Nima Momeni found guilty of murder in killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee

A San Francisco jury on Tuesday convicted IT consultant Nima Momeni in the fatal stabbing of 2023 of technology executive Bob Lee, a murder that raised concerns about rampant street crime in the city, but was actually motivated by a personal dispute.

The jury acquitted Momeni of first-degree murder but found him guilty of second-degree murder.

A verdict was reached on Monday, but it was read on Tuesday after deliberations began on December 4. The jury had been asked to consider first-degree murder with the possibility of use of a deadly weapon. NBC Bay Area reported.

Momeni appeared impassive as the verdict was read, as did his lead attorney, who joined the hearing via Zoom, the station reported.

He faces 16 years to life in prison, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said.

Lee, 43, founder of popular money transfer service Cash App, was found stabbed Early morning on April 4, 2023, near downtown San Francisco. He was rushed to a hospital but died from his injuries.

An operator told police there was a man “yelling, ‘help,’ saying ‘someone stabbed me,’” recordings showed.

The case immediately generated controversy when SpaceX’s Elon Musk posted on social media after Lee’s death about crime in San Francisco, and questioned the district attorney about “repeat violent offenders.”

Instead, a week later, the San Francisco police announced the arrest of Momeni40 years old, who is not a repeat offender and whose sister was a friend of Lee.

Momeni was accused of taking Lee to a secluded area and then stabbing him three times with a 4-inch kitchen knife. Lee was stabbed in the heart.

Prosecutors said Momeni planned to kill Lee and had an argument with Lee about his sister.

Momeni testified that on April 3, his sister called him and asked him to pick her up at the apartment of a friend of Lee’s whom the sister described as her drug dealer. The sister testified that she told her brother that she may have been sexually assaulted after taking the drug GHB.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that on the night of the murder, a witness saw Momeni questioning Lee “about whether his sister was doing drugs or something inappropriate,” and Lee had to assure him that nothing had happened.

Momeni claimed he acted in self-defense after Lee pulled a knife on him.

Momeni told the jury that on the night of the stabbing Lee had been using drugs. They were in a car together, but stopped because Momeni thought Lee was going to vomit, and Momeni said Lee attacked him after Momeni joked that he would rather spend his last night in San Francisco with his family than in strip clubs.

Momeni claimed that when Lee pulled out the knife he had to defend himself. Momeni said there was a struggle over the gun and Lee eventually walked away down the street, but Momeni didn’t know Lee had been stabbed.

The trial began on October 14. Deputy District Attorney Omid Talai said in his opening statements that Lee, who was then chief product officer at cryptocurrency company MobileCoin, was “stabbed in the heart and left to die.”

When asked why the jury opted for second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder, Jenkins, the district attorney, said: “Of course, we presented evidence that we thought supported a first-degree murder conviction, but at the same time At the end of the day, the jury has returned their verdict and we respect what it is, and we understand, based on the facts, how they could get there.”

This story first appeared. on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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