Defendant in Thousand Oaks bank teller's killing pleads not guilty as case heads to trial
The man accused of murdering a Thousand Oaks bank teller 27 years ago pleaded not guilty Wednesday as one of Ventura County's most well known cold cases headed for trial.
Kevin James, 56, has been arrested and charged on suspicion of murdering teller Monica Leech during a robbery of the now-closed Western Financial Bank on April 28, 1997. Ventura County Sheriff's officials said the case had gone cold for lack of evidence, but that they were finally able to make an arrest with the aid of advancements in DNA analysis.
James' plea and the charges filed by District Attorney Erik Nasarenko early this week are identical to the ones entered a year ago in an early stage of the court case. Both were submitted again after a preliminary hearing with testimony from about a dozen witnesses ended two weeks ago. Judge Derek Malan found there was enough evidence presented in the hearing to turn James over for trial.
After James entered his plea, Superior Court Judge David Hirsch set a pretrial conference at 1:30 p.m. on June 26 in courtroom 11 of the Ventura courthouse. Typically, that's when attorneys on both sides discuss with the assigned judge the scheduling of various aspects of the case.
Defense attorney Donna Forry told Hirsch she wanted to schedule only the pretrial conference at this time. She said in a brief interview that she had no estimate of when the trial would begin.
James entered his plea from a windowed security area of a busy courtroom at the Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura.
The San Bernardino man, who appeared in jail garb, has been held in county jail since he was arrested and booked on suspicion of the murder in March of last year. He is being held without bail.
The defendant is charged with one count of murder and two special allegations — that he committed the crime while robbing the bank and that he personally used a firearm.
Authorities say James and another man robbed the bank, but that James was the triggerman. The defense says there is insufficient evidence to show James was the shooter.
The other man cannot be charged with murder merely for participating in the robbery and cannot be charged with robbery because the statute of limitations has expired, according to prosecutor Richard Simon.
Kathleen Wilson covers courts and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Defendant in Thousand Oaks bank teller's death enters plea
