Tech entrepreneur and CashApp founder Bob Lee. (From Twitter via CNN)

By Catherine Thorbecke | CNN

Bob Lee, Square’s former chief technology officer who helped launch the Cash App, has died in San Francisco after an apparent knife attack.

Lee’s death was confirmed by Josh Goldbard, the CEO of his current employer, MobileCoin. Lee joined MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency and digital payments startup, in 2021 as Chief Product Officer.

“Our dear friend and colleague Bob Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 43, leaving behind a loving family and a band of close friends and associates,” Goldbard said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday morning. “Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature. Bob was the real article. He was created for the world that is being born, he was a child of dreams and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he accomplished.”

Goldbard continued, “We will miss you, Bob. We love you.”

Rick Lee, Bob’s father, also confirmed the news in a statement on Facebook, writing, “I just lost my best friend.” The father said his son “lost his life on the street in San Francisco early Tuesday.”

“Bob would give you the shirt off his back,” the father wrote. “He never looked down on anyone and had a strong philosophy of non-judgment.”

Rick Lee added that his son “will be missed by everyone who knew him” and thanked those who reached out and offered support.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed also issued a statement Wednesday, calling Lee’s death “a terrible tragedy.” Breed said police are still investigating Lee’s death and will provide more details soon.

According to an earlier statement from the San Francisco Police Department, officials were responding to reports of a stabbing early Tuesday morning in the Rincon neighborhood of San Francisco, where they found “a 43-year-old adult male victim who appeared to be suffering from stab wounds.” ”

“Officials provided assistance and called paramedics to the scene of the accident. The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Despite the efforts of first responders and medical personnel, the victim succumbed to his injuries,” the police statement said.

Several local news organizations quoted unnamed police sources as saying Lee was the victim of the stabbing. Police said no arrests had been made and investigations were ongoing.

San Francisco has grappled with an apparent spike in crime while still trying to recover from the pandemic. Preliminary police data reports 12 homicides in San Francisco this year, up 20% from the same period last year. Overall, there were 56 homicides in San Francisco in 2022, which is exactly the same number of homicides the city recorded in 2021.

While Goldbard did not specify the circumstances of Lee’s death in his statement, he wrote in a separate Twitter thread in response to the news, “As a lifelong Bay Area resident, I have more questions than answers tonight.”

“I don’t know how to fix this, but I know something isn’t working in our gray city. Bob left this world too soon,” Goldbard wrote on Twitter.

outbreak of grief

Many others in the tech world and beyond reacted to the news of Lee’s death with outbursts of shock and sadness.

“It’s so hard to believe he’s gone,” Figma CEO Dylan Field wrote in a tweet, recalling first meeting Lee in 2006.

Launchpad Capital tech investor Ryan Gilbert tweeted that Lee was “one of a kind,” adding, “May his memory be a blessing.”

And mixed martial artist Jake Shields remembered Lee as a “loyal friend” in a tweet, writing, “RIP bro.”

Shields’ tweet caught the attention of new Twitter owner Elon Musk, who included himself by saying, “Violent crimes in SF are horrendous and even when attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.” Musk tagged the District Attorney of in his tweet San Francisco, Brooke Jenkins.

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Square (now called Block), responded to the news with a post on decentralized social media app Nostr early Wednesday. “Heartbreaking,” Dorsey wrote. “Bob was instrumental in both Square and Cash App.”

Lee was Square’s first chief technology officer. Before joining Square, Lee was at Google, where he led the team that brought Android to market.

The CNN Wire
& © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery company. All rights reserved.

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According to police, a man was arrested after he allegedly stabbed another man on a Muni bus in the Excelsior neighborhood of San Francisco on Wednesday night. The 18-year-old suspect was arrested after the stabbing was reported around 6:35 p.m. in the Geneva Avenue and Stoneridge Lane area. His name was not immediately available Thursday.

Tensions run high as Banko Brown’s funeral begins

The 46-year-old victim was taken to a hospital for treatment for his injuries, which are believed to be life-threatening, police said. No further details about the stabbing were released.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the San Francisco Police Department hotline at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 with “SFPD” at the beginning of the message.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

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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.

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Bob Lee, a tech executive who founded mobile payments company Cash App and previously worked at Square, died Tuesday after being stabbed near downtown San Francisco, according to his family and police.

The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded to a report of a stabbing around 2:35 a.m. Tuesday. Officers found Robert Lee, 43, with apparent stab wounds. He was taken to a hospital and succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Police Chief Bill Scott said in a statement Wednesday night that the investigation was at an early stage and he called it a “horrific crime.”

