving signals,” Rashidian said. As the video continued to play, Talai asked him what he saw. “Mr. Lee appears to have collapsed.

Lee’s ex-wife from the audience Krista Leehe gasped. Lee’s brother, Timothy Oliver Lee, later described the video as “very difficult to watch.”

At the same time, Momeni was followed by various cameras as he drove away in his white BMW. He ran through a nearby red light and headed back to Emeryville.

search warrants

Jurors also saw photographs of Momeni’s home as part of testimony from multiple SFPD witnesses who searched several properties connected to Momeni the day of his arrest.

Investigators were unable to find the items they were looking for, such as Momeni’s white BMW. Police also could not find the distinctive jacket with white stripes that Momeni was wearing the night Lee was stabbed.

Three warrants were executed on the morning of Momeni’s arrest on April 13, 2023: at his penthouse in Emeryville; in his sister Hazar Momeni’s apartment; and her husband Dino Elyassnia’s separate home in the Millennium Tower.

But police found evidence linking Nima Momeni to the stabbing, according to prosecutors. “Joseph Joseph” brand knives were found in the kitchen of both flats in the Millennium Tower, matching the brand on the knife found near where Lee was stabbed.

That knife revealed Lee’s DNA on the blade and Momeni’s DNA on the handle.

Several photos of Momeni’s apartment showed a high-ceilinged loft with close-ups of her clothes hanging in the closet, a framed photo of her with her sister, and other knick-knacks.

It is unclear where Momeni’s BMW was at the time of the search and arrest, but last week it was revealed to be his. mother and sister tried to sell the car immediately after his arrest.

Defense lawyers said the condition of Momeni’s apartment did not indicate that he intended to flee.

Zangeneh: Don’t you see any suitcases outside?

Gordon: Not as I recall.

Zangeneh: Do you see no clothes folded, packed in a suitcase, or anything else that would suggest that Mr. Momeni is trying to leave the city?

Gordon: No.

defensive strategy

In an apparent attempt to discredit the police investigation, Nima Momeni’s lawyers noted that although drugs were found at various locations and they had information, no legal action was taken against any party. This appeared to be a precursor to reframing Jeremy Boivin, Lee’s friend and drug dealer who allegedly sexually assaulted Momeni’s sister, as the real person that night.

Police discovered a substance they believed to be drugs in the apartments of both Khazar Momeni and her husband; Apparently they took no action to charge anyone for the drugs. Zoe Aron, one of Momeni’s lawyers, asked a police sergeant searching Khazar Momeni’s apartment what a pink bag containing unidentified powder found there was.

“Narcotics is an arrestable offense, right? Aron asked Sergeant. Thomas Moran. He said officers may issue a citation.

Aron also asked whether an arrest warrant had been issued for Boivin or Borzu Mohazzabi, another friend who spent time with Lee the day he was killed. Both men became key figures in the trial as each side tried to establish a narrative and rationale.

The police sergeant said he had no information about warrants for either.

But when the lawyers tried to ask why the police did not search the home of drug dealer Boivin, the judge stopped the line of questioning.

In another attempt to muddy the police investigation, defense lawyers revealed today that officers may have initially had a distorted account of the stabbing. Lead attorney Saam Zangeneh showed Lt. Phillip Gordon, who searched Momeni’s home, “an additional report” that came with the search warrant.

The additional police report stated that an argument began in the car, escalated and led to the stabbing, and Lee fled after Momeni chased and stabbed him further. The defense lawyers’ questions seemed to imply that this view could influence officers’ views of Momeni and his family.

None of this appears in any of the videos shown today. Gordon could not explain why this statement was issued alongside the search warrants in the case.

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