A San Francisco judge has issued an order for tech consultant Nima Momeni to face trial for the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, following a stabbing incident. The violent demise of Lee, who held the position of chief product officer at MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency platform, deeply impacted the tech community. His colleagues lauded his traits of generosity, inquisitiveness, and strong leadership. During the court proceedings on Tuesday, one of Momeni’s defense attorneys, Saam Zangeneh, made an unsuccessful plea for a manslaughter charge based on the available evidence, rather than a murder charge. Zangeneh clarified that this argument was presented solely for the purpose of the preliminary hearing.
“After the hearing, he emphasized in an email, ‘We do not concede that our client is culpable of any wrongdoing.'”
Prosecutors have asserted that Momeni meticulously orchestrated the attack on April 4, resulting in a severely injured Lee staggering through an abandoned street in downtown San Francisco in search of aid. According to their account, Momeni, aged 38, purportedly transported Lee to an isolated location, where he inflicted three knife wounds upon him during a heated disagreement, hastily departing afterward. The dispute is said to have stemmed from issues involving the defendant’s sister.
Spanning two days, the prosecution methodically presented a compilation of technical video footage and forensic evidence that illustrated Lee’s final interaction with Momeni. This evidence revealed that Lee was last observed entering a vehicle driven by Momeni, and a blood-stained knife was discovered close to the area where the two men disembarked from the car.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, a forensic expert from the San Francisco Police Department’s crime lab testified that Lee’s DNA was detected on the blade of the knife, while Momeni’s DNA was identified on the handle.
San Francisco law enforcement responded to reports of a stabbing in the city’s Rincon Hill neighborhood at 2:35 a.m., subsequently transporting Lee to a medical facility where he succumbed to his injuries.
Momeni’s legal representatives have countered these allegations by asserting that their client had no conceivable motive to harm Lee and that the relationship between the two individuals remained amicable. They have maintained that Momeni’s anger was directed towards an unrelated party rather than Lee.