A Camarillo man already behind bars facing murder charges has been linked to another murder and robbery of a 72-year-old Los Angeles man, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Rotherie Foster, 38, was arrested Monday at the Ventura County Jail for the murder of 72-year-old Bill Levy. He is currently charged with the murder of Jose Velasquez, a 35-year-old Camarillo resident who was reported missing in July 2022.
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Wednesday that Foster allegedly killed Velasquez and Levy for financial gain.
Velasquez’s remains were found by hikers in the Santa Monica Mountains on October 3, 2022. His death was ruled a homicide.
“Specifically with regard to the Velasquez case, we expect that the evidence will show that the suspect violently took ATM passwords and checks from Velasquez,” Nasarenko said.
While preparing the Velasquez case for trial, a trail of Foster’s banking activities alerted investigators to Levy’s alleged murder.
“After subpoenaing bank records from the defendant’s bank … a number of suspicious, disturbing and alarming transactions were found,” Nasarenko said.
Foster worked for a major plumbing company, and investigators discovered that he had been sent to Levy’s Granada Hills mansion several times for plumbing work.
The district attorney’s investigative team noted several of Levy’s online transactions on Foster’s bank account, including a check for several thousand dollars. The suspicious banking activity began the day after Levy was found dead in his home on January 10, 2022.
Although Levy’s death was initially determined to be from natural causes, investigators had his body exhumed and his death was reclassified as a homicide, due to the effects of fentanyl.
Ventura County Sheriff’s detectives further linked Foster to Levy through cell phone records. On May 20, 2024, Velasquez was arrested for Levy’s murder.
In light of the investigation, the prosecutor’s office added a number of criminal charges to the existing complaint, “specifically as it stands now: 33 misdemeanor charges and more than 100 special charges,” Nasarenko said.
Foster has also been linked to a 2021 bank fraud case involving another victim who received plumbing services from Foster, and he has been linked to a 2022 robbery of a Fillmore convenience store.
