Tech Worker Arrested in Murder of Bob Lee

An arrest has been made in connection to the fatal stabbing of tech-executive Bob Lee which happened on April 4th in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.

Krista Lee, Bob Lee’s former wife, confirmed that police arrested an Emeryville man. According to jail records, a man named Nima Momeni has been arrested in connection with the stabbing. Nima Momeni was booked on suspicion of murder at 9:19 a.m this Thursday morning.

What we know is that Nima Momeni is a tech entrepreneur who works out of his Emeryville home, The Besler building. His Linkedin Account shows that he has his own business as an IT Consultant called Expand IT, Inc.

Bob Lee – image source MobileCoin

As far as whether this person knew Lee before the stabbing, the reports from Joe Eskenazi at Mission Local show they may have actually been driving together the evening of the stabbing. “Lee and Momeni were portrayed by police as being familiar with one another. In the wee hours of April 4, they were purportedly driving together through downtown San Francisco in a car registered to the suspect,” reported Mission Local.

The motive for the attack is still unclear. However, this is the first step in understanding what happened on April 4th.

“This is the first step toward justice,” Kirsta Lee said.

There has been an uptick in reported violent crimes in San Francisco this past year. Crime is up all over the US and isn’t isolated to just San Francisco. This fatal stabbing is one of the most covered stories in recent months (even including a video shared by The SF Standard showcasing the horrific moments after the stabbing). With so many people in San Francisco working in tech, it felt like a person any of us could have known or worked with.

That said, Eskenazi brings a very important point home:

“While Lee is one of a dozen homicide victims in San Francisco this year, his is the only killing that has garnered national coverage — or, in most cases, even cursory local coverage.

San Francisco’s other homicide victims in 2023 are Gavin Boston, 40; Irving Sanchez-Morales, 28; Carlos Romero Flores, 29; Maxwell Maltzman, 18; Demario Lockett, 44; Maxwell Mason, 29; Humberto Avila, 46; Gregory McFarland Jr, 36; Kareem Sims, 43; Debra Lynn Hord, 57; and Jermaine Reeves, 52.”

There will be a livestream on KTVU at 1230pm about the arrest.