WEBVTT - Bob Lee Part 2: The Brother Did It 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:15.120 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Previously on Foundry Tuesday, San. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:19.640 Francisco, the tech executive is dead. 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:22.840 He was stabbed in San Francisco south of Market Street. 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.800 Yeah, the latest reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.240 the founder of cash App. I would bet dollars to 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:31.800 dimes that the story is very similar to a case 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:34.080 we had in La recently where a young woman was 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.480 basically stabbed for no reason by a psychotic homeless person. 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:39.760 I hope your mom gets stabbed and let's see if 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:41.120 you say we should wait and see. 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:45.840 Our homicide investigators develop information that identified the suspect as 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:46.720 thirty eight. 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:48.680 Year old Nima Momenti. 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:52.520 We can confirm that mister Lee and miss Momenti knew 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:52.879 each other. 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.640 It was the morning of April thirteenth, nine days since 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.839 the killing of Bob Lee. It was early, about four 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.800 or five am, still dark out. That's when Chris, who 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.240 asked us not to use his last name, heard a 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:12.679 commotion outside his window. 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:18.280 I was awakened to a megaphone just outside demanding that 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:20.280 someone come out of the building. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.679 Chris lives in a big warehouse style loft in Emeryville. 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.440 It's about a fifteen minute drive across the Bay Bridge 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.600 from San Francisco when there's no traffic, and really the 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.760 only time when there'd be no traffic on the Bay 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.119 Bridge would be the middle of the night or very 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:39.160 early in the morning. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:40.880 Do you remember looking out. 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.360 The window and seeing a lot of police, A shocking 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.360 number of cops or this area. 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:48.000 At least a. 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.360 Number of them had helmets on, they had large rifles, 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.400 and they were wearing body armor. 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.600 He remembers seeing about twenty cops. There may have been more. 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.920 It was just like you've seen the movie come out 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:01.640 with your hands up. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:03.840 I didn't know exactly what was going on. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.760 The best I could figure is that there'd been a lot. 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:11.760 Of catalogic converter effects. Thought maybe the police had acquired 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.840 somebody in the building. But I mean, that was the 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:16.120 best I could come up with. 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.960 I never, in my wildest dreams thought that, you know, 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:21.560 they were after a resident of the building. 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.600 They served a search and arrest warrant at his apartment 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:29.960 at a very early time of their choosing. 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.239 This is my anonymous source in the police department. Because 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.040 we're protecting his identity, we're having a voice actor read 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:37.680 what he told me. 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:39.640 So from what I know. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.120 Once the SWAT team began calling out to him, he 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:47.359 came out very fast and surrendered very immediately, just dressed 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:48.440 as if he was either. 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:49.960 Sleeping in his clothing. 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:51.919 Or was just expecting this to happen. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.000 Because of my advantage point, I really couldn't see who 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:57.520 it was. 0:02:58.120 --> 0:02:59.799 Chris again, the building resident. 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:02.800 I could sort of guess that it was a male 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:06.320 based on his build, but I had no idea who 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:06.720 it was. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.720 Curious and not sure what to do, he turned where 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.000 any of us might go looking for answers. 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:16.200 So I got on the Facebook group for the building 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:20.519 and I started to piece together from what everyone was 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.120 saying exactly what was happening. I learned that it was 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.880 Nima that they did in fact arrest, and then both 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.200 through that Facebook group and through the morning. 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:32.360 News, I learned that he was being accused of murdering 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:32.960 Bob Lee. 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.480 And that was you know, that was pretty shocking to hear. 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.680 The man arrested that day was named Nima Momenti. He 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.920 was thirty eight years old, he ran a small IT company, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.880 and most surprisingly, police said he knew Bob Lee. Did 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.960 the officers find anything interesting in his apartment? 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.160 We've heard that his apartment was kind of weird. 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.760 Apparently he liked knives and had some kind of weird 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:10.600 mall ninja knives. 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:12.440 What's mall ninja? 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.280 Remember in Mall's they had all those weird shops that 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:18.520 sold the curvy swords and the dragon things and all 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:22.000 the crystals and all that stuff. That's kind of like 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.120 mall ninja stuff, right, the knives that have points and 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.680 blades all over them that clearly are for looks and 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.440 would never be actually functional, things like that. 