Camarillo man faces second murder charge in Los Angeles-area man's death
A 38-year-old Camarillo man already in custody on suspicion of murder faces a second murder charge in the death of a 72-year-old Granada Hills man.
Rotherie Foster was arrested in January 2023 in the death of Camarillo resident Jose Antonio Velasquez, 35, whose family and friends undertook a public campaign to find him after he went missing in July 2022. Velasquez's body was ultimately found in October 2022 by hikers in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Now, investigators have tied Foster to the death of Bill Dean Levy on Jan. 10, 2022, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office announced Monday. Levy's homicide was in 15000 block of Viewridge Lane, in Los Angeles' Granda Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, sheriff's officials said in a news release.
Foster is currently being held in Ventura County's Todd Road Jail on $1.25 million bail, jail records show. He is slated to appear in Ventura County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon on the latest charges.
Sheriff's deputies worked with their counterparts in the Ventura County District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles Police Department to make the latest arrest. The agencies plan to hold a news conference Wednesday morning.
Levy's original cause of death was determined to be natural causes, officials with the DA's office said Wednesday in their own news release. After Foster's arrest in Velasquez's death, investigators would soon track down financial fraud by Foster in Levy's name, and they eventually determined he died from "intentional fentanyl poisoning."
Prosecutors say Foster was motivated to kill for financial gain and stole Levy's identity. Foster worked as a plumber for several companies and used the trade to identify potential targets for his crimes, the DA's office said.
Investigators said they believe Foster was behind other crimes, including financial fraud from a victim in Woodland Hills in December 2021.
Foster is also accused in a July 3, 2022, robbery in Fillmore. Investigators have said he was one of two male suspects who brandished firearms at employees of La Unica Mini Market and demanded money. He faces a litany of felony gun-related charges in the robbery, according to jail records.
Foster has pleaded not guilty to the six felony charges and denied multiple special allegations related to the charges, according to court records.
On or around July 28, 2022, Foster is accused of fatally shooting Velasquez and using his credit cards and checkbook for purchases, prosecutors have said. Foster has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all special allegations in the Velasquez's murder case. The coroner's office listed the victim's name as Jose Velasquez Turcios.
Velasquez had last been seen on July 27, 2022, when he went out to dinner with friends in Thousand Oaks, according to prosecutors. He was reported missing three days later. His van was found parked in the 1600 block of Rancho Conejo Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. At the time, sheriff's officials had described his disappearance as suspicious, with foul play suspected.
Even before his arrest in connection with Velasquez's death, Foster had two prior “strikes” from previous convictions of voluntary manslaughter and assault causing great bodily injury in the Sacramento area. He had completed prison time in those cases, according to previous reports.
This story may be updated.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Camarillo man faces second murder charge in LA man's death
