Defendant in Cash App founder's death found guilty of second-degree murder
A San Francisco jury found Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee last year, found guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday.
Momeni was found not guilty of first-degree murder. The verdict was read out in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday morning local time.
The jury reached their verdict Monday afternoon after seven days of deliberations. He faces 16 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors alleged that Momeni, 40, a self-described tech entrepreneur, stabbed Lee three times with a knife he took from Momeni’s sister’s kitchen set in April 2023.
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After the verdict was read, Momeini gave no visible reaction, though one of his attorneys put a hand on his shoulder, according to KTVU's Henry Lee, who was inside the courtroom as the verdict was read.
Bob Lee's brother, Oliver Lee, praised prosecutors at a press briefing immediately afterward.
"I think it was a very difficult case to prove in this day and age and I think [prosecutors were] up against the wrath of lawyers and a very high-powered defense team that was very expensive and very media friendly… and I think they did a great job," Oliver Lee said.
He said he wished that the jury had come back with first-degree murder, but conceded: "It is what it is."
"I know for a fact I'm never going to have my brother back, but this is the best of all worst of outcomes, right? So this is where we are today," Oliver Lee said.
Asked about how he felt when the verdict was read out, Oliver Lee said: "I thought I was having a heart attack."
Momeni's mother, Mahnaz Tayarani Babai, who attended every day of the trial, said defiantly that her son plans to appeal the decision.
"I know my son and he never does (sic) that," she said. "But this is not a fair trial and we will stand and we will continue. We are strong. We have been in difficult times together."
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins praised her prosecutors and said that the case was about two men in a private fight and not about the general crime rates in San Francisco.
She noted that Elon Musk had drawn nationwide attention to the killing at the time and connected it to crime in the city.
"After Bob Lee was murdered, Elon Musk took to Twitter to make an effort to really shame San Francisco and to make it seem like this was about lawlessness in San Francisco and about what's going on in our streets," Jenkins said.
"And we knew it was something different. And I think today proved once again that we are a city committed to accountability. We are a city committed to public safety, and that when something bad happens, which we can't always control, that law enforcement at every level will respond to make sure that there is justice and accountability in each and every situation."
SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS CASH APP FOUNDER USING KNIFE TO SNORT COCAINE BEFORE DEATH, DEFENSE ALLEGES
Prosecutors claimed that Momeni planned and carried out the killing after hearing that the Cash App founder had introduced Momeni’s sister to a drug dealer who she says gave her GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid) and other drugs before sexually assaulting her at his apartment. GHB acts as a nervous system depressant.
Momeni lured Lee to an isolated spot by the Bay Bridge where he stabbed him before driving away in his car, prosecutors said. The prosecution said Lee's blood was found on the blade and that Momeni's DNA was found on the handle, per KTVU FOX 2.
Momeni’s defense attorney said that he stabbed Lee in an act of self-defense as he tried to fend off an attack by Lee, who snapped over a bad joke. They say Lee was on a multi-day cocaine and alcohol bender and attacked Momeni with the knife over the joke, forcing Momeni to defend himself.
He testified during trial that Lee later walked away, showing no signs he was injured.
Attorneys for Momeni played bombshell surveillance video during closing arguments that they say shows Lee using a knife to snort cocaine hours before his death. They argued it was the same knife that Lee used to confront their client over the joke which led to the altercation.
Momeni testified he stopped his car after going over a pothole that caused Lee to spill the beer he was holding. Momeni said he then cracked a joke suggesting Lee should spend the last night of his visit with family instead of trying to find a strip club to keep the party going.
That's when he says Lee pulled out the knife from his jacket pocket and attacked.
Surveillance video showed the two men leaving the condo of the defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, around 2 a.m. on April 4, 2023, and getting into Momeni’s BMW.
Other surveillance footage showed them getting out of the car near the Bay Bridge, where the stabbing took place.
Lee 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.
Lee lived in Miami but was visiting the Bay Area when he was killed.
"I made a bad joke. I said if it was my last night in town, I’d go hang out with my family instead of f------ around in strip clubs. It set him off. He just blew up in front of me. He went from zero to one hundred. He was very angry," Momeni said, according to KRON.
However, the prosecution has mocked Momeni’s story, pointing out that he never called police to report Lee’s alleged attack or even after he learned Lee had died of stab wounds on the street where he had last seen him.
Lee created the mobile payment service Cash App in 2013 while he was working at Block, formerly known as Square. The app is a digital wallet which allows users to send, receive or save money.
Fox News’ Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.