After nearly three decades of investigation and heartbreak, the family of Monica Leech, a Camarillo mother of four killed during a 1997 bank robbery in Thousand Oaks, has finally received justice, according to county prosecutors.
Kevin Ray James, 57, of San Bernardino, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted to personally using a firearm during the fatal robbery, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
On May 16, 2025, James entered his plea and will be sentenced to 19 years to life in state prison. Prosecutors say he’ll be formally sentenced on June 13, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 44 of the Ventura County Superior Court.
The crime took place on April 28, 1997, when two armed men dressed as construction workers stormed Western Financial Bank on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
Prosecutors said they forced employees, including Monica Leech, into the vault and demanded access to the safe.
Leech and another employee were handcuffed and forced to kneel. According to prosecutors, Leech was fatally shot before the suspects fled with slightly more than $11,000 cash.
The case went unsolved for over two decades until new forensic evidence and leads pointed to James. He was charged with Leech’s murder in March 2023.
“This resolution not only holds him accountable, but it also protects our community and spares Monica’s loved ones the pain of reliving this tragedy through a prolonged trial,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon, who prosecuted the case with Hayley Moyer of the DA’s Major Crimes Unit.
The Leech and Cavaletto families said the plea brings much-needed closure: “While nothing can bring Monica back, we are pleased that the defendant has accepted responsibility for her death,” they said in a statement.
