Coworkers describe killing of Conejo teller 27 years ago as cold case goes before judge

In gripping testimony this week, witnesses to the cold case killing of teller Monica Leech described the terror of what started out as an ordinary Monday inside the Thousand Oaks bank where she was shot 27 years ago.

Coworker Scott Groeneveld said the few employees inside Western Financial Bank were just getting organized and chatting about their weekends when two robbers burst inside. He heard operations manager Guadalupe Villa scream, "Oh my God, oh my God," he said.

Groeneveld delivered detailed testimony Monday on the first day of a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to hold 56-year-old defendant Kevin James for trial in the killing on April 28, 1997. The San Bernardino man, who appeared at the ongoing proceeding in a Ventura courtroom, has pleaded not guilty to murder during the commission of a robbery.

Groeneveld said one robber holding a gun jumped over the teller counter and demanded that everyone get down, while the other robber threatened Groeneveld at his station and guided him toward the bank's vault. After he and Leech pulled cash from the vault, they were ordered to kneel on the floor and did so, he said.

The witness spread his arms and was momentarily speechless after prosecutor Richard Simon asked him what happened next.

"Monica started saying the Lord's Prayer and we just waited," he answered. "It wasn't long before he started firing. I expected to be shot... Then Monica fell on the floor."

Under cross-examination from defense attorney Donna Forry, the witness said that while he heard the shooting he did not see it. Nor could he or Villa identify either of the robbers because they wore some kind of mesh stockings over their faces to distort their features.

The bank captured still images of the robbery but, according to Simon, the video recording was not working.

Edith Desantos, then the bank manager, testified that she saw Leech lying on the floor in handcuffs and administered CPR.

"There was blood around her head," she said.

Leech died at the scene from a fatal shot to the back of the head, Simon said.

A good part of the case is expected to hinge on DNA findings. Authorities arrested and charged James last year, saying advances in DNA technology just over the two previous years provided enough evidence.

Clinical laboratory scientist Travis Foland testified that he extracted DNA around 2010 from the handcuffs allegedly used to restrain Leech. Scientists determined that a blood stain on the handcuffs closely matched Leech's profile, but had no way at the time to determine the identity of the second source of DNA on the cuffs, he said.

Now, though, officials say they are able to trace the source by isolating and amplifying tiny pieces of evidence.

In a brief interview, Simon said authorities have identified the second robber. But under a change in the law, the man cannot be charged with murder based merely on his participation in a robbery where a murder occurred, he said. The man cannot be charged with robbery either because the statute of limitations has elapsed since 1997, Simon said.

He declined to identify the individual.

The hearing is expected to end by Thursday in courtroom 48, but it's not clear when Ventura County Superior Court Judge Derek Malan will rule.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Witnesses describe 1997 slaying of Thousand Oaks bank teller