JANIE HAR, Associated Press
3 hours ago
Nima Momeni, charged with murder in the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, enters the courtroom at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Paul Kuroda/ The Standard via AP, Pool)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Technology consultant Nima Momeni on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee on the streets of San Francisco.
San Francisco Superior Court Justice Victor Hwang ordered 38-year-old Momeni to remain in prison without bail because he posed a risk to public safety if released. Momeni, who appeared in an orange sweatshirt and trousers, said nothing and his attorney Paula Canny filed the plea on his behalf.
The case has garnered national attention, in part due to Lee’s status in the tech world. Lee was found shortly after 2:30 a.m. on April 4 with three stab wounds, including one to the heart, and was taken to a hospital, where he later died. He was found in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of downtown San Francisco, which has tech offices and condos but is quiet early in the morning.
Lee, 43, founded Cash App, a mobile payments service, and was chief product officer of cryptocurrency MobileCoin. He was mourned as a loving father of two who made friends everywhere.
Prosecutors have not revealed a motive but say Momeni stabbed Lee after an argument broke out over Momeni’s sister, who appeared in court with her mother on Thursday.
Deputy District Attorney Omid Talai on Thursday pleaded for Momeni to be held without bail, saying the defendant drove Lee to a remote location and used a knife that was part of a unique kitchen set owned by his sister. Police found a knife with a four-inch blade at the scene.
Talai said the analysis showed Momeni’s DNA on the knife’s handle and Lee’s DNA on the bloodied blade and no evidence that Lee touched the handle, contradicting Canny’s claim of self-defense for her client.
But Canny said that Momeni didn’t drive Lee to a secluded place to kill him. Instead, she said, Lee ordered him to stop after calling an Uber about the two getting into an argument. The last time Momeni saw Lee, Canny said, Lee stood up and walked away.
“People can argue without knowing that someone has been mortally wounded,” she said in court, later adding, “All of us, including my client, are heartbroken that Bob Lee has died.”
Canny said Momeni has close ties to the community and must stay and fight the charges or face deportation to Iran, which would separate him from the two people he loves most, his mother and sister. Momeni is not a US citizen.
Outside the courtroom, Canny described the encounter as “a mixture of self-defense and accident.” There was no premeditated advice.”
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins dismissed the idea when speaking to reporters after the indictment. “We believe we have Mr. Lee’s killer, and that is Mr. Momeni,” she said.
Nima Momeni was 14 years old when his mother took the children to the United States. She fled Iran and had a husband who had been abusive and violent to the family for years, his mother wrote in a letter presented to the court in support of her son’s release in court.
She said her son was generous, kind, and contributed financially when she enrolled in college to train as a dental hygienist. He taught himself computer technology.
Momeni was arrested last month at his home in Emeryville, across the street from San Francisco.
An unnamed friend of Lee told homicide detectives they had been hanging out and drinking with Momeni’s sister the day before the stabbing, prosecutors said in a motion to hold Momeni without bail.
The friend said Momeni later asked Lee if his sister was using drugs or otherwise behaving inappropriately, and Lee said she wasn’t.
The girlfriend and Lee later parted ways, and surveillance video showed Lee entering the ritzy Millennium Tower downtown, where Momeni’s sister Khazar lives with her husband, renowned San Francisco plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia. Video footage then showed Lee and Momeni exiting the building together just after 2 a.m. and driving away in Momeni’s car.
If convicted, Momeni faces 26 years in prison.
