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When Bob Lee, a well-known tech executive who co-founded the Cash App payment program, was stabbed to death in April, many within San Francisco’s tight-knit tech community jumped to conclusions, with figures like Elon Musk declaring death yet another sign. of the city’s persistent, if often misunderstood, struggles with random street crime.
What really happened, according to Lee’s prosecutors and friends, couldn’t be further from this original narrative.
Lee was part of an underground party scene in San Francisco known to participants as “The Lifestyle,” where recreational drugs and casual sex were common, participants and those who knew Lee said. The Wall Street Journal.
One of the people Lee bumped into on the San Francisco nightlife scene was Khazar Momeni, the sister of Nima Momeni, the man arrested in April for Lee’s murder. She plans to plead not guilty.
Lee and Ms. Momeni, who is married, were reportedly in a casual relationship.
“There are many rumors circulating around this case, many of them untrue,” Ms. Momeni’s lawyers told the Diary. “EM. Momeni loves and supports her brother. What happened here is a tragedy, and Ms. Momeni is deeply saddened by the suffering of the Lee family as they deal with the terrible loss of her.”
In the hours before Lee’s death, Mr. Momeni confronted Lee about his sister, prosecutors allege, and asked if he had done anything inappropriate, which he denied.
Later, according to the officials, Khazar Momeni sent Lee a text message acknowledging the confrontation: “I just wanted to make sure you were okay because you know Nima was very hard on you.”
Hours after the alleged confrontation, Lee was seen getting into a white BMW with Momeni, and prosecutors allege he took the tech executive to a secluded area and stabbed him with a kitchen knife.
the independent Mr. Momeni’s lawyer has been contacted for comment.
Lee had been using cocaine and ketamine before his death, an autopsy found.
Momeni, an IT executive, will be prosecuted later this month.