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Nima Momeni, an IT consultant who was arrested and charged with the April 2023 murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Cash App Founder Bob Lee Dead at 43 After Being Stabbed
There is a major update in the case of the fatal stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee.
Nima Momeni, who was arrested and charged with the April 2023 murder of the Cash App founder, was acquitted of first-degree murder in the case, but convicted of second-degree murder Dec. 17, per NBC News.
Momeni, who himself worked in tech as an IT consultant, now faces 16 years to life in prison, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins confirmed to reporters following the case’s conclusion.
After the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict, Bob Lee’s brother Tim Lee spoke to reporters about his family’s relief.
“We’re happy that Nima Momeni will not be on the streets,” he said. “He no longer has the opportunity to harm anybody else in this world. We think justice was done here today.”
Momeni’s defense attorney Tony Brass, however, disagreed with the jury’s findings and pledged to continue fighting for his client.
"This is a very painful day and this is not the end of the story," Brass told reporters, per NBC Bay Area. "We were surprised this wasn't a lesser verdict and we intend to see what we can do to continue to fight."
Prosecutors in the case alleged that Momeni had driven Lee, who was friends with Momeni’s sister Khazar Momeni, to a secluded area in downtown San Francisco before fatally stabbing him three times, including once in the heart, over an argument the pair had about his sister.
Khazar Momeni later testified in court that she had told her brother she may have been sexually assaulted at the apartment of one of Lee’s friends after taking the depressant drug GHB, according to NBC News.
Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool
In court, Momeni said he acted in self defense after Lee pulled out a knife and the pair began a struggle over the weapon. Momeni also claimed that Lee had walked away after the struggle and was unaware that Lee had been stabbed.
The murder case quickly made national headlines in April 2023 after Elon Musk shared a post to X (formerly Twitter, which he owns) calling out San Francisco’s law enforcement to demand they reduce crime.
“Violent crime in SF is horrific,” he wrote on X, “and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.”
After Momeni’s conviction, the district attorney assured the city that the guilty verdict is proof of the city’s dedication to justice.
“Today proved, once again, that we are a city committed to accountability,” Jenkins told reporters, “we are a city committed to public safety and that when something bad happens, which we cant always control, that law enforcement at every level will respond to make sure that there is justice and accountability in each and every situation.”
(E!, NBC News and NBC Bay Area are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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