In a long-awaited close to a 1997 bank robbery and murder case, Kevin Ray James has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Monica Leech. According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, James, a San Bernardino resident born on September 23, 1967, admitted to his role in the heinous crime that had gone unsolved for decades. With his plea, James will face a 19-year-to-life sentence in state prison, an outcome providing the victim's family some semblance of closure.
Sparing Monica’s loved ones the pain of a prolonged trial, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office’s collaborative efforts were pivotal in bringing James to justice. Senior Deputy District Attorneys Richard Simon and Hayley Moyer of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case. After more than two decades, newly surfaced forensic evidence and investigative leads pointed to James as one of the perpetrators involved in the armed robbery during which Monica Leech was fatally shot.
The tragic sequence of events took place on April 28, 1997, when two men disguised as construction workers, armed and masked with pantyhose, stormed into the Western Financial Bank in Thousand Oaks. There, they handcuffed and forced bank employees, including Leech, into the vault room. Monica Leech, a Camarillo mother of four, was killed on-site, and the assailants fled with just over $11,000. "Losing Monica has been an unbearable tragedy. While nothing can bring her back, we are pleased that the defendant has accepted responsibility for her death," the Leech and Cavaletto families said, told by the District Attorney's communications manager, Joey Buttitta.
James, whose charges include second-degree murder with a special allegation for the use of a firearm, is scheduled for sentencing on June 13, 2025. The case, handled under number 2023005876, draws to a conclusion as this acknowledgment of guilt by James, 28 years later, marks the intersection where justice for Monica Leech meets a sense of justice and accountability for her family.
