Bob Lee was stabbed to death after argument about Nima Momeni's sister, court documents show
Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death, apparently following an argument about the suspect's sister, court documents obtained by CBS News on Friday said.
In court papers filed by the San Francisco District Attorney's office, prosecutors allege that Nima Momeni had a "direct and clear intent to kill" Lee, and it "was a planned and deliberate attack."
In a motion to detain Momeni without bail, the district attorney presented an account to the court from a witness who allegedly overheard the two men talking about Momeni's sister, Khazar Elyassnia. Police have not yet identified the witness.
The witness told police that on the night of the fatal stabbing, Momeni questioned Lee about whether Elyassnia was "doing drugs or anything inappropriate," the district attorney's office wrote in the motion. During the discussion, the witness said they overheard Lee assure Momeni that nothing inappropriate had happened, according to the motion.
The witness told prosecutors that they, along with Lee and Elyassnia, were drinking at an apartment on Mission Street in San Francisco, according to the court document. After some time, Lee and the witness were leaving and invited Elyassnia to join them, which she declined, the court document states.
The witness told investigators they were unsure whether Lee and Elyassnia had an intimate relationship, the district attorney's motion alleged. Elyassnia is married to San Francisco plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia, who together own a luxury apartment bought in 2016 for $2.7 million, but the witness wasn't sure if the couple's relationship was in trouble, the documents state.
The unnamed witness told police Lee left his apartment around 12:30 a.m., and he never saw him again. The witness called the sister in the morning to find out where Lee was, and Elyassnia said Lee "had stopped by for a second" but she fell asleep and didn't know when he left, the motion alleges.
Police said they pulled surveillance video from the sister's apartment building which showed Lee and Momeni leaving the sister's apartment building and driving in Momeni's white BMW to a secluded area, court documents said. Police found Lee with three stab wounds bleeding uncontrollably in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco at approximately 2:35 a.m. on April 4. Police found him unresponsive and took him by ambulance to the hospital. He was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital where he died.
The district attorney alleges that police later found text messages on Lee's phone sent by Momeni's sister: "Just wanted to make sure your doing ok Cause [I] know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you," she wrote, according to the DA's motion. She then wrote, "And thank you for being such as classy man handling it with class."
Prosecutors asked for Momeni to be held without bail. In the motion, the District Attorney alleged that Momeni's motive was to kill Lee, as he drove him to a secluded location armed with a kitchen knife.
Momeni is scheduled to be arraigned on April 25. He remains in custody at the San Francisco County Jail. CBS News has reached out to Momeni's sister for comment, but there was no immediate response.
Kerry Breen and Christine Weicher contributed reporting.
