A tech consultant has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee.
Jurors delivered the unanimous verdict against Nima Momeni on Tuesday, eight days after they began deliberations.
The trial for Momeni began on October 14 in San Francisco, more than a year after the murder of a beloved tech mogul that shocked the tech community whose members mourned the loss of an entrepreneur they called charismatic and kind.
On April 4, 2023, Lee, 43, was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street at 2:30 a.m., dripping a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died at a hospital.
Momeni had pleaded not guilty in the case so high profile that San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins stepped into the courtroom for part of the closing arguments that began earlier this month.
San Francisco prosecutors argued that Momeni planned the attack and stabbed Lee three times after hearing that Lee’s drug dealer friend plied Momeni’s younger sister with GHB and other drugs and sexually assaulted her.
“One person called 911 pleading for help, saying somebody stabbed me,” said Dane Reinstedt, assistant district attorney, adding that the other person never called police or told anyone what happened that night until the trial.
But Momeni’s defense attorneys say Lee was on a multi-day drug bender of cocaine and ketamine that made him agitated and violent, and that he attacked the defendant with a knife.
They said Momeni was forced to use his Krav Maga martial arts skills in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023, after making a “bad joke” that upset Lee — and did not realize he had stabbed him.
In his first public statements about the events leading to Lee’s death, Momeni testified in his own defense last month, telling the court that he had joked to Lee that he might want to spend his final night in San Francisco with family rather than trying to find a strip club.
Momeni said Lee pulled out a knife and attacked him, forcing him to defend himself. He said Lee later walked away, showing no signs he was injured. Momeni said he called an attorney when he learned of Lee’s death the following day.
“He’s a big famous guy,” he said on the stand. “I’m just an average joe, an immigrant.”
The prosecution began its closing argument with a 911 call in which Lee could be heard asking repeatedly for help.
Lee’s ex-wife, Krista Lee, cradled her daughter Scout as the 16-year-old wept on her mother’s shoulder. They left the room. The Lees have two children.