The incident is being investigated by the police department’s homicide squad, the department said.

Lee had worked as Chief Product Officer at cryptocurrency company MobileCoin. He was previously Chief Technology Officer at Square (now known as Block), a financial technology startup co-founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Lee went on to create Cash App, a money transfer service.

“Bobby worked harder than anyone and was the smartest person I’ve ever known. He will be missed by all who knew him,” his father Richard Lee said in a Facebook post, which was accompanied by a news article about the stabbing. “Thank you to those who have reached out in support.”

The father and son have lived in Miami since October after moving from California, Richard Lee said in the Post. They had become particularly close following the death of Bob Lee’s mother in 2019. It wasn’t immediately clear why Lee was back in the Bay Area.

“I am so sad and discouraged to lose my brother,” Tim Oliver Lee wrote on Facebook. “He really was the best of us. I was very fortunate to grow up with him and I feel like I’ve lost a part of myself.”

In a statement Wednesday, Joshua Goldbard, MobileCoin’s founder and CEO, said that Bob Lee “passed away yesterday” and praised his business acumen. He did not state Lee’s cause of death.

“Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature. Bob was the real article,” Goldbard said. “He was created for the world that is being born, he was a child of dreams and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made come true.”

Goldbard said in a Twitter thread that Lee was “like a brother to me,” and he praised Lee as a “brilliant” visionary with a “kaleidoscopic” mind.

The World Health Organization confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday that Lee has offered his “support and expertise” during the pandemic, saying in a statement that “Bob built a large part of the server for the WHO Covid-19 app.”

Lee was also an investor in Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, as well as other tech companies like social audio app Clubhouse, according to his LinkedIn profile. He used the crazybob handle for his LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Scott, the police chief, offered his condolences to Lee’s family and friends Wednesday night.

“There is no place for this type of violent crime against anyone in our city,” Scott said in the statement. “I want to assure everyone that our investigators are working tirelessly to arrest Mr. Lee and his loved ones and bring justice, just as we try to with every murder in our city.”

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The deadly stabbing could intensify investigations into public safety issues in San Francisco, where residents and business owners are increasingly concerned about violent crime and theft. Mayor London Breed has promised to tackle crime.

According to the police department, there have been 12 murders in San Francisco since the beginning of the year. In the same period last year it had 10 homicides.

Lee’s family, friends and colleagues paid tribute to him.

Krista Lee called her former husband “the most incredible and beautiful human being” and said that “he was everyone’s best friend.”

They had two children, Damien, 17, and Scout, 14. Damien Lee said his father was a down to earth person who always listened.

“He was such a special person in this world. I am so sad that he left us so soon,” Damien Lee said in a statement.

In a statement from her mother, Scout Lee said she was “devastated that anyone would be so cruel as to take my father’s life.”

“He was the best man and an even better father. If you ask anyone who knew him, they would always say he was the best and they would always tell an amazing story about their experiences with him,” she said.

“I will forever miss my father and be devastated by his death because he was not only my father but also one of my best friends,” she later said in the statement.

Former MMA fighter Jake Shields remembered him as a “loyal friend”. In response to a tweet from Shields, Musk said he was “very sorry” to learn of Lee’s death.

Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, called Lee’s death “heartbreaking” on the social media platform Nostr. “Bob was instrumental in the Square and Cash app,” wrote Dorsey.

Joshua Bloch, a friend who worked with Lee at Google in the late 2000s, remembered him as a magnetic person who “always had a huge smile on his face” and “constantly lived life to the fullest.”

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Bloch recalled that Lee was a “self-taught” tech who appeared to “could do anything he wanted,” adding, “I don’t think he realized how special he was. “

“One always says nice things about dead people,” Bloch said, “but in this case I would say exactly the same thing if he were still alive. He was remarkable.”

Daniel Arkin is a national reporter at NBC News. He specializes in popular culture and the entertainment industry, especially film and television.

Chantal Da Silva is the Breaking News Editor at NBC News Digital, based in London.

Bryan Gallion and Phil Helsel contributed.

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David Bonola, 44, has pleaded guilty to killing Orsolya Gaal (Facebook)

Handyman David Bonola has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Queens mother Orsolya Gaal.

Gaal’s body was discovered stuffed in a hockey bag in Forest Park in the borough of Queens, New York City

The married mother of two, 51, had been stabbed nearly 60 times in her home and her body was dragged half a mile away and dumped near to a popular walking path on Metropolitan Avenue in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police followed a trail of blood from the bag that led them about half a mile to an upscale gated community in Forest Hills.

