Technology consultant Nima Momeni was found guilty Tuesday of brutally stabbing CashApp founder Bob Lee to death during a drug dispute over Momeni's sister.
After seven full days of deliberations, the 12-member jury found Momeni, 39, guilty of second-degree murder.. He could be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
However, the most serious possible charge, which commissioners had been instructed, could only be applied if the commission was satisfied that Mr Momeni had “deliberately, deliberately and premeditatedly” killed Lee. He was not found guilty of first-degree murder.
Lee, 43, was stabbed in the heart under the Bay Bridge in San Francisco on April 4, 2023. He wandered the streets leaving behind bloodstains and called 911 for help. He told dispatchers that someone had stabbed him, but as he took his last breaths he did not give the attacker's name.
Police quickly zeroed in on Momeni, who was seen on surveillance video with Lee just 30 minutes before the stabbing.
Prosecutors argued that Momeni was taking revenge on behalf of his sister, Hazar Eliasnia, with whom Lee had an affair. Eliasnia testified in court that Lee's drug dealer sexually assaulted her the day before the murder. Prosecutors told the jury that Momeni described himself as an “overprotective big brother” and that Lee was responsible for the assault.
Prosecutors told jurors that Momeni lured Lee to a secluded area and brutally stabbed her 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 Eliasnia the day before his murder.
During the six-week trial, Momeni took the stand and testified that he acted in self-defense after Lee became aggressive towards him.
“I told a bad joke,” Momeni told jurors. “I said, 'If this was my last night on the town, I'd go hang out with my family instead of hanging out at strip clubs.' That irritated him. He said, right in front of me, It exploded. He went from zero to 100.”
Momeni then testified that Lee pulled a knife on her, but she simply fought back.
But prosecutors disputed that story, telling jurors that Lee was unarmed when he was stabbed. Police later found a knife near the scene with Lee's DNA on the blade and Momeni's DNA on the handle.
The decision was made late Monday and the announcement was postponed until the following morning.
The jury could consider four verdicts: guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.
If the jury believes Momeni's claim of self-defense, they could convict him of manslaughter or acquit him.
Mr. Lee was a rising star in the Bay Area technology industry. He founded a company called Cash App. Previously, he worked as a software engineer at Google and was an executive at MobileCoin.