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.599 By morning, the news had broken and the media were 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.960 clamoring for any information they could get on the suspected 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:41.200 killer of Bob Lee. 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.479 Against phone call. This frantic phone call from Mike Duel 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.320 from KCBS radio. He's a reporter there. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.440 Sam Singer occupies another unit in the same building. He 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.359 wasn't home at the time, but a few hours after 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:56.479 the police arrived, he got a call from a. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.400 Journalist and he's just Sam, Sam, the murderers in your building, 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.440 and I'm driving work here and I said, what are 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.680 we talking about here? And he goes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.440 He says, this is brand new. Bob Ly's murderer has 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.280 been arrested and he's in your building. 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:15.680 Sometimes San Francisco feels like a very small town. Singer 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:19.080 is friendly with many journalists. He's a well known public 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:23.599 relations guy in the Bay Area. He specializes in crisis communications. 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.920 He represented Chevron when they're oil refinery in Richmond, California, 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:32.400 caught on fire, reportedly sending fifteen thousand people to the hospital. 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.919 He represented the San Francisco Zoo when the tiger jumped 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.200 out of its enclosure and killed a teenager. And now 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.000 by chance, he had a role to play in San 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.920 Francisco's next big story. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.040 And I said, okay, I said, just out of interest, 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.200 what's his unit number? And he goes two toh one. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.000 I said, Mike, He's not just in my building, he's 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.960 my next door neighbor. So Mike de wall in case, bsay, 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:57.840 can we just come over right now? Can we want 0:05:57.839 --> 0:05:59.560 to interview you? Did you know him? 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.960 We are executive Sam Singer never expected he would be 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.760 next door neighbors with the man accused in the criminal matter. 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.840 Total shock. I'm in the public relations of business. We 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:11.520 don't normally wind up working next to killers. 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:14.960 Remember what I said about San Francisco feeling like a 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:19.120 very small town. Singer also happens to represent one of 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.719 tech's most outspoken figures on crime in San Francisco. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.680 One of our other clients is Gary Tan of y Combinator, 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:30.159 who immediately texted me when he saw that Nima was 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.599 my next door neighbor and said, you live next to 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:34.159 Bob Lee's accused killer. 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.920 This is what it felt like in the days, weeks, 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.760 and even months after Nima Momeni's arrest. Did you hear? 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.200 Who is this guy? Do you know him? Where did 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:52.920 he come from? Police said that Nima Momeni knew Bob Lee, 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.080 but most of Bob's friends and family had never heard 0:06:56.120 --> 0:07:01.440 of him before. They were dumbfounded. I've been trying to 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:06.040 answer these very basic questions, who is Nima Momente and 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.240 why did he do it? What turned up was not 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.000 the story I expected, but a larger human drama spanning 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:21.360 continents about drugs and partying, machismo, love and violence. I'm 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:30.160 sean Wen. This is foundering the killing of Bob Ley. 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:38.160 Do you remember where you were? 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:38.400 Like? 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:43.880 What my wife called me? Oh? Have you checked? The news? 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:44.360 Said? 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.360 No, Nima was in trouble. 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:48.040 That's how I. 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:51.320 Found out Alex Porshae again lives in the Bay Area, 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:55.120 where he's part of a relatively large Iranian immigrant community. 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.160 His wife used to run a small grocery store where 0:07:58.200 --> 0:07:59.640 Nima worked as a teenager. 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.280 I was in this belief Nima was just as close 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.240 as an adopted's son to my wife. The kids grow 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:07.640 to like him. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.720 Through his attorneys, Nima Momeni turned down my request for 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.680 an interview and also declined to make a statement. Like 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:19.360 Alex Nina's family immigrated to the US from Iran. 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:21.520 He was a likable kid. 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:25.400 To understand anything about Nima killing Bob, the violent act 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:28.360 at the center of this story, it's important to understand 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.760 the role of violence in his coming to America in 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:36.880 the first place. According to court documents, Nima Momeni, his mom, 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.840 and his younger sister arrived in the US in nineteen 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.679 ninety nine. Nima was about fifteen, his sister was a 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:47.319 year younger. An anonymous source told me that in Iran, 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:51.319 the Momentis were very rich. Their dad was and still 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.800 is a dental surgeon in Tehran. He also has a 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:58.640 business doing chemical imports and exports. I reached out to 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.000 him via his professional INSTADT grand Page, but have not 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:05.760 heard back the Momentius in Iran did not have a 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:10.640 happy life. According to court records, Nima's mom, Manas, said 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.719 she suffered domestic violence and abuse from her husband, and 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:18.720 Nima's sister, Kazar, has also alleged sexual abuse from her dad. