Tech consultant Nima Momeni was found guilty on Tuesday of brutally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee to death during a drug-fueled dispute over Momeni’s sister.
After seven full days of deliberation, the 12-member jury convicted Momeni, 39, of second-degree murder. He faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
However, the panel did not find him guilty of the most serious possible charge, first-degree murder, which the members had been instructed could only apply if they were convinced Momeni killed Lee “willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation.”
Lee’s brother Oliver Lee told reporters immediately after the decision that it only mattered that Momeni had been found guilty of murder.
“We’re happy with the result today,” he said, insisting it didn’t matter that it wasn’t the first-degree charge. “We’re happy that Nima Momemi will not be on the streets and no longer has the opportunity to harm anyone else.”
Lee, 43, was stabbed through the heart under San Francisco’s Bay Bridge on April 4, 2023. He called 911 and begged for help as he wandered the streets, leaving a trail of blood behind. He told the dispatcher that someone had stabbed him, but did not name his killer in his dying breaths.
Cops soon zeroed in on Momeni, who had been spotted on surveillance video with Lee just 30 minutes before the stabbing.
Prosecutors alleged that Momeni was getting revenge on behalf of his younger sister, Khazar Elyassnia, who was having an affair with Lee. Elyassnia testified in court that she was sexually assaulted by Lee’s drug dealer on the day before the homicide. Prosecutors told the jury that Momeni described himself as an “overprotective big brother” and that he blamed Lee for the assault.
Elyassnia made fashionable appearances in court, including in a $5,500 powder-blue Valentino Garavani dress, oversized sunglasses and a $1,000 Valentino clutch.
The prosecution told jurors that Momeni lured Lee to a secluded place and then viciously stabbed him with a kitchen knife he had taken from his sister’s apartment.
Lee was found with ketamine and other drugs in his system at the time of his death, and had reportedly been drinking with Momeni and Elyassnia the day before his murder.
During the six-week trial, Momeni took the stand on his own behalf, testifying that he acted in self-defense after Lee got aggressive with him.
“I made a bad joke,” Momeni told the jurors. ‘I said, ‘If it was my last night in town, I’d go hang out with my family instead of f–king around in strip clubs.’ It set him off. He just blew up in front of me. He went from zero to one hundred.”
Momeni then testified that Lee pulled a knife on him, and he simply fought back.
But prosecutors disputed the story, telling jurors that Lee was unarmed when he was stabbed. Cops later found a knife near the scene with Lee’s DNA on the blade and Momeni’s DNA on the handle.
The decision was reached late Monday, with the announcement delayed until the following morning.
The jury was able to consider four possible verdicts: guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, or not guilty.
If jurors believed Momeni’s self-defense claim, they could convict him of manslaughter — or find him not guilty.
Lee was a rising star in the Bay Area tech industry. He founded the company Cash App. Previously, he had worked for Google as a software engineer, and also served as an executive for MobileCoin.
