Bakersfield.com: Kern County news, events, classifieds, shopping, & search

Homicide probe progressing

This story originally appeared September 24, 2003

By CHARLES ADAMSON, Californian staff writer
e-mail: cadamson@bakersfield.com | Thursday, Feb 15 2007 4:24 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Feb 15 2007 4:24 PM

Bakersfield Police Chief Eric Matlock said he's optimistic that the Harper family quintuple homicide case will be solved, but he can't say when an arrest will be made.

He said on Monday that the investigation remains the highest priority in the department, with nearly 35 detectives and officers working the case.

"I am satisfied with the progress of the investigation. There have been other people who have come forward and have been helpful," Matlock said. "In these cases you have to be very meticulous. In cases like this I have seen it take two months and in some cases up to two years to solve."

He wouldn't say who the sources were or what new information they revealed, but asked for anyone with information possibly relevant to the investigation to call police.

Found dead in their central Bakersfield home on July 8 were Joanie Harper, 39; her children Marques, 4, Lyndsey, 2, and Marshall, 6 weeks; and Joanie's mother, Earnestine Harper, 70. The five had been shot and stabbed, and were last seen alive by friends on July 6.

Evidence continues to be processed.

Fremont School Vice Principal Vincent Brothers, 41, the widower of Joanie and father of her children, remains a suspect, Matlock said. He is the only one police have named.

Brothers turned himself in to police in Elizabeth City, N.C., the night of July 8. Then after talking to his attorney, Brothers declined to speak to Bakersfield detectives. He was arrested on July 9 and released a few hours later when police received information that Brothers traveled to Ohio earlier in the week, possibly establishing an alibi.

Neighbors have said Brothers was at the home on Third and P streets on July 5, the day before the slayings are believed to have occurred.

Brothers has not responded to repeated interview requests by The Californian.

He is on paid leave from his $85,000-per-year job in the Bakersfield City School District, but is doing special projects from home for the district, BCSD spokesman Aaron Hunt said.

Donald Collier, a close friend of Brothers since their childhood in a poor area of Long Island, N.Y., said he doesn't believe Brothers is capable of such a crime. He said Brothers has been grieving the loss of his family, but otherwise is OK given the intense public scrutiny and police presence.

He said he's heard children in the background yell "murderer" at Brothers while the two were on the phone.

Police waited outside Brothers' South Real Road apartment for weeks after the slayings and followed him around town in unmarked cars.

"He didn't take it personally," Collier said. "He said, 'I don't blame them (the police). They're just doing their job.'"

Some neighbors remain on edge, worried that a killer is still walking in their midst.

Third Street resident John McDaniels, 90, has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years.

"I'm concerned. I would still like to know who did it," McDaniels said. "Five people are dead. You can't tell me nobody knows nothing."

Matlock asked for neighbors to be patient.

"I've not seen anything that would support the notion that the immediate neighborhood needs to be concerned about a serial killer," Matlock said.

Third Street resident Elouise Lenix, 71, said she knew Earnestine and still wonders what happened.

"I believe we have good law enforcement. It's just going to take time," Lenix said. "I just know our law enforcement will find who did it."

The yellow stucco house where the bodies were found remains devoid of life, but the grass has been trimmed.

"That house is a constant reminder. You used to see the kids playing, her (Joanie) coming outside. That house is kind of spooky to me," said P Street resident Rosalind Brisby, 33. "No one is going to buy that house. Too many souls were lost in there."

Earnestine Harper's son Eddie Harper, a minister in Winter Haven, Fla., said he talked to police earlier this month and that the family is remaining patient.

"The Lord has given us hope that one day the perpetrator or perpetrators will be apprehended and justice will be served," Harper said. "We still have nothing but praise for the Bakersfield community and how the police have handled this."

He said the family won't pass judgment or speculate.

"It hurts more than you can ever imagine. It's difficult accepting something like this happening to your family. But when you look at it, it has happened to other families. We're not exempt. So we never think 'oh me, oh my, why our family?'" Eddie Harper said. "While it is difficult, it is hard, this has made us stronger. It has made us more resilient, more faithful and more trusting in God."