Medics who battled to save murdered Cash App founder Bob Lee stapled shut two stab wounds to his heart, according to an autopsy report which also revealed ketamine, cocaine and alcohol were found in his system.
Lee, 43, was murdered on April 4 while visiting San Francisco from Miami, where he moved last year with his family. IT entrepreneur Nima Momeni, 38, has been charged with the killing and appeared in a San Francisco court on April 25.
A report from the San Francisco Medical Examiner said Lee died on the operating table and had cocaine and ketamine in his system.
The discovery comes after claims that Lee was romantically involved with Momeni’s sister, Khazar, and the pair had visited the home of a drug dealer the day before the murder.
It has also been claimed Momeni was concerned his sister had been using drugs and had argued with Lee hours before the stabbing.
Cash App founder Bob Lee died of stab wounds on the operating table and had drugs and alcohol in his system, his autopsy revealed
The autopsy findings come after claims that Lee was romantically involved with Momeni’s sister, Khazar (pictured), and the pair had visited the home of a drug dealer before the murder
Paramedics found Lee collapsed in front of an apartment block after he called 911 himself at around 2.36am.
Lee was ‘unconscious, pulseless’ and gasping for breath when medics found him. Paramedics, who discovered two stab wounds to his chest and a third on his hip, fitted a tube to help with breathing and performed CPR.
He was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where medics began a massive transfusion protocol and carried out an emergency thoracotomy which ‘revealed two injuries to the heart that were closed with staples’, the autopsy report said.
He was then taken into an operating theater, where further treatment was carried out before he was pronounced dead at 6.49am.
The autopsy also revealed traces of cocaethylene, which is produced when alcohol and cocaine are consumed, and the allergy medication antihistamine levocetirizine.
Momeni is the older brother of Khazar Momeni, known as Tina to her friends, who had a close friendship with Lee.
He was due to be arraigned at his court appearance on April 25 but his attorneys successfully pushed for an extension.
Nima Momeni appears in court on Tuesday April 25 to be arraigned on murder charges
Momeni said nothing in court during his brief arraignment on the morning of Tuesday, April 25
The 38-year-old hugged his attorney Paula Canny before he left the courtroom
They say he will plead not guilty when the time comes, but that they haven’t yet been shown prosecutors’ evidence against Momeni. He is due back in court this week.
More than a dozen of Lee’s relatives – including his children – were in the courtroom for last week’s hearing, but Momeni’s sister – who supported him in designer sunglasses last week – was not.
Paula Canny, Momeni’s attorney, said she is not convinced by the surveillance footage she has seen.
‘He’s gonna plead not guilty, and he’s gonna deny the special allegation and absolutely the plea will be not guilty.
‘I don’t think you can see anything in the videos,’ she said after his appearance.
Prosecutors had claimed the videos showed Momeni stabbing Lee in his BMW after driving him to a secluded part of town in the early hours of April 4.
They however said the footage was dark and difficult to make out.
Friends have claimed Khazar was romantically involved with Lee despite her being married to plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia, and one alleged in a recent interview with The San Francisco Standard that Khazar had a drug problem.
‘She was basically asking me to buy drugs with my money,’ Samira Kuduzovi, who was friends with her, said.
Police sources say that on the day of his murder, Lee and Khazar visited the home of a man who has a criminal record for dealing drugs.
It’s unclear if they purchased any from him that day. A previously-filed court motion says the trio were ‘drinking’ at his home.
Attorney Paula Canny, representing Nima Momeni, speaks to reporters outside of a courtroom at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 25, 2023
On April 3, Lee and Momeni visited an apartment at 1500 Mission St. Police say they were visiting a man with a prior conviction for selling drugs
Khazar Momeni with her husband, plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia, at her brother’s first court appearance on April 14. Her friends told The San Francisco Standard she has a drug problem
The man in question has not been named.
The apparent connection to drugs ties into an earlier claim that Lee argued with Nima Momeni about Khazar hours before the stabbing.
Nima Momeni has been charged with murdering Lee in a rage after grilling him about his relationship with his sister
It was claimed by friends that Nima was concerned his sister was wrapped up in a bad crowd and had been using drugs.
Lee, according to the friends, assured him she was not.
Robert Canny, an attorney who spoke on behalf of Khazar Momeni and her husband at her brother’s first court appearance, did not immediately respond to previously DailyMail.com inquiries.
Authorities have not released any further details regarding illicit substances being involved in the case.
Canny, the attorney representing Nima, previously suggested police had arrested he wrong person.
‘Clearly they seem to think they have enough to make an arrest, but I haven’t seen it.
‘So, until I see it and analyze it, I’m gonna say they’ve made a mistake. There isn’t enough [to hold him].
‘My client is a super nice person, his family loves him and supports him.’
Police found a text on Bob Lee’s phone from Khazar where she told him she ‘love you’
Local officials in San Francisco celebrated Momeni’s arrest and the fact he and Lee knew each other.
They were eager to play down fears that Lee’s death was yet another example of the random violence plaguing the city.