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Judge rules there is enough evidence to prosecute in the 1997 murder of a Conejo Valley bank teller

Bill Oxford
/
Unsplash

DNA led to an arrest in the cold case murder.

Following a three-day preliminary hearing, a judge has ruled there is sufficient evidence for a man to stand trial for the 1997 murder of a Conejo Valley bank teller

Monica Leech was shot to death during the April 28, 1997 robbery of a Thousand Oaks bank.

Prosecutors say DNA evidence led to the arrest of Kevin Ray James of San Bernardino last year for the killing. They say two men were involved in the bank robbery, but that James was the one who committed the murder.

He’s been charged with first degree murder, with special allegations. The 56-year-old man pled not guilty to the charges. He set to appear in court again on April 24.

 

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.