VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Kevin Ray James of San Bernardino was sentenced on June 13 to 19 years to life in state prison for the 1997 murder of Monica Leech during a bank robbery in Thousand Oaks.
James pled guilty to his charge of murder on May 16, 2025, and admitted that he personally used a firearm during the crime added the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
“This sentencing is the culmination of a lot of hard work by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office to finally bring justice to the family, friends, co-workers and loved ones of Monica Leech,” explained Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon who prosecuted the case alongside Senior Deputy District Attorney Hayley Moyer.
On April 28, 1997, two armed men disguised as construction workers with raincoats, hardhats, and pantyhose over their faces entered the Western Financial Bank on Thousand Oaks Boulevard shared the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office in a press release Monday…