A 40-year-old technology consultant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco last year.
The verdict read Tuesday comes more than a year after Lee was found bleeding to death on a downtown San Francisco street.
A jury heard more than six weeks of testimony about drugs, sexual assault and the early morning stabbing in San Francisco in April 2023.
During closing arguments, prosecutors played Lee's 911 call after Nima Momeni stabbed him and left him for dead in the street, the Associated Press reported.
The judge listened as Lee again called for help on the phone.
Lee, 43, was found bleeding downtown around 2:30 a.m. on April 4, 2023. He later died from his injuries.
Momeni stabbed Lee three times near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge because he was upset that Lee had introduced his sister, Khazar Momeni, to a man who allegedly gave her GHB, known as a rape drug. Khazar Momeni testified that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Jeremy Boivin, a friend of Lee's and prosecutors described him as a drug dealer, according to a report by ABC7 news channel. Boivin has not been charged in the case, according to authorities.
The criminal trial, which began on October 14, ends a chapter in the murders that rocked the Bay Area. The judges reached their decision after seven days of trial.
Initial reports of Lee's death sparked fear and criticism in San Francisco about rampant crime, though the narrative surrounding the incident quickly changed after police announced Momeni's arrest and provided details about a possible motive.
Assistant Dist. He said. Dane Reinstedt summarized the events leading up to the stabbing in his closing arguments Monday.
A few hours before the stabbing, Lee met Nima Momeni at Momeni's sister's corner on Mission Street and Momeni asked Lee what happened to her. Nima Momeni then grabbed a knife from the kitchen before walking out the door with Lee.
The video from the elevator shows the men leaving the building around 02:00 and leaving in Momeni's BMW.
At his trial, Momeni testified that Lee attacked him after making a “bad joke” while they were in the car, according to the Associated Press.
“I was afraid for my life,” Momeni told the judge.
Momeni testified that he drove over a pothole and Lee spilled the beer he was carrying, so he stopped in a quiet area of the Bay Bridge. That's when Momeni joked that Lee should spend his last night sightseeing with his family instead of trying to find a strip club, according to his testimony.
Momeni's attorney said Lee was angry and attacked Momeni, forcing his client to use his Krav Maga karate skills to defend himself, according to the Associated Press. Momeni did not realize that Lee had been stabbed, his attorney told the judge during closing arguments.
But prosecutors said the stab wounds were direct, clean and not inflicted by someone in a position of self-defense.
Momeni did not call the police to report that Lee attacked him with a knife even after it was reported that Lee was found in the street with stab wounds and died, Reinstedt said.
Alcohol, ketamine and cocaine were found in Lee's system, according to the autopsy report.
Defense attorneys said Lee had been using drugs for several days, which would explain why he was angry and violent the night he died.
Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh played surveillance video in his closing arguments showing Lee and a friend outside San Francisco private club The Battery. In the video, Lee allegedly sniffed drugs from what Zangeneh said was the knife used in his murder, according to ABC7.
In response, Assistant Dist. He said. Omid Talai asked the judge to consider why not a single piece of Lee's DNA was found on the item if it was the knife used in the murder. Prosecutors say only Momeni's DNA was found on the knife.
Prosecutors showed a video of Lee before he was stabbed. At one point, his jacket was open and Reinstedt said there was no knife in sight. Another video, however grainy, showed the men on the bridge but showed that Momeni was the attacker, according to the Associated Press report.
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