THE tech worker accused of fatally stabbing CashApp founder Bob Lee has learned his fate over a year after the shocking murder.
Nima Momeni, 40, was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with Lee’s killing in an apparent revenge plot on his sister’s behalf.
The jury, which began deliberations on December 4, did not convict Momeni of first-degree murder.
Lee’s ex-wife, Krista, described the trial length as “absolutely excruciating” but was not surprised the jury took seven days to reach a verdict.
When asked by KRON-TV if anything less than a first-degree murder conviction would be seen as “injustice” to Krista, she firmly stated, “In a way, yes, it would be. Absolutely.”
The grim incident occurred in the early hours of April 2, 2023, when Momeni reportedly stabbed Lee three times with a kitchen knife close to San Francisco’s Bay Bridge following a night of revelry, as described by prosecutors.
Lee then stumbled to the nearby neighborhood of Rincon Hill, where he called 911 and was found screaming for help with some of his final breaths.
The CashApp founder was taken to the hospital but died on the surgery table.
Lee’s death shocked the tech industry, as he had thrived in top-tier software positions.
He worked for successful brands like Square and SpaceX and, when he died, was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin.
Subsequent inquiries into the murder case unveiled that he was purportedly entangled in the subterranean drug-driven social circle known as The Lifestyle, which was particularly popular among affluent individuals of newer wealth.
Prosecutors say Momeni went into a murderous rage after Lee introduced his sister, Khazar Elyassnia, to one of his drug dealers, who slipped her date rape drug GHB and sexually assaulted her.
Defense attorneys refuted the prosection’s claims, arguing that Lee sparked the attack and that Momeni, using his Krav Maga martial arts skills, disarmed the tech giant.
Elyassnia also claimed in court that the alleged assault by the drug dealer never happened.
Momeni confronted Lee about the assault the day before his murder, but the tech mogul denied everything, prosecutors say.
The next day, Lee and Momeni went to the enviable Millennium Tower, where Elyassnia and her plastic surgeon husband live, for a party.
Disturbing surveillance footage showed the pair appearing to argue with one another in the elevator.
At about 2 am, the CashApp founder was seen getting into Momeni’s car to keep the night going, prosecutors said.
Additional video captured Lee and Momeni outside his car near the Bay Bridge. Momeni appeared to be violently thrusting toward Lee’s shadowy figure.
An autopsy found Lee had three clean stab wounds, which prosecutors argued was proof there was no struggle.
He also had a mix of alcohol and a cocaine blend called cocaethylene in his system when he died.
During the trial, Momeni testified, “I was scared for my life,” as he sparred with prosecutors in a rambling cross-examination.
He claimed that Lee pulled a knife after he cracked a “bad joke,” suggesting he should be spending his night in the city with his family instead of going to a strip club.
Momeni faces 26 years to life if convicted.