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.920 So Nima, his mom, and his sister left behind their 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.680 comfortable life in Iran to come to the Bay Area. 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:32.840 They settled in Albany, a city just outside Berkeley. For 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.199 their first few months here, the three of them shared 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.720 a single bedroom in the home of one of Mana's 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:42.559 childhood friends. Nima and Kazar enrolled in high school as 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:47.280 poor kids with foreign accents. Although Nima was a year older, 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.240 they were placed in the same grade level. 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.600 As they were growing up, they had a very very 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:58.240 close relationship as they had no choice as a brother 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.240 and sister. If us Are ever asked him for help, 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.760 I'm pretty sure he was there, one hundred and fifty percent. 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:06.520 I'm very sure of it. 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.320 All three banded together to make ends meet. They worked 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:19.000 for Alex Porshagen's wife. Nima worked at her grocery store, 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.720 Manas worked at her catering business as well as a 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.640 flower shop. Kazar would sometimes babysit for the couple's young children. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.520 After some time, they managed to move out of their 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:31.760 friend's bedroom and into their own apartment. 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:38.040 They were economically a disadvantage. Mana's worked very hard to 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.760 keep this family afloat. She did not have a husband. 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:46.800 She was not taking government assistance. She's a very proud woman. 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.679 Alex said that as far as he knew, Nima was 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.240 a good kid. He worked hard, he was polite, but 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.359 Alex could also sense an impatience in Nima. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:02.640 Hey, remember when Nima I was working for my wife. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:08.840 At one point he was complaining that he didn't have 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:13.200 privacy because they lived in such a small resident I 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.480 think they had a one bedroom. Maybe the mother and 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.160 a daughter had taken the bedroom and he had to 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.559 live in the corner of the living room. And I 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.400 told him, I said, you're not the only one. They 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.760 all went through these hardships, so get used to it 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.520 and learned only to make your life better. 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:34.360 The only thing I really knew about him was that 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.400 he sold lead and I would buy weed off of him. 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.960 This is Thomas. He grew up in Albany and went 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.680 to high school with Nima. He asks me not to 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:45.880 use his last name, because some of the things he 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:47.120 described were illegal. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.959 The main things is stead out were his clothing style, 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.120 which I remember he wore like those big like chinko jeans, 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.360 and you know, and he always dressed in like darker 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:58.320 black clothes. 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.120 And how did you know he so? Like how did 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:01.640 you learn that? 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.440 Friends just told me he was always kind of soft spoken, 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.040 quiet kind of guy, not like playful or joke around 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.720 or anything. He was just more like, here's the money, 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:13.439 here's the weed. 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.880 Enjoy How how was it do you remember? 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:18.400 Oh? 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:19.079 The week was good? 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.040 Yeah, he had good weed. Yeah, definitely. 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.480 Thomas and Nima weren't exactly close, but he had a 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.200 story for me that seems relevant to what would happen. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:33.240 Later one afternoon in January of two thousand and five, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:35.080 Thomas's friends came by. 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.280 They were all like juiced up, like like you know, 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:40.320 we just tried to rob Yeman, like and then you 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.160 pull out a knife and cut us. 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.200 Thomas would be the first to admit that the details 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:49.040 of this story are fuzzy, but he remembers the broad strokes. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.760 And I found a police report which confirms that there 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.520 was a fight that involved weed and that Nima used 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.280 a knife on the other two kids. 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.040 So my recollection of that is that they went to 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.040 meet Nema to buy weed off of him, and they 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:09.000 tried to just steal the weed. I think one of 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.880 my friends might have punched him, and then like Nima 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.720 pulled out a knife, and I the details are a 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.000 little fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure one of my friends, 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.520 the one who I think actually hit him, got like 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.200 sliced on his side right here, and it wasn't a 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.000 deep cut. It was more of a surface wound. And 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:31.760 I feel like my other friend turned to like maybe 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.000 get away and got sliced on like backside. 