Educator Held in Slaying of His Family

Bakersfield authorities arrested elementary school Vice Principal Vincent Brothers early Friday on suspicion of murder, almost 10 months after his estranged wife, three children and mother-in-law were found slain in their home.

Charging that Brothers was preparing to flee because he had sold his cars and home, police officers swooped in on the 41-year-old as he was walking to his mailbox shortly after 6:30 a.m.

“I can’t say he was surprised,” said Bakersfield Police Chief Eric Matlock. “He was more subdued than anything.... He had little to say to the arresting officers.”

Authorities said they focused on Brothers as the prime suspect soon after the killings and placed him under surveillance. Police have not recovered a weapon, but authorities say eyewitnesses’ accounts and rental car documents raised doubts about Brothers’ claim that he was out of state at the time of the killings.

Police moved quickly to take Brothers into custody when they learned that he had sold his Bakersfield house, as well as two of his three cars.

“We worried that it might be difficult to find Mr. Brothers in the future,” said Kern County Dist. Atty. Ed Jagels.

The victims -- Brothers’ mother-in-law, Earnestine Harper, 70; his estranged 39-year-old wife, Joanie Harper; and their children, Marques, 4, Lyndsey, 2, and Marshall, 6 weeks -- were found shot and stabbed in their home. They were last seen July 6 at East Bakersfield Church of Christ. Their bodies were discovered by a neighbor two days later.

Brothers insists that he was in Ohio and North Carolina visiting relatives at the time of the killings.

At an arraignment in Bakersfield Superior Court hours after the arrest, Brothers pleaded not guilty to five counts of murder and a special circumstances allegation of multiple homicide. Prosecutors said they would probably seek the death penalty.

On Friday, friends and relatives of the victims said that they were relieved by the arrest and that they had begun to doubt whether anyone would stand trial in the killings.

“I was kind of upset they hadn’t charged him for so long,” said Marilyn Jackson, a friend of one of the victims.

“This is a very good day. We were just thinking it will be a year in July and we know no more than we knew then. This is kind of a relief.”

The deaths and Brothers’ arrest have shaken many people who viewed him as a tough but respected administrator in the Bakersfield City School District. Some who knew him said they could not believe Brothers would commit such an act.

“I’ve had 50 million scenarios run through my head, and I just don’t see how someone could do this,” said Dennis Reed, a fellow school employee and a 20-year friend of Brothers and his wife. “I still can’t see a person killing a 2-month-old baby.”

Outside the courthouse Friday, defense attorney Kevin Little said Brothers was disappointed by the arrest but confident.

“We contend that he was not present,” Little said.

The murder investigation has involved four police departments and has been stymied by the lack of weapons. Those factors, authorities said, accounted for the delay. “I said early on that we would stay the course and we would stay meticulous in our approach,” Matlock said.

Brothers told investigators that at the time of the slayings, he was in Columbus, Ohio, visiting his brother and that he had visited his mother in Elizabeth City, N.C.

But police say an eyewitness saw Brothers at his wife’s house on the last day the victims were seen alive. Investigators say Brothers rented a car while he was in Ohio, then drove to Bakersfield, committed the murders and drove back.

According to a criminal complaint, the odometer of Brothers’ rental car showed that he had driven 5,400 miles. The complaint also alleges that the suspect’s brother, Melvin, attempted to set up an alibi for the educator by forging his signature in Ohio.

Brothers, who attended the funeral Mass for his slain relatives and was seen crying at the graves, has remained silent about the deaths. In the early weeks of the investigation, however, charges that Brothers was abusive to women had surfaced.

The school district filed an appeal in September to prevent a court order requiring it to release Brothers’ personnel records. The documents, which were requested on behalf of the Bakersfield Californian, detail allegations of violence and sexual misconduct, according to the judge hearing the case.

Brothers has since been placed on administrative leave, according to a spokesman for the schools.

The investigation involved interviews with hundreds of potential witnesses on both coasts and a great deal of physical evidence that needed to be analyzed, authorities said. Investigators said they had not yet gathered all the evidence they needed, but felt they had to move quickly or else risk losing Brothers.

Jagels said the case would be a complex one where “one fact builds upon another.” However, he said investigators were convinced that Brothers was solely responsible for the deaths.

“We have no intentions at this time of prosecuting any other persons in connection with this killing,” Jagels said.

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Times staff writer David Pierson contributed to this report.