Tech guide convicted of Money App founder’s homicide

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Tech govt Nima Momeni has been convicted of murdering Money App founder Bob Lee, bringing to a conclusion a prison story that transfixed Silicon Valley and highlighted issues about road crime in San Francisco.

Lee, who based the digital wallets service greater than a decade in the past, was stabbed 3 times on April 4 2023, in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighbourhood. He was a well known tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, and on the time of his loss of life was the chief product officer of cryptocurrency start-up MobileCoin.

Lee died from his wounds in hospital after being found bleeding on the street at about 2.30am. Police arrested Momeni for the killing 10 days later.

A jury convicted Momeni, 40, of second-degree homicide on Tuesday after seven days of deliberations. He faces a sentence of 16 years to life imprisonment, district lawyer Brooke Jenkins stated.

In keeping with Momeni’s LinkedIn profile, he’s the proprietor of Develop IT, a San Mateo, California-based firm that supplied IT options within the Bay Space since 2010.

Prosecutors made the case that Momeni had stabbed Lee to loss of life in revenge for the alleged sexual assault of his sister. Momeni’s legal professionals argued Lee had attacked their consumer first whereas excessive on ketamine and cocaine.

Critics of San Francisco seized on the killing as an indication the town’s liberal politics and vital social points reminiscent of homelessness and drug use had spiralled uncontrolled and led to lawlessness.

Lee’s homicide attracted vital nationwide curiosity, which fuelled a story that San Francisco was in a “doom loop” due to a rising repute for extreme city decay.

Elon Musk, the billionaire chief govt of corporations together with Tesla and SpaceX, posted on X after the killing that “violent crime in SF is horrific”, whereas Jason Calacanis, a tech investor, wrote the town was in “utter chaos”.

Jenkins defended San Francisco following the jury verdict on Tuesday, saying the homicide was not a random act of violence.

She stated: “We’ve as soon as once more established what really occurred right here. After Bob Lee’s homicide, Elon Musk took to Twitter to actually make an effort to disgrace San Francisco and make it appear to be this was about lawlessness in San Francisco and about what’s happening out on our streets. Immediately proved as soon as and once more that we’re a metropolis dedicated to accountability. We’re a metropolis dedicated to public security.”