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.720 That Nima would be carrying a knife didn't surprise Thomas. 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.839 Most of us carried a pocket knife with us, just 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:45.880 just because you never know, for whatever reason andy to 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.640 have it. I almost always had a pocket knife on me, 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.559 but you know, never pulled it out on anybody. 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.760 Did it change how you all saw Nima. Were they 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:58.480 hurt by the cuts at all? 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:01.839 I don't think they were hurt by the cuts. I 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.640 think we just basically were like, oh, well, if you 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.600 try to rob me, he might stab you. I mean, 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.880 that's basically what we deducted from that situation. 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:13.439 Very yeah. 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:16.120 It was basically like, okay, well, they can't buy weed 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.880 off of him anymore. They can't go with me to 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:21.520 go buy weed off of him anymore. 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:34.240 Prosecutors say video footage shows Lee and Momini leaving the 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.360 Millennium Tower during the early morning hours of April fourth 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.480 and getting into Momini's car. Court documents say defendant not 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.920 only drove victim to a secluded area, but also brought 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:46.840 a kitchen knife with him. 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:50.960 In the motion to detain Nima without bail, prosecutors alleged 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.840 that he drove Bob to what they called a secluded 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:58.720 area in the opposite direction of his hotel. There, Nima 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.160 stapped Bob three times with a kitchen knife. One of 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.080 those stabs pierced Bob's heart. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:06.960 This was a planned and deliberate attack. 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.240 They're saying. He took a kitchen knife from his sister's 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:15.640 apartment to his car with this, you know, with Bob 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.560 got in the car, went somewhere else, and then attacked him. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.680 David is one of Nima's closest adult friends. He also 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.520 asked to withhold his last name. He said he couldn't 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:32.480 reconcile the prosecutor's case with the Nima he knew, but 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.000 not for the reasons you might think. 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.640 He wouldn't have a kitchen knife in his car. He 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.680 would have something like a bowie knife in his car, 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:42.480 you know, for just in case. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.720 As a kid, Nima may have carried a knife for 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.680 self defense, but as an adult he developed a fondness 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:54.200 for them more generally. 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:56.200 Because I mean that he likes that stuff. He likes, 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:00.400 like fantasy shaped blades with like you know, kers, or 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:05.119 maybe cutouts in it, or some decorative handle, you know, elements. 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.640 He enjoyed that stuff. He would like display them in 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:10.760 his you know, in his living space. 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.160 David met Nima at work and they became good friends. 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:17.960 He painted the picture of Nima as someone who had 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:20.880 an interest in weapons, including guns. 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.160 He did get into shotgunning and other stuff with me. 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.880 But what struck me talking to David was how much 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.440 Nima sounded like a normal guy. He liked boats. 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.520 He had this little sailboat with an outboard motor. 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:36.840 He liked going out. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.840 Yeah, he definitely liked to go to struggles. I mean 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:41.760 it was his idea to go like, oh, you guys, 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:43.000 come with me, let's go. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:47.320 He liked burning Man one year David was retrofitting a 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.400 car for the festival, a hand me down Saturn made 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:52.240 to look like a bearded dragon, and then. 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.040 He fully jumped in and helped me build the car, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.440 you know, dedicated a bunch of his time to it, 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.880 and then drove with me out to the Plaia. And 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.160 so that was his first burn in twenty ten. 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.720 Can you speak to his relationship with drugs. 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:15.480 He likes them. 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.520 This was something I heard from other people too, that 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.480 Nima was a heavy cocaine user and it impacted his work. 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:32.480 The reason he stopped providing IT services for that first 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.080 company where I met him was because there was a 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:36.679 day where there was a problem in the morning and 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.960 he couldn't be reached, you know, because I think he'd 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.879 been up at night and then he was sleeping, and 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.600 then you know, the fact that he was not on 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:48.280 call during business hours was a problem. 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.720 Losing your job because of drug use is usually considered 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:55.879 a sign of a serious problem. Nima did, however, figure 0:17:55.920 --> 0:18:01.440 things out. He started his own IT business. I do 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.600 want to distinguish Nima's job from Bob's job for a second. 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:09.760 Early news reports first identified Nima as a tech executive. 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.680 Suspect is another tech executive who knew. 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.320 As if he was in the same milieu as Bob. 