Momeni claimed self-defense as prosecutors detailed the Bay Bridge killing
Nima Momeni was sentenced to 16 years to life for the second-degree murder of Bob Lee. Lee had created the mobile payment service Cash App and was serving as chief product officer of cryptocurrency MobileCoin when he was killed. The 42-year-old tech consultant was convicted after a jury in San Francisco deliberated for a week, and he has been in San Francisco’s county jail since late-April 2023, after his arrest in the case.
According to The Guardian, the case shocked people at the highest echelons of the US technology industry. Before Momeni was arrested, tech figures including Elon Musk blamed Lee’s killing on San Francisco city leaders for allowing lawlessness and random violence, reigniting a longstanding debate about safety on the city’s streets. Soon, the feud between Momeni and Lee came to light.
SFGate reported that family members of both men and Momeni himself spoke during the sentencing hearing. Lee’s daughter, Scout Lee, who was 14 years old when her father was killed, told the judge that her world was “shattered.” “Mr Momeni, you didn’t just take my dad that day,” Scout said. “You took my best friend.”
Momeni’s mother, Mahnaz Tayarani, implored the judge to look beyond her son’s crime and base his sentence on the totality of his life. “I am here because I love my son,” Tayarani said. “A person’s life can hold more than the worst moment of his life. Nima is not perfect. No human being is.”
Momeni, clad in an orange jail uniform, told the judge: “It was never my intention to see anyone hurt or suffer … I’m truly sorry,” he said.
Prosecutors said Momeni was angry with Lee for introducing his younger sister, Khazar Elyassnia, to a drug dealer whom Elyassnia said gave her GHB and other drugs and then sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors argued that on 4 April 2023, Momeni drove Lee to an isolated spot under the Bay Bridge, stabbed him with a knife taken from his sister’s kitchen and left him to die.
Momeni was arrested and charged with first-degree murder nearly three weeks later.
During the trial, Momeni testified that Lee had actually attacked him with a knife because the CEO was angry after the tech consultant chided him about spending more time with his family instead of searching for a strip club that night. Momeni, who studies martial arts, claimed self-defense and said he did not realize he had fatally wounded Lee or that Lee was even hurt.
After a week of deliberations, the jury convicted Momeni of second-degree murder. His sentencing brought to a close the case arising from Lee’s April 2023 stabbing death.