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Slaying suspect back on the job

This story originally appeared March 2, 2004

By CHARLES ADAMSON, Californian staff writer
e-mail: cadamson@bakersfield.com | Thursday, Feb 15 2007 5:03 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Feb 15 2007 5:03 PM

Vincent Brothers went back to full-time work Monday at the Bakersfield City School District, working out of a district maintenance and operations office.

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The Fremont School vice principal -- the only suspect police have named in the quintuple slaying of his family last year -- will remain off school sites for now.

On July 8 a family friend discovered the bodies of Brothers' wife, Joanie Harper, 39; their children Marques, 4, Lyndsey, 2, and Marshall, 6 weeks; and Joanie's mother, Earnestine Harper, 70.

Brothers was arrested in North Carolina the day after the bodies were found and released hours later. No one has been charged with the crime. Brothers has remained a major focus of the police investigation.

BCSD trustees agreed to grant Brothers paid leave from his $85,000 job at Fremont at the end of July, a week before the new school year started.

Later, district administration extended his leave indefinitely. All that time he was being assigned work to do at home, including analyzing test scores and revising bell schedules.

District spokesman Aaron Hunt confirmed that Brothers began working Monday in the district's office on Cottonwood Road and Feliz Drive. Hunt said Brothers is still doing test-score analysis and is now helping write BCSD summer school schedules. Being in an office allows him direct access to the district's computer network and makes it easier for Brothers to report to his supervisors on a regular basis, Hunt said.

"In the maintenance and operations building he is subject to fewer distractions, like the media," Hunt said. "For now he will continue to work in district offices as opposed to school sites."

While most parents and children who were interviewed at Fremont in August said they would welcome Brothers back to work, some said they feared him.

Police Chief Eric Matlock said in January that the investigation was within months of being finished.

Detective Mary DeGeare said Monday evening she couldn't comment on the current status of the investigation other than to say it's continuing.

Brothers' attorney, Curtis Floyd, declined to comment on his client or the case Monday evening. Brothers has declined numerous interview requests by The Californian.