NEW: Verdict Reached In Murder Of Popular Tech Founder

A San Francisco jury on Tuesday convicted former IT consultant Nima Momeni in connection with the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, who was stabbed to death in San Francisco last year.

The jury acquitted Momeni of the most serious charge  of first-degree murder, but found him guilty of second-degree murder.  The verdict was reached on Monday, though it was not read out until Tuesday after seven days of deliberations. 

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With the second-degree murder conviction, Momeni now faces 16 years to life in prison, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told NBC Bay Area. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, though a status hearing to set the date is scheduled for January 10.

“I would like to thank the jury for their service in this trial,” Jenkins said in a statement. “I would also like to thank Mr. Lee’s family for their trust and faith in my office through this long journey to get justice. Although nothing will bring back Mr. Lee, I hope that this verdict brings his family and friends some closure as they work to heal from this devastating loss,” Jenkins said. “Mr. Lee was loved deeply by many and his killing shocked all of us locally with reverberations felt across the country.”

Bob Lee

Lee, 43, was found staggering down a deserted San Francisco street, leaving a trail of blood while calling for help, on April 4, 2023. Paramedics transported the victim to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead after suffering three stab wounds.

A week later, police arrested Momeni, 40, in connection with the killing.  Prosecutors said Momeni planned the attack on Lee after driving him to an isolated spot under the Bay Bridge before stabbing him three times, including once to the heart, with a knife he took from his sister’s kitchen. Momeni was reportedly angry with Lee for allegedly introducing his younger sister to a drug dealer that led to an alleged sexual assault.

Momeni testified that on April 3, his sister called and asked him to pick her up from the apartment of a friend of Lee’s, who she described as a drug dealer. She told her brother that she may have been sexually assaulted after taking the drug GHB.

The now convicted killer had claim self defense during his trial, testifying that Lee pulled a knife on him and that he was forced to act in self-defense. 

Prosecutors pushed back on Momeni’s testimony, noting that he did not call police after he was supposedly attacked by Lee, even after news broke that he had died from his wounds.

Lee was best known for founding the popular mobile payment processing platform Cash App, and was and was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency MobileCoin at the time of his death.

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