Bothwell Named in Forgery Inquiry : Courts: The disclosure comes as he asks to immediately begin his three-year prison sentence for shooting his boss to death.

A 23-year-old handyman given a lenient sentence last month after fatally shooting his boss at a Ventura thrift store is now under investigation for possible check forgery in Oxnard, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Oxnard police said they could not provide details on the forgery complaint against Charles Bothwell because the case is an ongoing investigation. But prosecutors acknowledged that detectives have contacted them about possible charges in the case.

The forgery investigation disclosure came as Bothwell asked a Superior Court judge to send him to prison right away--instead of after the holiday season as had been agreed.

Neither Bothwell nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

Bothwell fired six bullets into Robert Allen Foster, 41, owner of the Ventura Starvation Center, after a 14-year-old girl accused Foster of sexually molesting her on Sept. 5. Bothwell, the father of two small children, has said she was his girlfriend.

Prosecutors said they considered that Bothwell’s motive for killing Foster might have been a romantic involvement with the young girl.

But they concluded that Bothwell simply was afraid that Foster might continue to attack the girl and others who lived with him if he were not killed, said Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin J. McGee.

Bothwell was initially charged with murder and faced 25 years to life in prison. Prosecutors, however, agreed to lower the charge to voluntary manslaughter in a plea bargain.

Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch sentenced Bothwell to a three-year prison term last month.

Despite the revelation of the forgery investigation, prosecutors on Wednesday stood behind their plea agreement with Bothwell.

“You have to make your best call based on the facts as you know them at the time,” McGee said. “At the time, it appeared that he was acting out of anger and rage at what Foster did to this girl.”

McGee said that his office immediately began investigating whether Bothwell had engaged in a sexual relationship with the underage girl.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth, who supervises the district attorney’s sexual assault unit, said no evidence surfaced indicating that he had sexual involvement with the girl.

In a probation report, Bothwell admitted that he and the 14-year-old are “really close, like boyfriend and girlfriend.” He denied a sexual relationship between them.

Bothwell received his prison sentence on Nov. 5 but was allowed to remain free until Jan. 3 on the condition that he refrain from having “sexual contact with any minor,” court records show.

In a probation report, Bothwell maintained that he killed Foster to guard the girl, his two small children and others from future physical assaults.

He admitted to a probation officer to being furious after the 14-year-old told him on Sept. 5 that Foster had raped her and another girl who is the same age. She also said Foster had forced the two girls to engage in sex with one another, Bothwell said, according to the probation report.

He also said in the report that he killed Foster because he had no other option. Bothwell said he could not report Foster to the police because Foster was friends with many police officers.

He said he also worried that the 14-year-old girl would recant her rape allegation to police out of fear of Foster, the probation report said. And he said he could not leave Foster’s employment because Foster had promised to “hunt me down” if he tried to leave, the report said.

Police said Bothwell emptied a .38-caliber revolver into Foster’s body and continued to repeatedly pull the trigger after the bullets were discharged.

After the killing, authorities were inundated by friends who sympathized with Bothwell. Bothwell told a probation officer that he was confused over the reaction to the slaying.

“I actually killed someone and people are so supportive and happy that I did it. I don’t have any regrets when I look at the people around me,” he is quoted as saying in the probation report. “I’m glad the community is behind me, but being a hero is not what I wanted.”