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Kevin Ray James, convicted of the murder of bank Terror Monica Reach in a 1997 bank robbery in Thousand Oaks, has been sentenced to at least 19 years in prison.
James learned of his fate last Friday, and a Ventura County judge sentenced him to a 19-year sentence in a state prison for his role in one of the most infamous crimes in the county’s history.
Kevin Ray James, 57, is seen here around the time he pleaded guilty to the 1997 murder of bank teller Monica Leach’s cold case. May 2025 (Ventura County DA office)
James pleaded guilty to the crime on May 16, pleading to shooting Reach in the back of his head while she and the other hostages at the bank were handcuffed.
He was one of two men who joined the Western Financial Bank of Thousand Oaks on April 28, 1997, and served as a construction worker, demanding cash from the safe.
The masked suspect in Monica Leach’s murder can be seen in photos released by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
Several employees were handcuffed and forced to the ground when James looked over them, but other suspects who had never been identified led the three employees to the safe.
For reasons never revealed, James shot 39-year-old Monica Leach, a mother of four, in the back of her head while she was handcuffed along with her colleagues. Leach, a resident of Camarillo, only worked at the bank a few months before her death, and witnesses said she was working together throughout the ordeal.
Monica Leach can be seen in photos provided by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. 2023.
After killing Leach and stealing the safe, James and his accomplice fled for about $11,000. They crashed the Ford Explorer while they were escaping, but were able to escape on foot.
For almost 30 years, the crime was not resolved and became one of Ventura County’s most infamous cold cases.
However, in March 2021, the case resumed and advances in DNA testing technology allowed investigators to retest important evidence.
James, who lived in San Bernardino County at the time, was eventually identified as a suspected Triggerman, and was taken into custody and charged with Leach’s murder in March 2023.
Authorities said James was a member of the Los Angeles gang at the time of the fatal robbery.
Leach’s friends and family attended the hearing of James’ sentencing last week and provided a statement about the impact her murder had on them.
In a news release issued Monday morning, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office released transcripts for several statements from her husband Floyd.
“For one meaningless act, the wounds, nightmares and heartaches we all have will never go away. “Nothing is closed for what was done that day, and the losses and wounds will never go away. We will live with this for your actions, for the rest of our lives.”
Monica Leach and her family can be seen in undated photos provided by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
Her sister said the whole family had been irreparably changed by the pointless murder, but she said she had vowed to ensure that Monica Leach’s memories remain alive now that justice has been served.
That day, a fellow bank teller said he was struggling to see his “mental anguish” robbed at gunpoint and his colleagues were executed by him. “The crime was violent, but Monica Leach’s murder was pure and unprovoked evil,” he said.
Last week’s ruling was described by members of the DA’s office as a long years of hardworking years by local governments, “providing justice to family, friends, colleagues and the loved ones of Monica Leach.”
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