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Brothers ordered to stand trial
This story originally appeared June 8, 2005
Vincent Brothers was held to answer Tuesday at his preliminary hearing on charges that he killed his wife, three young children and mother-in-law.

Witness: Brothers was in town
This story originally appeared June 6, 2005
A tearful woman testified Monday at the preliminary hearing for quintuple murder defendant Vincent Brothers that she saw Brothers in Bakersfield on the same day the prosecution believes he killed his family.

Woman said Brothers had affair
This story originally appeared June 4, 2005
Vincent Brothers told a woman he was involved with that he was finished with his estranged wife, Joanie Harper, only days before Harper and their three children were killed, a detective testified Friday at Brothers' preliminary hearing.

Witness: Brothers near home
This story originally appeared June 3, 2005
A witness testified Thursday that he saw Vincent Brothers near the house where he is alleged to have killed five family members around the time of the homicides.

Slaying details given in hearing
This story originally appeared June 2, 2005
On the first day of testimony Wednesday in the preliminary hearing for Vincent Brothers, a popular Bakersfield ex-principal accused of killing five of his family members, the prosecution tried to rule out robbery, burglary and sexual assault as the possible causes of the homicides. Meantime, the defense said DNA evidence found under the fingernail of at least one victim did not match the suspect's DNA and that blond hairs were found in the underwear and bed of Brothers' wife and homicide victim, Joanie Harper. Brothers is black, as were all the victims.

Brothers' attorney sees self as fighter
This story originally appeared June 1, 2005
Thirty-nine-year-old Kevin Little is the lead attorney defending a former Bakersfield vice principal accused of killing five family members. If convicted of the slayings, Vincent Brothers, a well-known figure in the city's school district, could face the death penalty.

Courtroom 'tornado' to help Brothers
This story originally appeared June 1, 2005
When defense attorney J. Anthony Bryan was young, his aunt told him that he should be a lawyer because he would argue with the pope.

Prosecutor's fire makes her either loved or loathed
This story originally appeared May 31, 2005
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green is one of those kind of people -- either you love her or you hate her.

Decision in Brothers case postponed
This story originally appeared May 26, 2005
The judge hearing the Vincent Brothers case on Wednesday postponed making a decision on whether to dismiss the case until June 1.

Prosecutor: Sibling scared of Brothers
This story originally appeared May 24, 2005
A crucial witness broke into tears during a break at the 2003 federal grand jury investigation into the murder of a Bakersfield family, witnesses said at a hearing Monday.

Brothers' defense won't get to use key witness
This story originally appeared May 21, 2005
Vincent Brothers' defense attorneys will have a tougher time trying to get the case against the quintuple-murder defendant thrown out of court after a judge threw up a roadblock to a crucial witness.

Court date for man who allegedly killed family delayed until Friday
This story originally appeared May 17, 2005
Vincent Brothers, a man accused of killing five family members, will return to court Friday so that attorneys can hash out issues of evidence before the upcoming preliminary hearing.

Merced judge: Bush can stay on Brothers case
This story originally appeared April 23, 2005
A Merced County judge ruled that Kern County Judge Michael Bush would not be biased against quintuple murder defendant Vincent Brothers and will be allowed to hear his case.

'Disqualify' Judge Bush
This story originally appeared April 15, 2005
After reading the two articles regarding Judge Michael Bush presiding over the Vincent Brothers trial, it left me wondering where is the wisdom of the court. How could Judge Bush rule in the case and at least not raise concerns of partially when the Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green (prosecutor in the Brothers case) and her husband have socialized with Judge Bush.

Judge delays decision on Brothers issue
This story originally appeared April 5, 2005
A motion to dismiss the quintuple murder case against Vincent Brothers was delayed Monday to give a Merced County judge time to decide a crucial issue.

Outside judge to decide bias claim
This story originally appeared March 23, 2005
A judge from Merced County will decide if Judge Michael Bush can fairly preside over the Vincent Brothers case because of his past social and professional relationship with the prosecutor.

Judge's ties to prosecutor aired in court
This story originally appeared February 25, 2005
Judge Michael Bush, assigned to quintuple murder suspect Vincent Brothers' criminal case, said Thursday the case's prosecutor was a good friend at one time and helped with his election campaign -- but the judge said he thought he could be fair to both sides.

Brothers' money tied up in child custody case
This story originally appeared February 25, 2005
Vincent Brothers, a man accused of killing five family members, may be embroiled in a family custody case that left his assets frozen, a development that might also put a chill on his criminal defense.

Appellate court clears way for Brothers' case to go to hearing
This story originally appeared February 1, 2005
Quintuple murder defendant Vincent Brothers' trial will proceed to preliminary hearing after the 5th District Court of Appeals dropped a case Monday involving his defense.

Attorney question still up in air for Brothers
This story originally appeared January 21, 2005
The Public Defender's office says it may not be able to defend quintuple murder defendant Vincent Brothers because of a conflict of interest.

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Trial Blog

Featured Content

Photo gallery: Vincent Brothers
See a gallery of images of the man accused of murdering his wife, mother in law and three young children.

Photo gallery: The Harper family
See a gallery of the mother, grandmother and three children murdered in the summer of 2003.

Photo gallery: Murder and mourning
See a gallery of images from the day of the murder through the funerals and beyond.

Family of five slain
Read the first story on the killings from July 9, 2003.