SAN FRANCISCO– The murder process of a tech consultant in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee begins Monday, a year and a half after the widely admired entrepreneur was found staggering on a deserted street in downtown San Francisco looking for help.
Lee’s death at the age of 43 stunned the technical communityand fellow managers and engineers wrote tributes to his generosity and genius. Lee was Chief Product Officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died. He was the father of two children.
Prosecutors say Nima Momeni, 40, planned the April 4 attack after a dispute over his younger sister, Khazar, with whom Lee was friends. They say Momeni took a knife from his sister’s apartment, drove Lee to a remote area, stabbed him three times and then fled.
Defense lawyers disagreeand they say Lee, rich in drugs, attacked Momeni.
“Our theory is that Bob had the knife and that Nima acted in self-defense,” said attorney Saam Zangeneh.
He said his client is eager to tell his side of the story, but they have not yet decided whether Momeni will testify in his defense.
Momeni, who lives in nearby Emeryville, California, has been in custody since his arrest days after Lee died at a San Francisco hospital. Momenis mother has steadfastly attended court hearings and has a good relationship with his sister.
Prosecutors have said in court documents that a friend of Lee told homicide investigators that they had been drinking with Momeni’s sister the day before the stabbing. The friend said Momeni later questioned Lee about whether his sister was using drugs or otherwise engaging in inappropriate behavior, and Lee said she had not.
Surveillance video of Lee’s last night shows him entering the swanky Millennium Tower downtown, where Momeni’s sister lives with her husband, a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon.
The video shows Lee and Momeni leaving the building together after 2 a.m. and driving away in Momeni’s car. Lee was found around 2:30 a.m. in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighborhood, where there are tech offices and apartments but little activity in the early morning hours.
The police found a knife with a 10 centimeter blade at the scene. Prosecutors said tests showed Momeni’s DNA on the handle of the gun and Lee’s DNA on the bloody knife. But according to the defense, the police should have done so the handle tested for fingerprints, namely Lee’s.
Momeni, who has pleaded not guilty, faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon told jurors the trial could last until mid-December.
