Bob Lee's Ex-Wife Tears Khazar Momeni's Murder Trial Testimony; “No right to make yourself a victim”

Bob Lee's ex-wife ripped Khazar Momeni during the fourth day of her testimony Wednesday in the murder trial of her brother Nima Momeni, who is accused of killing the tech executive and Cash App founder in San Francisco in April.

After being cross-examined by defense attorneys on Tuesday, prosecutors highlighted in a redirect on Wednesday Khazar Momeni's earlier statement that she received intimidating messages from Lee's family in the days after the murder.

Harsh words

Prosecutors showed a screenshot of a text exchange between Lee's ex-wife, Krista Lee, and a friend in which she asked the friend if he wanted to “play detective” by looking for Khazar Momeni – whom she named in an insulting remark.

Krista Lee's text message also said that San Francisco police were “having difficulty finding her.”

Khazar Momeni said on Wednesday she was sent a screenshot of the exchange by one of her friends, who also forwarded the screenshot, and said she felt the exchange was a threat to her.

Krista and Bob Lee were married until 2019 and have two children. During a preliminary hearing earlier this month Nima Momeni's lawyers had tried to have Krista Lee excluded from the trialciting possible witness tampering.

A defense statement argued that Krista Lee “has played 'detective' on many occasions and has no intention of stopping.”

Dramatic exit from the courtroom

As with other trial days, Krista Lee was in court again on Wednesday and as she left the courtroom she condemned Khazar Momeni for her three days of testimony about Lee, their relationship and his death.

“My husband was murdered. She has no right to take us – she has no right to victimize herself when our family was the one who was murdered,” Krista Lee said. “She can fuck herself.”

That comment led the judge to exclude Krista Lee from further testimony from Khazar and to close proceedings on whether they heard the remark in the hallway because they feared it might influence their verdict.

“If they were to hear something that I think the judge might have happened today — a witness or an interested party saying something — that could permanently weigh on the jury,” defense attorney Shannan Dugan said. “Otherwise there could be a conviction, it could be appealed and overturned, there could be a mistrial.”

Bob Lee was stabbed to death in the early morning of April 4, 2023 in the upscale Rincon Hill/East Cut neighborhood of San Francisco. Prosecutors allege Nima Momeni killed Lee with a kitchen knife after a confrontation over Khazar Momeni's relationship with Lee and their alleged drug use. Nima Momeni has pleaded not guilty and his defense team claims he killed Lee in self-defense after a drug addict Lee came after him.

The shocking murder of the well-known technology entrepreneur in San Francisco was initially seen by critics as another high-profile example of street violence in the city. In the days that followed, the narrative turned to the drug-fueled underground party scene frequented by members of the Silicon Valley elite, which reportedly included Bob Lee and Khazar Momeni, who is married to a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon.

Differences in statement

Earlier Wednesday, San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Dane Reinstedt, in the prosecution's forward, pointed out the differences in Khazar Momeni's answers to the text exchange between her and her brother depending on which attorneys asked the questions.

Reinstedt again asked Momeni about texts she sent to her brother Nima in the hours after Bob Lee's murder, in which she called him “psychotic” and “crazy.” When asked about the lyrics last week, Khazar Momeni said she couldn't remember those lyrics and that she couldn't remember much of that day because of her drug use and her grief over Lee's death.

On Tuesday, under cross-examination by the defense, Khazar Momeni testified that those texts were not about Lee, but about his acquaintance Jeremy Boivin. who she claimed in her statement provided her with the drugs GSB and LSD and claimed he sexually abused her while she was incapacitated. Boivin's attorney disputes her account.

Dane Reinstedt: “When the lawyers you pay asked about the same messages…those messages were not about Bob, not about how your brother reacted when you were possibly raped, but about Mr. Boivin was in your apartment the next day?”

Khazar Momeni: “Yes.”

DR: “That’s a completely different answer.”

KM: “I try not to lie. I'm telling the truth. My brother was very angry with me.”

Questions about legal costs

After Khazar Momeni finished her testimony on Wednesday, prosecutors called a former BMW San Francisco employee who testified that the Momeni family tried to buy Nima Momeni's white BMW cars on May 6, 2023, about three weeks after his arrest. Limousine for sale.

The witness said he did not have the car cleaned or modified and was advised by law enforcement that the vehicle was part of an investigation.

Under cross-examination by the defense, the witness said he was familiar with Momeni, who he said had visited the dealer several times for maintenance of his vehicle.

The defense suggested that the Momeni family was trying to sell the vehicle to cover Nima's legal costs.

The vehicle was impounded and towed by SFPD officers, who stated that the car was “parked front and center in the middle of the parking lot.”