A San Francisco judge has ordered tech consultant Nima Momeni to stand trial for the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee. Lee’s violent death sent shockwaves through the tech community, as his colleagues praised his generosity, curiosity, and leadership skills. At 43 years old, Lee held the position of chief product officer at cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin at the time of his untimely demise.
Momeni’s defense lawyer, Saam Zangeneh, argued in court that there might be enough evidence for a manslaughter charge instead of murder. However, this argument was unsuccessful, and Zangeneh clarified that it was made solely for the purpose of the preliminary hearing. In an email following the hearing, Zangeneh emphasized that they do not admit their client’s guilt of any crime.
According to prosecutors, Momeni planned the attack on April 4 that ultimately led to Lee’s tragic fate. Allegedly, Momeni drove Lee to a secluded location, where he stabbed him three times after a dispute involving the defendant’s sister. Forensic evidence and technical video presented by the prosecution depicted Lee entering a car driven by Momeni before the attack and a bloodied knife discovered near the area where they left the vehicle in a hurry.
During the trial, a crime lab criminalist from the San Francisco Police Department testified that Lee’s DNA was found on the knife’s blade but not on the handle, while Momeni’s DNA was detected on the handle. The police had responded to reports of a stabbing in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighborhood at 2:35 a.m., and Lee was transported to a hospital where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.
Momeni’s legal team maintains that their client had no motive to kill Lee and that the two individuals had a cordial relationship. They assert that Momeni’s anger was not directed towards Lee but towards another person.
