Authorities seek a second suspect in the 1997 bank robbery that led to Monica Leech's murder

Days after the Ventura County Sheriff's announced the arrest of a suspect connected to the 1997 murder of a bank teller during a robbery in Thousand Oaks, they announced Tuesday there is still a $30,000 FBI reward offered for the second outstanding suspect.

After more than 20 years, investigators from the Ventura County Sheriffi's Cold Case Unit reopened the Monica Leech case in March 2021 and were able to gather enough evidence using new DNA technology, to link 55-year-old Kevin Ray James, of San Bernardino, to her alleged murder. 

On March 9, 2023 officers from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office arrested and charged James with one count of murder. He is being held in Ventura County jail without bail.   

"Now after nearly 26 years, the man who is alleged to have committed it (murder), has been arrested, apprehended, and charged with first-degree murder in the commission of a robbery,"  said  Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nazarenko during Tuesday's press conference.

Investigators said that during the original incident, which happened back on April 28, 1997, two masked men dressed in long jackets and yellow hardhats entered the Western Financial Bank, located in the 2900 block of Thousand Oaks Boulevard. where they then rounded up the four bank employees working that day and forced them into the vault room.

During the incident, Monica Leech, 39, was fatally shot in the back of the head. 

At Tuesday's press conference where the cold case investigation was detailed, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said Leech was cooperative, so why she was shot is unknown.

"Monica Leech was taken from the bank floor, to the bank vault, forced to go on her knees, and shot in the back of the head at close range. This was a senseless, unprovoked, and vicious murder," said  Nazarenko.

After the robbery and murder, the two suspects fled the scene with around $11,000 cash, driving off in a white Ford Explorer. Sheriff Fryhoff reported that during the time of the 1997 robbery, James was a gang member.

Sheriff Fryhoff announced Tuesday there is still a $30,000 reward from the FBI for information on this case and the outstanding suspect. He also said there is an additional $1,000 reward from Crime Stoppers.

.Call the Crime Stopper hotline: 1-800-222-TIPS