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Nima Momeni Convicted of Second-Degree Murder in Stabbing Death of Cash App Founder Bob Lee, Faces 16 Years to Life

Dec 17, 2024, 06:23 PM

A San Francisco jury has convicted Nima Momeni, a tech consultant, of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. The verdict, reached after seven days of deliberation, carries a sentence of 16 years to life in prison. The incident occurred on April 4, 2023, when Lee was found staggering on a downtown street, bleeding and calling for help. He later died at a hospital. Prosecutors argued that Momeni planned the attack, driving Lee to an isolated spot under the Bay Bridge in his BMW and stabbing him three times with an 8-inch paring knife with a 4-inch blade from his sister's kitchen. The motive was allegedly anger over Lee's introduction of Momeni's sister, Khazar Momeni, to a drug dealer who gave her GHB and sexually assaulted her. Momeni claimed self-defense, asserting that Lee attacked him first after a dispute over Lee's preference for visiting a strip club over spending time with family, which escalated when Lee's car hit a pothole, spilling beer. Momeni, who studies martial arts, said he did not realize he had fatally wounded Lee. The case has garnered significant attention due to Lee's prominence in the tech industry, where he was also the chief product officer of MobileCoin, and has sparked discussions about public safety in San Francisco. Elon Musk criticized the city's crime situation following Lee's death, while San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins emphasized the targeted nature of the crime. Lee had recently moved to Miami from the San Francisco Bay Area, where his ex-wife Krista Lee lives with their two children.