Cash App founder’s accused killer allegedly stabbed two teenagers 18 years before San Francisco murder

Bevan Hurley
·2 min read
2

The suspect in the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee was investigated for stabbing two teenagers in San Francisco in 2005, according to a new report.

Nima Momeni, 38, has been charged with stabbing Lee to death in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighbourhood in April.

Mr Momeni was also investigated for stabbing a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old in a possible drug dispute 18 years earlier, according to a police report obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Police in Albany, California, declined to charge the then-20-year-old due to insufficient evidence and conflicting witness statements, according to the Chronicle.

The report found that the two teenagers suffered minor injuries, and that the 16-year-old may have instigated the altercation.

Mr Momeni was listed as a potential suspect and victim, and had faced possible charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of drugs and possession of drugs with the intent to sell, the Chronicle reported.

The Independent has contacted Mr Momeni’s lawyer Paula Canny for comment.

Mr Momeni is accused of stabbing the tech entrepreneur to death on 4 April after getting into an argument while driving near San Francisco’s downtown area.

According to prosecutors, Lee had been having an affair with Mr Momeni’s sister.

Surveillance footage captured the stabbing and events leading up to the altercation. Footage from around 2am that night allegedly showed the victim and suspect getting in to Mr Momeni’s car and driving to the secluded area where Lee was killed.

He has pleaded not guilty to murder, and insisted that the stabbing was accidental and in self defence.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said during a May court appearance that prosecutors believe it was an “intentional killing” and that the suspect’s DNA was found on the murder weapon.

An autopsy showed Lee sustained knife wounds that pierced his heart and lung.

In April, it emerged that Mr Momeni was cited but not charged in a 2022 domestic battery case.

Mr Momeni also had previous run-ins with police, including a dismissed misdemeanour charge for driving under the influence in 2004 and charges of driving with a suspended license and selling a switchblade in 2011 which were later dropped.