On Wednesday, Bonola appeared in court

Developing more to come

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Friends and coworkers are raising money on behalf of the family of a west county stabbing victim to pay for the transportation of his body to Mexico.

Francisco Marcelo Olivera Arellanes was killed on March 23 at a home in the Guerneville area on Old Cazadero Road. His friends and relatives have launched a fundraiser on gofundme.com to benefit his family.

Loved ones want funeral services and burial to take place in Mexico where his mother and two children live.

The 31-year-old was a handyman and gardener for River to Coast Children’s Services, a Guerneville-based organization serving west Sonoma County child care providers, families and communities.

He’d worked there for years and was popular among staff, said Diana Avila, child development program director.

“He was a hard worker,” she said. “He had this contagious laugh, which was super bubbly.”

Around 9 pm March 23, Sonoma County dispatchers received reports that a vehicle had been driven into a home and that someone inside the home was dead.

Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies performed CPR on Olivera Arellanes, who was the person inside the home. He’d been stabbed at least once, officials said, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Investigators say Guerneville resident Drake Myhre, 24, attacked him, then fled and later stabbed another person 7 miles away on River Drive near Forestville. That person survived.

Authorities found Myhre’s body on rocky ground below the Highway 116 bridge over the Russian River in Guerneville. His death is considered an “apparent suicide,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Friends of Myhre’s, contacted by The Press Democrat, declined to comment.

Investigators say Myhre and the second victim knew each other but they haven’t identified a connection to Olivera Arellanes.

According to his colleagues, Olivera Arellanes worked around the Guerneville area with his brother, Rey. They were known as the “dynamic duo,” Avila said.

In the gofundme.com profile, organizers wrote that, “He wanted to be like his big brother and they share a unique relationship like no other. They had big plans for their future, for their families and for the community surrounding them.”

Olivera Arellanes often played soccer at the Guerneville Elementary school and was known for his willingness to help others under any and all circumstances.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi

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Friends and coworkers are raising money on behalf of the family of a west county stabbing victim to pay for the transportation of his body to Mexico.

Francisco Marcelo Olivera Arellanes was killed on March 23 at a home in the Guerneville area on Old Cazadero Road. His friends and relatives have launched a fundraiser on gofundme.com to benefit his family.

Loved ones want funeral services and burial to take place in Mexico where his mother and two children live.

The 31-year-old was a handyman and gardener for River to Coast Children’s Services, a Guerneville-based organization serving west Sonoma County child care providers, families and communities.

He’d worked there for years and was popular among staff, said Diana Avila, child development program director.

“He was a hard worker,” she said. “He had this contagious laugh, which was super bubbly.”

Around 9 pm March 23, Sonoma County dispatchers received reports that a vehicle had been driven into a home and that someone inside the home was dead.

Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies performed CPR on Olivera Arellanes, who was the person inside the home. He’d been stabbed at least once, officials said, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Investigators say Guerneville resident Drake Myhre, 24, attacked him, then fled and later stabbed another person 7 miles away on River Drive near Forestville. That person survived.

Authorities found Myhre’s body on rocky ground below the Highway 116 bridge over the Russian River in Guerneville. His death is considered an “apparent suicide,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Friends of Myhre’s, contacted by The Press Democrat, declined to comment.

Investigators say Myhre and the second victim knew each other but they haven’t identified a connection to Olivera Arellanes.

According to his colleagues, Olivera Arellanes worked around the Guerneville area with his brother, Rey. They were known as the “dynamic duo,” Avila said.

In the gofundme.com profile, organizers wrote that, “He wanted to be like his big brother and they share a unique relationship like no other. They had big plans for their future, for their families and for the community surrounding them.”

Olivera Arellanes often played soccer at the Guerneville Elementary school and was known for his willingness to help others under any and all circumstances.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi

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OAKLAND (KPIX) — Police in Oakland are investigating a fatal early morning stabbing Sunday in a Lake Merritt neighborhood that has seen multiple homicides in recent months.

Police said a man was stabbed multiple times just after 3 am near 1200 Lakeshore Avenue.

That makes four homicides on the same lakeside street in less than six months.

“I heard a big commotion and I came outside on the balcony and I saw, like, about five people beating up this guy,” said a woman who declined to provide her name for fear of retaliation.

She said the attackers were two women and three men.

“They just were really beating him up, beating him up and, all of a sudden, the women said ‘Oh, let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!’ So they all jumped into a car. The (victim) got up, then he stumbled, then he fell,” she said.

