At the center of millionaire Cash App founder Bob Lee’s explosive murder trial is the suspect’s sister — the wife of a glamorous plastic surgeon who was allegedly involved in San Francisco’s underground party scene, which often involves drugs and swinger sex.
Khazar Elyassnia, 38, was allegedly partying and sleeping with Lee when his brother, Nima Momeni, 40, allegedly stabbed Lee to death in the early hours of April 4, 2023.
That night, Lee, 43, was found bleeding and pleading for help in the heart of San Francisco at 2:30 a.m. – just half an hour after he was spotted leaving the swanky Millennium home Tower of Elyassnia alongside Momeni.
Momeni’s lawyers claim he killed Lee in self-defense, alleging the tech founder was drugged and tried to hit Momeni.
Lee and Elyassnia were involved in an affluent San Francisco party scene known as “The Lifestyle,” which revolves around drug use and casual sex, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
The couple had attended such a party together the night of the murder, and Momeni was under the impression that Lee had drugged and raped her sister, prosecutors argued in opening statements Monday.
Momeni decided to seek revenge on behalf of her sister, prosecutors said — only for Khazar to call her brother “fucking psychotic” hours later in “damning” text messages.
Prosecutors said those messages are a key piece of evidence that will prove Momeni guilty of first-degree murder.
The drama escalates further: Momeni’s lawyers tried to exclude Krista, Lee’s ex-wife, from the courtroom after she called Khazar a “fucking high tower” – a reference to his apartment in a luxury high-rise, according to court documents.
The siblings are believed to be close, friends have previously said, having been born less than a year apart and immigrating from Iran with their mother in the 1990s.
“[Nima] would do absolutely anything to [Khazar] and she would do anything for him,” a friend told Mission Local.
Since 2013, Khazar has been married to Dr. Dino Elyassnia, a prominent plastic surgeon specializing in nose jobs.
His name has appeared in magazines for years, where he spoke enthusiastically about his marriage and his wife, according to the San Francisco Standard.
He joined him in court throughout his brother’s trial.
But the image of a sunny marriage has become murky since her name was linked to Lee and “The Lifestyle.”
One person told the Standard he met Khazar on a dating app in 2019 and even went home with her.
Last November, she was arrested for drunk driving after crashing her Mercedes into several cars in broad daylight in San Francisco.
Officers reportedly reported seeing her breathing nitrous oxide while driving, and police allegedly found empty canisters of the intoxicating inhalant in her car.
The charges were later dropped pending further investigation.
It’s unclear exactly when her alleged relationship with Lee began, but she previously denied being sexually assaulted by anyone at the party – and even insisted to her brother that nothing untoward had happened. product, according to court documents.
Momeni has pleaded not guilty to murder.
“Nima had to stand up to someone who had barely slept for 90 hours and was using cocaine all the time,” lawyer Saam Zangeneh told the court, according to the Standard.
“People who have used cocaine for a long time are paranoid, aggressive and violent.”
Lee was found with ketamine and cocaine in his system when he died.