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:20.080 That wasn't really true. He ran a small IT firm. 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.479 Sometimes he had employees, sometimes it was just him. He 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.840 helped set up servers for small businesses. He wasn't an 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:32.520 engineer or a programmer or designer. He wasn't a rocket scientist. 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.200 He was the guy who gets the Wi Fi working 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:39.240 for rocket scientists. He worked in tech, but it's really 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:43.840 not the same thing. One thing that is without question 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.480 is that all three of the momentis Nima, his mom, 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.720 and his sister came up in the world. His mom 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.240 became a dental hygienist. Nima's small business seemed to be 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:59.240 doing okay, but just okay. His sister, Kazar, became the 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:02.560 most wealthy by marrying a renowned plastic surgeon. 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.119 I do remember that he had a sister. 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.320 That's Thomas again, who went to high school with. 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:14.000 Nimaad And I don't even really know why I felt 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:15.879 this way, that I felt like he was very protective 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:16.560 of his sister. 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:24.120 I met her originally, when you know, Nima invited her 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:25.959 to my birthday party years ago. 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:27.919 Here's Nina's friend David. 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.280 After that, I would refer to her, you know, as 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:34.960 Nima's hot sister, right like I was happy to have 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:39.080 a pretty girl at my party. She was fun, cool, whatever, 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:40.320 Nima's hot sister. 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:44.680 David was shocked when he heard about Nima being arrested. 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:47.760 He had always been a good friend and good to 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:52.280 David's son. They all went voting together. But after getting 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:54.639 over the shock, he had one thought. 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.480 If Nima did this or is actually involved in this, 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:02.080 it probably has something to do with because our Wow, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:06.720 that's the only way you can really make his blood. 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:07.160 Boil like that. 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.760 Rooted in childhood and their father's alleged abuse. When this 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:17.679 protective sibling bond was carried into adulthood, it would have 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:37.880 lasting consequences. That's after the break Kazar MOMENTI is about 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:41.960 a year younger than her brother Nima. As of this recording, 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.040 she's still married to a prominent plastic surgeon and lives 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.920 in a Millennium Tower, the tallest residential building in San Francisco. 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:54.240 It's a ritzy place. Past residents include professional athletes Joe 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:59.480 Montana and Kevin Durant. It's also famously crooked, like literally 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:05.320 it's tilted to one side and sinking an expensive architectural disaster. 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.960 Kazar has a reputation as a party girl. She's glamorous. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.119 She was a fixture at The Battery, a private social 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:18.159 club in San Francisco. She was also friends with Bob Lee, 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:21.440 who called her Tina, a name she went by among 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:27.240 non Iranians. Whenever I talk to anyone about Nima, old friends, 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:32.640 former colleagues, acquaintances, the conversation always led back to Kazar. 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.320 She was and is central to his life. 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:41.439 They both will jump into the other's fight. So, like, 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:47.520 what I've seen is if Nima's arguing with somebody and 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:50.879 she's there, she'll get in the middle and get in 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:52.000 the face of the other person. 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:55.600 And what has he been like, Like, how does he 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:56.720 express his anger? 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.120 He'll raise his voice, he'll you know, he'll puff his 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:05.240 chest and get loud and curse. And I've seen that. 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.480 What does that say about Nima and his relationship with 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:09.840 his sister. 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:15.040 Well, it's very it's very close and you know, very 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:21.520 connected and well, I would say codependent. I think it's 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:23.760 sort of like they've been in the trenches together with 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:26.119 their childhood and stuff like that. 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:36.119 Text messages between Nima and Kazar paint the clearest picture 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:40.480 of their relationship. I obtained several months of texts dating 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:43.800 back to before Bob's death. Most of them are rather 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.520 sweet and mundane. Kazar since Nima photos of her hair 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:49.960 after she had their mom come over and color it. 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:53.360 Nima responds, when you want it done right, get mom 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:56.760 to do it, or do it yourself. They recommended movies 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:59.600 to each other. They asked what each other was having 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:02.800 for dinner. They made fun of mutual friends. They made 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:06.000 plans together on a whim. They argued over whose house 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:09.200 to hang out at. In one of the text messages 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:12.120 that made me laugh, Nima was complaining about the ultra 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:16.159 exclusive clubs that Kazar liked to hang out at. He wrote, 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:19.800 battery and Millennium shit getting old. Maybe just me, but 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:22.440