SAN FRANCISCO — The homicide trial of a tech advisor within the stabbing demise of Money App founder Bob Lee begins Monday, a yr and a half after the broadly admired entrepreneur was discovered staggering on a abandoned downtown San Francisco avenue searching for assist.
Lee’s demise at age 43 surprised the tech group, and fellow executives and engineers penned tributes to his generosity and brilliance. Lee was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died. He was a father to 2 kids.
Prosecutors say Nima Momeni, 40, deliberate the April 4 assault after a dispute over his youthful sister, Khazar, with whom Lee was mates. They are saying Momeni took a knife from his sister’s apartment, drove Lee to a secluded space and stabbed him thrice, then fled.
Protection legal professionals disagree, they usually say that Lee, excessive on medication, attacked Momeni.
“Our principle is that Bob had the knife, and that Nima acted in self protection,” legal professional Saam Zangeneh stated.
He stated his consumer is keen to inform his aspect of the story, however they have not determined whether or not Momeni will testify in his protection.
Momeni, who lives in close by Emeryville, California, has been in custody since his arrest days after Lee died at a San Francisco hospital. Momeni’s mom has been a steadfast presence at court docket hearings, and he’s near his sister.
Prosecutors have stated in court docket paperwork {that a} buddy of Lee’s instructed murder investigators they’d been consuming with Momeni’s sister the day earlier than the stabbing. The buddy stated Momeni later questioned Lee about whether or not his sister was doing medication or in any other case participating in inappropriate habits, and Lee stated she had not.
Surveillance video of Lee’s last night time reveals him coming into the luxurious Millennium Tower downtown, the place Momeni’s sister lives together with her husband, a outstanding San Francisco plastic surgeon.
Video then reveals Lee and Momeni leaving the constructing collectively after 2 a.m. and driving off in Momeni’s automobile. Lee was discovered round 2:30 a.m. within the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, which has tech places of work and condominiums however little exercise within the early morning hours.
Police recovered a knife with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) blade on the scene. Prosecutors stated assessments confirmed Momeni’s DNA on the weapon’s deal with and Lee’s DNA on the bloody blade. However the protection stated police ought to have examined the deal with for fingerprints, particularly Lee’s.
Momeni, who has pleaded not responsible, faces 26 years to life if convicted.
San Francisco Superior Courtroom Decide Alexandra Gordon has instructed jurors the trial might final till mid-December.