The medical examiner’s autopsy report in the highly publicized killing of Cash app founder Bob Lee confirmed reports of cocaine and ketamine in his system, but also revealed a frantic four-hour attempt to save Lee’s life on the operating table.
The April 4 stabbing of Bob Lee, the crypto executive and Cash app founder, immediately drew international attention and tech industry indignation over “Violent crime in SF” and “repeat violent offenders.” That narrative was turned on its head when we learned a week later that another tech executive was arrested on suspicion of committing the fatal stabbing. 38-year-old Nima Momeni was arrested ten days later and can allegedly be seen on video stabbing Lee and disposing of the knife.
The case is still making national headlines, and that’s likely to continue as the Chronicle reports Lee’s autopsy report was released by the medical examiner Monday.
In purely medical terms, the 18-page autopsy report details that Lee was stabbed twice in the chest area and once on his upper hip. The second stab to Lee’s chest apparently penetrated two to three inches, but pierced Lee’s heart, too. Doctors apparently worked on Lee for nearly four hours as he bled severely and his heart stopped. Widespread assumptions that drugs may have been a factor in the events of that day and night are confirmed in that a toxicology report shows Lee had alcohol, ketamine, and cocaine in his system.
“It was an indicative of recent use, but not definitive evidence of impairment,” University of Florida College of Medicine professor Dr. Bruce Goldberger told the Chronicle after reviewing the report.
It also came out in prosecutors initial court filing that, according to at least one witness, Momeni had allegedly confronted Lee about sharing drugs with his sister, who is allegedly central to the motive in the stabbing.
We also have a more solid timeline on the killing with the release of this report. The stabbing apparently occurred around 2:30 a.m. on April 4, and police arrived on the 300 block of Main Street and performed CPR. Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter to find Lee with no pulse and gasping for air, and placed a breathing tube down his trachea while transporting him to SF General Hospital. He arrived there around 3 a.m., still without a pulse, as doctors performed blood transfusions. Operating room doctors found Lee had injuries to the “apex of the right ventricle” of his heart per the report, and despite attempts to staple and restart his heart, Lee was pronounced dead at 6:49 a.m.
Nima Momeni remains in custody, and his arraignment, which was delayed last week in a courthouse packed with reporters, is scheduled for today according to KTVU.
Update: The arraignment has been delayed once more, until May 18.
Image via MobileCoin
This post has been updated with the information that ketamine was found in Lee's system.
