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Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee last year has been found guilty of second-degree murder, a San Francisco jury has found.
Momeni was found not guilty of first-degree murder. The verdict was read out in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday morning local time.
The jury reached their verdict Monday afternoon after seven days of deliberations. He faces 16 years to life in prison.
“I know for a fact I’m never going to have my brother back, but this is the best of all worst of outcomes, right? So this is where we are today,” Bob Lee’s brother, Oliver Lee said at a press briefing afterward.
“I think it was a very difficult case to prove in this day and age and I think [prosecutors were] up against the wrath of lawyers and a very high-powered defense team that was very expensive and very media friendly… and I think they did a great job.”
Asked about how he felt when the verdict was read out, Oliver Lee said: “I thought I was having a heart attack.”
SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS CASH APP FOUNDER USING KNIFE TO SNORT COCAINE BEFORE DEATH, DEFENSE ALLEGES
Nima Momeni, left, was accused of fatally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee, right. (Nima Momeni/LinkedIn, Bob Lee/Facebook)
Prosecutors alleged that Momeni, 40, a self-described tech entrepreneur, stabbed Lee three times with a knife he took from Momeni’s sister’s kitchen set in April 2023.
They claimed that Momeni planned and carried out the killing after hearing that the Cash App founder had introduced Momeni’s sister to a drug dealer who she says gave her GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid) and other drugs before sexually assaulting her at his apartment. GHB acts as a nervous system depressant.
Momeni lured Lee to an isolated spot by the Bay Bridge where he stabbed him before driving away in his car, prosecutors said. The prosecution said Lee’s blood was found on the blade and that Momeni’s DNA was found on the handle, per KTVU FOX 2.
Momeni’s defense attorney said that he stabbed Lee in an act of self-defense as he tried to fend off an attack by Lee, who snapped over a bad joke. They say Lee was on a multi-day cocaine and alcohol bender and attacked Momeni with the knife over the joke, forcing Momeni to defend himself.
He testified during trial that Lee later walked away, showing no signs he was injured.
Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, makes his way into the courtroom for his arraignment in San Francisco on May 2, 2023. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)
Attorneys for Momeni played bombshell surveillance video during closing arguments that they say shows Lee using a knife to snort cocaine hours before his death. They argued it was the same knife that Lee used to confront their client over the joke which led to the altercation.
Momeni testified he stopped his car after going over a pothole that caused Lee to spill the beer he was holding. Momeni said he then cracked a joke suggesting Lee should spend the last night of his visit with family instead of trying to find a strip club to keep the party going.
That’s when he says Lee pulled out the knife from his jacket pocket and attacked.
Surveillance video showed the two men leaving the condo of the defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, around 2 a.m. on April 4, 2023, and getting into Momeni’s BMW.
Other surveillance footage showed them getting out of the car near the Bay Bridge, where the stabbing took place.
Lee was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street at 2:30 a.m., dripping a trail of blood and calling for help. He later died at a hospital.
Lee lived in Miami but was visiting the Bay Area when he was killed.
Bob Lee gestures at his eyes while with Nima Momeni on black and white surveillance video in an elevator. (KTVU)
“I made a bad joke. I said if it was my last night in town, I’d go hang out with my family instead of f—— around in strip clubs. It set him off. He just blew up in front of me. He went from zero to one hundred. He was very angry,” Momeni said, according to KRON.
However, the prosecution has mocked Momeni’s story, pointing out that he never called police to report Lee’s alleged attack or even after he learned Lee had died of stab wounds on the street where he had last seen him.
A court sketch depicts Nima Momeni’s appearance in court as prosecutor Omid Talai delivers opening statements during his trial in San Francisco, California on Monday, October 14, 2024. Momeni is facing murder charges for the 2023 stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee. (Vicki Ellen Behringer)
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Lee created the mobile payment service Cash App in 2013 while he was working at Block, formerly known as Square. The app is a digital wallet which allows users to send, receive or save money.
Fox News’ Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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