Family details pain of CA bank teller’s slaying. ‘All you had to do was leave’
Nearly three decades after teller Monica Leech, a 39-year-old mother of four, was fatally shot during a California bank robbery, her husband stood before her accused killer.
Kevin Ray James’ “one senseless act” in 1997 led to endless “hurts, nightmares, and heartaches,” Floyd Leech said as he addressed the court during James’ sentencing hearing on June 13, the Ventura County Star reported.
“You already had what you came for, the money, all you had to do was leave,” Floyd Leech said, according to a Ventura County District Attorney’s Office news release. “There is no such thing as closure for what was done that day and the loss and hurt will never go away. We will all live with this for the rest of our lives because of your actions.”
Following a series of victim impact statements, James, 57, of San Bernardino was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison in connection to the death of Monica Leech after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in May, prosecutors said.
McClatchy News was unable to immediately reach an attorney representing James on June 17.
The bank robbery
Two men entered Western Financial Bank in Thousand Oaks shortly after 10 a.m. April 28, 1997, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said during a March 2023 news conference announcing James’ arrest.
The men donned “raincoats, hard hats and pantyhose-type stocking over their faces,” disguising themselves as construction workers, according to Fryhoff.
One of the men jumped over the counter and demanded money from employees, Fryhoff said.
Three bank employees, including Leech, “were forced into the vault room, and they were forced to unlock and open the bank safe,” Fryhoff said.
Leech and another employee were handcuffed, then she was fatally shot in the back of the head, Fryhoff said.
“Monica was cooperative and not a threat to the bank robbers, so investigators don’t understand why she had to be shot,” Fryhoff said.
The two men fled the area in an SUV with just over $11,000 in cash, according to Fryhoff.
Leech, a Ventura County native, had been working at the bank for only a matter of months before her death, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said during the 2023 news conference.
“She liked needlepoint; she enjoyed taking walks in the morning; she was a beloved wife, daughter and mother,” Nasarenko said. “She helped to raise four children.”
Despite detectives’ investigation over the years, there was not enough evidence to identify a suspect in Leech’s slaying, Fryhoff said.
“The case eventually went cold,” Fryhoff said.
DNA advancements lead to the arrest
Then, in March 2021, investigators reopened the case, Fryhoff said.
Additionally, the FBI offered a $30,000 reward for information about the case, Fryhoff said.
“Advances in DNA testing made it possible to reevaluate evidence for laboratory analysis linking Kevin James to Monica’s murder,” Fryhoff said.
James was arrested on a murder charge March 9, 2023, Fryhoff said.
The sentencing
In addition to a second-degree murder charge, James also “admitted that he personally used a firearm during the commission of the crime,” prosecutors said in a May 16 news release.
James’ sentencing term comes as part of his guilty plea, prosecutors said.
“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,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Richard Simon said in the release
Thousand Oaks is about a 40-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Family details pain of CA bank teller’s slaying. ‘All you had to do was leave’."
