It was an investigation into a murder. But, Ventura County law enforcement officials say it unexpectedly turned up a second killing, in which the suspect used fentanyl to kill an early man, and steal his money.
The criminal case started with the murder of a plumber. Jose Velasquez disappeared in the summer of 2022. His body was later found in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Financial records led to the arrest of an acquaintance of the victim. Prosecutors say Rotherie Foster took money from the victim’s accounts, leading them to him. Like Velasquez, he was also working as a plumber.
Foster has been in the Ventura County Jail, awaiting trial.
Investigators building their court case said the records also showed Foster had mysterious deposits from the accounts of a man named Bill Dean Levy.
Ventura County District Attorney Eric Nasarenko talked about the disturbing discovery.
"In the course of preparing the Velasquez case for trial, Senior Prosecutor Amber Lee and and DA Investigator Michael McManama discovered new crimes and additional victims," said Nasaranko.
"It took a while to put the pieces together. It stood out, given the nature and frequency that Mr. Levy's name appeared in those records," said Lee.
But, who was Bill Levy? He was a retired bookkeeper, and former postal service employee who lived along in a Granada Hills condo. The investigators discovered he had died at home in January of 2022, from what was believed to have been natural causes.
At the time of the man’s death, there was nothing to indicate the death was suspicious, so that’s why there was no autopsy done. There were no signs of foul play.
But, deposits from his accounts into Foster's triggered suspicion, especially when the investigators saw there was one the day after Levy's death.
"Believing Mr. Levy's death might have been the result of foul play, his body was exhumed to conduct an autopsy. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office performed the autopsy, and the results showed Mr. Levy's death was the result of fentanyl, and they ruled his death a homicide," said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff.
So, how did Rotherie Foster, the suspect, know the victim?
"In the course of investigating Bill Levy, they also learned he had been visited multiple times by Mr. Foster," said Nasarenko. "Mr. Foster worked for a large plumbing company which had dispatched him to the Granada hills townhouse on several occasions to perform plumbing-related work."
Nasarenko said the investigation led them to a third victim. They say Foster grabbed and cashed some checks from another one of his plumbing customers. He said they’ve also linked him to an armed robbery in Fillmore.
Even though Levy’s murder occurred in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office granted permission for Ventura County prosecutors to handle Foster’s prosecution.
Foster has actually spent about half of his life in jail.
Foster was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Northern California. He was in prison for nearly two decades.
The 38-year-old man is being held in the Ventura County Jail without the possibility of bail. He entered a not guilty plea to the charges in the Velasquez case, but hasn't had a chance to respond to the additional counts.
