$160,000 Reward Offered in Slaying

THOUSAND OAKS — Stepping up the manhunt for the killers of a 39-year-old bank teller, officials on Wednesday announced a reward topping $160,000 for information leading to the arrest of two men who have been on the run since the brutal shooting three days ago.

Officials expressed hope that the reward money, drawn mostly from two dozen banks across California, along with a toll-free hotline would break open a homicide case that has puzzled investigators.

“We have come up with a joint effort that will be used to apprehend and convict the criminals responsible for this heinous crime,” said Donald H. Kasle, president of Western Financial Bank, in whose Thousand Oaks branch Monday’s fatal shooting occurred. “We will close ranks to make it loud and clear that we will not tolerate this type of tragedy.”

Family and friends of the slain teller, Monica Lynne Leech of Camarillo, said they hope the reward money would lead to swift capture of the men who killed the mother of two, a career bank teller who began working at Western Financial only two months ago.

“I’m sure it can help,” said her husband, Floyd Leech. “I don’t know how investigations work, but it’s gotta help. But I think it’s going to take more than reward money to find these people. . . . Obviously, these are not good people who did this.”

Authorities said they continue to be frustrated by varying witness descriptions of the two suspects, believed to be a white man and a black man, both in their 20s and about 6 feet tall. They were last seen in a sport utility vehicle heading north on the Moorpark Freeway after Leech was handcuffed and shot in the head during a takeover robbery at Western Financial’s branch on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

Larry Dick, a Ventura-based FBI investigator assigned to the case, said authorities have received more than 100 calls, including some from the Los Angeles area and others from local residents who are sure they saw the two men driving through town before the 1O:20 a.m. slaying.

Authorities also are trying to determine if there is a link between Leech’s killing and a March 29 robbery at a Bank of America branch in the Northern California community of Danville, in which two men of similar descriptions fled after a bank employee was shot in the arm.

But Dick said authorities may be facing a lengthy investigation into an atypical holdup. Most bank robberies do not end in such violence, and Monday’s killing has investigators speculating that the suspects are relatively inexperienced bank robbers.

“We’re only two days” into the investigation, Dick said. “Unless someone comes forward and tells us exactly who did it . . . it’s not like chasing them down the highway and catching them immediately afterward.”

He expressed hope that the toll-free telephone number--(800) 78-CRIME--would bring in more leads.

Western Financial said it had created a memorial fund for Leech’s family and made an initial contribution of $100,000.

The bank also contributed to the approximately $150,000 reward that the Western League of Savings Institutions, a banking-industry coalition, is offering in the crime.

In addition, Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar on Wednesday announced that the city would contribute $10,000 to the reward fund, and that residents had called the city offering donations. Officials said additional contributions from banks across the state were being sought. The reward fund now totals $161,000.

“Our community was shocked by this, as was the banking community,” Lazar said. “We want to help police solve this as soon as possible. Hopefully, this will provide the incentive.”

Western Financial’s branch on Thousand Oaks Boulevard will reopen this morning at 9. On Wednesday afternoon, volunteer police handed out composite sketches of the suspects near the branch and in the surrounding neighborhood.

Western Financial President Kasle said the company will allow employees who do not want to go back to work after Monday’s shooting to transfer to another branch.

“This has been a difficult couple of days,” Kasle said. “It’s going to . . . be difficult for the employees to return.”

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Memorials

* A viewing of Monica Lynne Leech is scheduled between 6 and 8 p.m. today at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park, 2052 Howard Road, Camarillo. A memorial service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday at Camarillo Church of the Nazarene, 2280 Antonio Ave., Camarillo. A private interment will take place that afternoon.

* At a board of directors meeting Tuesday, Western Financial Bank contributed $100,000 to set up a memorial fund at the Thousand Oaks branch where Monica Leech was killed. Donations, which will benefit Leech’s family, may be sent to the Monica Leech Memorial Fund, c/o Western Financial Bank, 2920 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. Donations will also be accepted at other Western Financial branches.

* Home Savings of America in Oxnard, which owns the branch where Monica Leech once worked, created a memorial fund because her benefits had not yet started at her new job. People who want to contribute to this fund can do so at any Home Savings bank in Ventura County.