April 15 (UPI) -- California prosecutors say in newly filed documents that an argument over the sister of his alleged attacker led to the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco.
Investigators contend Nima Momeni stabbed Lee with a large kitchen knife in a "planned and deliberate attack," leaving him to bleed out a secluded area of the city in the early hours of April 4, according to documents filed Friday in California Superior Court.
Momeni, 38, appeared at the San Francisco courthouse in person Friday, where a judge granted a request by prosecutors to deny bail, arguing that his continued detention is "necessary to protect public safety," San Francisco District Attorney Brook Jenkins told reporters.
Momeni's lawyer is on vacation and a formal arraignment hearing was postponed until April 25.
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Friday's court papers paint a picture of what prosecutors believe happened. They contend Momeni and Lee, 43, argued about Momeni's sister during a party that went into the early morning hours of April 4.
Witnesses at the party say the two argued over whether Momeni's sister "was doing drugs or anything inappropriate."
The two men later visited Momeni's sister at her apartment, where surveillance footage later shows them leaving and getting into Momeni's white BMW before driving off.
Police later found Lee around 2:35 a.m. that Tuesday in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood, suffering from multiple stab wounds in his chest. He later died after he was taken to San Francisco General Hospital.
An autopsy found he'd been stabbed three separate times, once in the hip and twice in the chest, with one of the wounds directly penetrating his heart.
The court documents describe Lee as bleeding uncontrollably when police found him in the "secluded area of the city."
The documents also reveal Momeni's sister sent a text to Lee thanking him for the way he handled the conversation with her brother.
Just over a week later, police announced they'd arrested Momeni as their one and only suspect in the stabbing death. Momeni is the owner of software firm Expand IT.
Momeni waived his right to a speedy trial Friday.
"The facts of what occurred, or didn't occur, will come out over time," Momeni's acting attorney Robert Canny said in a press briefing following the hearing.
