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E-mail StoryWrongful death suit against Vincent Brothers ends in settlement
| Wednesday, Jun 25 2008 2:02 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jun 26 2008 7:20 AM
A wrongful death lawsuit against convicted quintuple murderer Vincent Brothers ended with a confidential settlement Tuesday.
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Photos:
Elaine Byrd, third from right in the black pants, daughter of Ernestine Harper leads family and friends in a song, singing "God has smiled on me, He has been good to me", after the last of five trees were planted in memory of the five members of the Harper family in this file photo.
Four surviving Harper relatives, Eddie L. Harper Sr.; Linda Harper Piggee; Robert Harper; and Elain Byrd filed the lawsuit in July 2005, two years after five family members were found shot and stabbed to death at their home in central Bakersfield.
According to the lawsuit, the deaths deprived them of the “support, love, care, comfort, affection, society, presence, companionship, (and) protection” of their deceased family members.
The amount of compensation originally sought was not specified in the lawsuit, only that it exceeded a threshold of $25,000. The suit also asked for reimbursement for funeral expenses and the cost of the civil action.
Two primary attorneys in the case did not return calls for comment Wednesday. Joshua D. Meier, a third attorney, said the settlement is strictly confidential and that he has no authority to comment or reveal details about the agreement.
But one of the four plaintiffs reached Wednesday said the settlement is not about the plaintiffs getting money from Brothers.
“We just wanted to make sure he wasn’t allowed to get anything from Joanie,” said Elain Byrd, the sister of Joanie Harper, one of the victims.
“If anything comes from him, we just think his daughter should have it,” she said.
On the day Brothers was sentenced to death, his only surviving child, Margaret Kern, disowned her father, saying she was no longer a Brothers and would no longer use his name.
Byrd said Kern is now a successful college student in San Diego.
“She’s doing very, very well,” Byrd said.
The killings were as heinous as any the city has ever seen. Not only was Brothers convicted of murdering his wife, Joanie Harper, and his mother-in-law, Earnestine Harper, the former teacher and vice principal was found guilty of executing Joanie Harper’s three children, Marques, 4, Lyndsey, 2, and Marshall, just 6 weeks.
All five were found dead in their P Street house July 8, 2003.
A Kern County jury convicted Brothers of all five murders. He was sentenced to death in September and remains on death row at San Quentin Prison.
Byrd said compared to the trial, this week’s settlement isn’t particularly noteworthy.
“For me, it ended when he was sentenced,” she said.
“I just hope that one day he will admit to his guilt and ask for forgiveness,” she added. “And he will be forgiven.”