Here’s a who’s who of the characters in the courtroom

When Khazar Momeni took the witness stand in her brother’s murder trial, she described spending time on a Monday morning with a drug dealer she had just met. Her friend Bob showed up and took a work call — he was a big name in San Francisco’s tech scene — and Bob invited over a DJ she once knew. The party didn’t last: Khazar didn’t get along with the DJ, blocked Bob’s number, and later in the evening, when things soured between Khazar and the drug dealer, she called her big brother to come rescue her. 

These small interactions exemplify the attitudes and the many characters in the ongoing trial of Khazar Momeni’s brother, Nima Momeni, who is accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee in April 2023.

The Bob Lee trial is on a break this week, but closing arguments will likely begin the first week of December. Here’s a who’s who of the main characters involved.

Bob Lee was 43 when he was found bleeding to death on Main Street in the Rincon Hill neighborhood. The St. Louis transplant had a prestigious career in tech and financial tech services: He helped develop the Android mobile operating system while working at Google, then became chief technology officer at Square, where in 2013 he helped found Cash App, the digital wallet company that established him as a member of Silicon Valley’s elite. He subsequently worked as chief executive at Present, and chief product officer of MobileCoin. 

Also known as “Crazy Bob,” a nickname from his fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University, Lee earned some notoriety in 2001 when he wrote a program to stop Code Red, an infamous computer virus in the early days of the internet. He met his future wife, Krista, in his hometown, and both moved to jobs in the Bay Area. 

Lee’s moniker stuck. By his early 40s, he still worked and played hard. Momeni’s defense attorneys said Lee’s text records show he may have only slept about six hours in the four days before his death. In the early morning of April 1, 2023, less than two days before his death, Lee’s text messages, now evidence, reveal that at 5 a.m. after a night out, he showed up at the home of Khazar Momeni. A couple of hours later, he headed to an afterparty at the Twitter headquarters. 

Around 8 a.m. on April 3, Khazar Momeni testified, Lee came to her house with his friend Jeremy Boivin in tow, before heading to a job interview. He then continued to party through 2 a.m. on April 4, and he was fatally stabbed shortly after. 

Lee was beloved by those in his orbit. His friends and family remember him as kind, affectionate, and genuine, some calling him consistent, others calling him a “teddy bear.” After his mother died, Lee moved his father to the Bay Area in 2019, before moving to Miami with him in late 2022. Lee’s family said he was very close with his two children and his ex-wife, Krista, who still lives in the Bay Area. 

A video from 2019 shows Lee rocking his teenage child — who is his height — in his arms to a lullaby, both giggling. The week before his death, Lee’s brother said he had attended his daughter’s play, and the afternoon before his death, Lee’s phone records indicate he was calling his ex-wife, who says they remained best friends. 

Borzoyeh aka Bo Mohazzabi, or “the DJ” as Khazar Momeni and Nima Momeni’s attorneys have called him throughout the trial, was Lee’s friend. The pair can be seen in surveillance video tousling playfully in the hours before Lee’s death. His Instagram bio expands on his work life, stating he produces “music, festivals, a burning man camp, [and works] in tech.” 

His role in the trial boils down to retracing the afternoon and evening Mohazzabi and Lee spent together, on April 3: Hopping from Jeremy Boivin’s home to the 1 Hotel on the Embarcadero, where Lee was staying, to the members-only club The Battery, to Mohazzabi’s home. 

Most importantly, Mohazzabi was present when Lee got a call from Momeni the afternoon before his death. It is an interaction that prosecutors point to as a critical piece of evidence of Momeni’s alleged animus toward Lee. Mohazzabi described Momeni as “interrogating” Lee in an “accusatory way,” asking questions about his sister, Khazar, and her drug use “like a detective.”  

As he testified, Mohazzabi’s disdain was palpable. He sneered at questions from Momeni’s defense attorney. When one of the defense attorneys asked if he works in the music industry, Mohazzabi shot back, “What do you mean, work in the music industry?” Asked to confirm he’s a DJ, Mohazzabi asked: “What do you mean by DJ?” 

On the other hand, he had no issues advertising other personal quirks. He mentioned his juice cleanse repeatedly in court, and described his typical workday before he gets on his computer: “hydrate, stretch, meditate, get ready for the day and maybe do some kind of exercise.” 

At one bar he visited with Lee, Mohazzabi testified that he didn’t like the tequila he ordered, so he sent it back. Watching surveillance footage in court of himself and his friend hopping around town, Mohazzabi couldn’t help but smile.