She said the victim had blood all over his chest and that there were other people standing nearby, including a security guard for her condo building. Those witnesses tried to help the victim after the attackers left.

Oakland police said it’s the fourth homicide on this long dead-end street since Nov. 2021. It is unclear what motivated the stabbing. Police said the previous homicides, involving guns, were over robberies.

“Unfortunately, not surprised because there’s been so much of it,” said Michael Ziolkowski, who lives on the block.

“It’s really discouraging sometimes. I still love the neighborhood but I don’t think I would be comfortable sitting on a bench here after dark, honestly,” said neighbor Krista Sumida.

Area residents said they are fearful to leave their home at night. In addition to the four homicides, the East Bay Times reported there have been seven non-fatal shootings in the cul-de-sac since May 2021.

“We need a greater police presence on this cul-de-sac,” Sumida said.

“If (the police) drive through with their lights flashing, that kind of makes a lot of the cars move and get out,” Ziolkowski said.

One neighbor was seen with a large moving truck on the block moving out. He said he was tired of the violence and shootings.

“We’ve had three neighbors just moved out of this building in the last eight months,” Sumida said.

The dead end stretch of Lakeshore Avenue is a popular hang-out spot for young people to park their cars and party at night. Neighbors said that makes those people easy targets for robbers and some of those parties have led to fights and shootings.

“My message to our mayor is to please step up, pull your leaders together and come up with a viable way where we can be safe,” said neighbor Colette McPherson.

Oakland police did not release the stabbing victim’s name. He was in his 30s.

Police were still looking for the suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPD Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821 or the TIP LINE at 238-7950.

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Click here for updates on this story

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) – While Anh ‘Peng’ Taylor was recovering Thursday from the wounds she suffered in a brutal attack on a street in San Francisco, her family began detailing their amazing journey from war-torn Southeast Asia to the Bay Area to share.

The 94-year-old was born in Haiphong in 1926 of Chinese and Vietnamese descent. She immigrated to Laos later in life when Vietnam was involved in a war. She worked as a cook in a restaurant she owned, where she met her future husband. They married in Bangkok and lived there for a few years before moving to Hawaii and then to San Francisco in the early 1970s.

Her husband, a US war veteran, died almost two years ago. She has lived in the same apartment in San Francisco’s criminal Tenderloin neighborhood for 45 years, taking her daily walks and waving to her neighbors.

On Wednesday at 10.15 a.m., she was allegedly attacked in Block 800 on Poststrasse by 35-year-old Daniel Cauich, who was taken into custody two hours later.

She was stabbed in the wrist, suffered additional cuts and was hit in the head. According to the police, she did nothing to provoke the attack. Taylor just took her daily walk.

“She only takes short walks with her stick, she doesn’t bother anyone,” says friend and neighbor Miranda Benvenuti. “She gives us cookies.”

“It’s just sad that someone (the suspect) is such a monster and so cruel,” added Benvenuti.

Her niece spoke to Betty Yu from KPIX 5 and told her that from her hospital bed, her aunt asked her, “Why should this happen to me?”

It wasn’t immediately known whether Taylor was targeted for her race or a casual victim in a crime-ridden neighborhood. But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, violence against Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area has increased astonishingly.

There have been dozens of attacks, some fatal, in Oakland, San Francisco and South Bay.

According to a report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, released June 1, 12 hate crimes were committed against Asian Americans in San Francisco in the first quarter of 2021 – a 140 percent increase from the first Quarter of 2020.

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By Betty Yu, CBS San Francisco:

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – While Anh ‘Peng’ Taylor was recovering from the wounds she suffered in a brutal attack on a street in San Francisco on Thursday, her family began details of their amazing journey from war-torn Southeast Asia to the Bay Area to share.

Find out what’s happening in San Francisco with free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 94-year-old was born in Haiphong in 1926 of Chinese and Vietnamese descent. She immigrated to Laos later in life when Vietnam was involved in a war. She worked as a cook in a restaurant she owned, where she met her future husband. They married in Bangkok and lived there for a few years before moving to Hawaii and then to San Francisco in the early 1970s.

Her husband, a US war veteran, died almost two years ago. She has lived in the same apartment in San Francisco’s criminal Tenderloin neighborhood for 45 years, taking her daily walks and waving to her neighbors.

Find out what’s happening in San Francisco with free, real-time updates from Patch.

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San Francisco, the victim of knife wounds, Anh ‘Peng’ Taylor came to search for the American dream

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