Tech consultant found guilty in murder of Cash App founder as Elon Musk slammed for spin

Nima Momeni (r.), a San Francisco tech consultant, was found guilty of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee in 2023.  © POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The verdict of second-degree murder pronounced for Nima Momeni marked the end of a case that was used by far-right billionaire Elon Musk and others to promote a false narrative that crime in the city was out of control.

A day after Lee's stabbing death in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023, Musk ranted in a post on X that "violent crime in SF is horrific" and that "even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately."

Police determined that Lee and Momeni knew one another and were having a dispute concerning Momeni's sister when Lee was stabbed to death.

Lee was stabbed several times, once in the heart, according to court documents.

Jurors found Momeni guilty of second-degree murder, being unsure whether the killing was premeditated or he was merely defending himself.

Momeni faces a prison sentence of from 15 years to life behind bars.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins slammed Elon Musk for trying to "shame" her city with his reaction to the killing.  © JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

"We all know that after Bob Lee was murdered, Elon Musk took to Twitter to make an effort to really shame San Francisco, and to make it seem like this was about lawlessness in San Francisco," SFGate quoted District Attorney Brooke Jenkins as saying outside the courtroom after the verdict.

"He was incorrect," she added, noting Musk's tweet logged millions of views in the 24 hours after it was posted.

Lee's brother Timothy Oliver Lee told journalists outside the courtroom that the family was satisfied with the verdict, according to CBS News.