Shivangi Sinha
In April 2023, Bob Lee called the police from San Francisco, California, and reported that he had been stabbed. Surveillance footage captured him desperately trying to get some help. By the time officers arrived, he had collapsed and was quickly transported to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. As a prominent figure in the tech industry, Lee’s death sparked significant social and political controversy. NBC’s episode of ‘Dateline’ titled ‘Under the Bay Bridge’ delves into the details of the case, particularly Lee’s final moments.
Bob Lee Showed Signs of Being a Tech Genius From a Young Age
Robert “Bob” Harold Lee was born on December 20, 1979, in Missouri. Raised in the affluent neighborhood of St. Louis, he enjoyed a comfortable upbringing with ample opportunities. He attended Lindbergh High School, where he excelled as a water polo player and was known for his enthusiasm and charismatic personality. After graduating, he enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Lee’s passion for technology and innovation was evident during his college years. In 2001, he released a free program to protect Microsoft IIS servers from the Code Red virus, which was affecting many users at the time.
While still in college, he worked as a website developer, and in 2003, AT&T hired him as a technical architect. He eventually dropped out of college early, and by October 2004, he joined Google as a staff software engineer and remained there until January 2010. Following his time at Google, he began working at the e-commerce company Square, where he served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and played a key role in developing the widely used Cash App. Lee’s job required him to relocate to San Francisco, and by that time, he was married to Krista Lee, with whom he had two children. He moved there with his family, and in 2019, after his mother’s passing, his father also relocated to California. That same year, he and his wife separated for undisclosed reasons.
Bob Lee Was Visiting San Francisco When He Was Attacked
In 2021, Bob Lee joined the cryptocurrency payment firm MobileCoin as its Chief Product Officer. A year later, in October 2022, he decided to move to Miami, Florida, to stay with his father for a while while his ex-wife and children remained in San Francisco. On the morning of April 4, 2023, Lee called the police from the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, and told that he had been stabbed. Surveillance footage captured him attempting to seek help from a parked car, but he received no assistance.
At 2:35 am, 911 responders arrived at the scene and found him unconscious. He was suffering from three stab wounds—one in the hip and two in the chest—which had caused significant blood loss. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he underwent surgery, but despite medical efforts, he could not be saved. The 43-year-old succumbed to his injuries shortly after. His autopsy report showed that he also had traces of alcohol and some drugs in his system, but they were not determined to be the cause of his passing.
The Police Were Able to Get Bob Lee’s Killer With the Help of Surveillance Footage
Speculation ran rampant, with many people and media outlets theorizing that Lee’s death was the result of a robbery gone wrong. Still, the police pursued their own instincts. They began retracing his steps on the day before his death, and soon, the pieces started falling into place. On April 3, 2023, Lee invited a close friend to an apartment around 3:30 pm, where he was spending time with a woman named Khazar Elyassnia. He had known her for a few years, and she was the sister of Nima Momeni, a man who also worked in tech and had a casual acquaintance with Lee. At the time, Khazar and Lee were drinking together. Shortly after, he left with his friend and returned to his hotel.
Around this time, Lee received a call from Nima, who questioned him about whether his sister had been using drugs or engaging in any inappropriate behavior. Lee denied it and reassured him. Lee’s friend left around 12:30 am, and from that point, police relied on surveillance footage to piece together the events. At approximately 8:30 pm, Nima was seen entering his sister’s apartment, and Lee arrived there later, at around 12:39 am. By 2:03 am, both Lee and Nima were captured on camera leaving the apartment building from Khazar’s floor and getting into Nima’s BMW before driving off together. Surveillance footage later showed Nima taking Lee to a desolate area, where he suddenly stepped toward him before abruptly walking away.
The police discovered a knife with Nima’s DNA near the crime scene. Additionally, they found a text message on Lee’s phone from Khazar, in which she thanked him for handling the situation with her brother and apologized for Nima being too hard on him. Since the weapon was a kitchen knife, investigators theorized that Nima had acted out of intense anger and had premeditated the murder by bringing the knife with him. During the trial, Nima testified that his sister was in an open marriage with her husband and that he had confronted Lee about any inappropriate behavior. Some reports allege that a possible romantic relationship between Khazar and Lee may have been the motivation for the crime. After a lengthy deliberation, he was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
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