The slaying of Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco earlier this month was a “planned and deliberate attack” carried out by an acquaintance, according to prosecutors.
Court documents released Friday said that accused killer Nima Momeni stabbed Lee three times, including one wound that punctured his heart, in the city’s Rincon Hill neighborhood during the predawn hours on April 4.
Mr. Momeni, 38, was charged Friday with murder by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. He was ordered held without bond.
The attack followed an argument between the two that was about Mr. Momeni’s sister.
According to a witness cited in the documents, this person observed Mr. Momeni asking Lee if “his sister was doing drugs or anything inappropriate” while the two were at Lee’s hotel room hours before his death. Lee denied that she was, per the witness.
Mr. Momeni and Lee eventually went to the sister’s apartment, then are seen leaving the complex around 2 a.m. Surveillance footage obtained by authorities shows Mr. Momeni’s car drive to a secluded part of Main Street where he is accused of stabbing Lee once in the hip and twice in the chest.
Footage showed Lee visibly injured and stumbling away from the scene. Mr. Momeni is accused of walking in the opposite direction and then driving away at a high rate of speed.
Police recovered a 4-inch kitchen knife in the area where Lee was stabbed that appeared to have blood on it.
Text messages on Lee’s phone that were provided to authorities also indicated that the argument over the sister may have caused the stabbing.
A message from the sister that said “Just wanted to make sure your doing ok Cause I know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you And thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class Love you Selfish pricks.”
The 43-year-old Lee was the chief product officer of MobileCoin, a form of cryptocurrency, and helped found tech platform Square, which lets businesses process credit card payments on tablets.
