Vincent Brothers – Family Annihilator

      No Comments on Vincent Brothers – Family Annihilator
Vincent Brothers - Family Annihilator - nickchapman / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Vincent Brothers – Family Annihilator nickchapman / CC BY

In July 2003 a mother, her three children, and the children’s grandmother were found shot to death in their Bakersfield, California home.  The youngest victim was just 6 weeks old.  Who would target this family?  Was this a robbery gone wrong or something more personal?  Listen to the podcast and learn how Vincent Brothers was brought to justice due to what the “bug” evidence told investigators.

Signs of Psychopathy
Subscribe

Vincent Brothers Early Life

Vincent Brothers was born on May 30, 1962, in Bellport, Long Island, NY. He was one of 10 kids and was a charismatic, responsible, and hard-working boy.

Vincent Brothers served in the Marine Reserves. He headed west in the mid-80s to complete his Master’s degree in California after graduating from Norfolk State University. In 1988 he had his first child, a girl, with his then-girlfriend. He met his girlfriend while they both were attending California State University in Bakersfield, California.

Vincent would later bring a lawsuit against his girlfriend to establish paternity. Once his paternity was verified he was awarded joint custody and visitation rights. He was ordered to pay monthly support of $350 which was raised to $771 by 2003.

Bakersfield, California (where our story takes place)

Bakersfield is approximately 115 north of Los Angeles and is located in the San Joaquin Valley. It was home to many country music recording artists, such as Merle Haggard and Buck Owens …. The Streets of Bakersfield.

According to a NY Times article on September 18, 2018, Bakersfield has the highest per-capita murder rate in the US, with almost 10 murders per 100,000 people.

Vincent Brothers Relationship Problems

Vincent Brothers had a history of relationship problems. In 1988 Brothers was convicted of misdemeanor spousal abuse and received 6 days in jail and probation. In 1992 Brothers married again. His wife sued him for divorce claiming he threatened to kill her and was physically abusive towards her.

In 1996 Brothers allegedly sexually harassed a woman who worked with him at Emerson Middle School. He was employed there as the vice-principal. She claims that on a visit to his home he hit her, dragged her into his bedroom, and took photos of her. Brothers’ yanked the phone away from her when she tried to call the Police. She ran out of the house to get away. She attempted to file a police report but claims that she was dissuaded from doing so by the police. He was considered “a respected member of the community.”

Brother’s harassment continued per his victim. On another occasion, Brothers had caressed her hip while she was working at the front counter in the school office. The woman took a leave of absence from what she considered to be an oppressive work environment as she was continuing to be harassed. The harassment now included threatening phone calls. The school district investigated the woman’s allegations informing Brothers that if they were accurate it could jeopardize his career in education.

Brothers denied the allegations and there is no record that he was ever disciplined. After the school investigation Brothers was transferred to another school.

2000 – Vincent Might Try To Get Rid Of Me

In 2000 Vincent Brothers was working at the John C. Fremont Elementary School in Bakersfield, California. He was a well-liked figure in the school and was known to walk students home after the school day ended to make sure they got home safely.

It was at Fremont Elementary that Brothers met Joanie Harper. She was the campus supervisor for security at the time. Vincent and Joanie were married after the birth of their first child, Marques. The marriage was annulled in September 2001 due to Brothers’ infidelity. Their second child Lyndsey was born in 2001.

Brothers’ and Joanie secretly remarried in 2003 and 4 months later Marshall, their 3rd child was born. Joanie confided to friends that her marriage was once again in trouble. She was afraid that Vincent “might try to get rid of me.”

Tuesday, July 8, 2003 – All Dead

Joanie’s best friend stopped by Joanie’s house to see her and the kids. Joanie’s mother, Earnestine Harper, was living with her as well. She was concerned that Joanie, the kids, and Earnestine had not been seen since attending church on Sunday.

Vincent Brothers wasn’t around as he had flown out to Ohio to visit his brother, Melvin, over the holiday weekend and had yet to return. The family friend found a sliding glass door open and discovered Joanie, her mother Ernestine, Marques (4), Lyndsay (23 months), and Marshall (6 weeks) all dead.

The Investigation

Killer Instinct, Season 1, Episode 10 features Mark Saforik, a former FBI profiler who was called in to assist the investigation which was in its 4th week.

Detective Jeff Watts was assigned to the case.

Every Shot Fired Was Intended To Inflict A Fatal Injury

The ranch-style home that Joanie, her children, and her mother lived in was in a quiet neighborhood on a corner lot. Police determined that the family was killed sometime Sunday afternoon after they returned home from church. They had settled down to take their afternoon naps which were customary for them to do.

Joanie and the children were in her bed while Earnestine was in her room on the other side of the house. The killer entered the home and started in Joanie’s bedroom shooting her two times in the head. Then they shot Lindsay in the center of her back.

There were no signs of forced entry. Earnestine must have heard a noise and come into the hallway to investigate. She had a 38 revolver in her hand for protection but never got to use it. She was shot 2 times in the face and dropped in the hallway right outside her bedroom door.

The killer returned to Joanie’s bedroom and shot Marcus and then fired a final shot into the baby’s back. Every shot fired was intended to inflict a fatal injury.

This Killer Was Goal Driven – Annihilation

The killer did not immediately flee the scene, instead going to the kitchen and taking a knife from a butcher block. They returned to the bedroom to stab Joanie multiple times in the back. He or she unscrewed the tv connections but laid the tv gently on the ground. The killer dumped Joanie’s purse on the laundry room floor but took nothing of value even leaving money behind. They seemed to want police to think that someone had broken in and didn’t want to be identified so they killed any witnesses.

The killer went back into the bedroom and covered the bodies with blankets and pillows. The blankets and pillows were brought in from other rooms.

To the profiler, this killer was goal-driven. The annihilation of the Brothers/Harper family was their purpose and they executed their plan. The profiler felt that the killer knew Joanie Harper and the murders were not committed by a stranger. The FBI profiler, Mark Saforik, felt that Joanie was the main target as she had sustained the most injuries. In addition, she had knife wounds in her back that were inflicted post-mortem.

Saforik theorized that the killer’s behavior indicated significant anger.

Traumatized, Crying And Speaking Gibberish

Police were concerned that Vincent Brothers may be in danger. The police discovered that Vincent had traveled to Ohio. Thirteen hours later Detective Watts headed to North Carolina since that was where Vincent and his brother Melvin had traveled to visit their mother.

When N.C. police talked with Vincent they found him to be traumatized, crying inconsolably, speaking gibberish, and not providing much information.  To them, he seemed like an unlikely killer. Coupled with the fact that he was across the country when the murders occurred they initially ruled him out. In addition, at that time there was no evidence connecting him to the murders.

Detective Watts was not quite convinced. He noted that when talking to Vincent he never asked how his wife and kids died. Vincent provided receipts for various things he had purchased on Saturday and Sunday while in Ohio. These seemed to confirm he was nowhere near Bakersfield, CA.

July 11, 2003 – Alibi Crumbles

Vincent Brothers returned to Los Angeles on July 11, 2003. He did not attend the memorial service for his family but did attend their funerals on July 16, 2003.

As the police dug further they discovered that Vincent was no longer living in the home and had moved out in April 2003. Joanie was also planning to divorce Vincent for the second time and go after child support for his three children. They discovered Vincent’s history of violence against women and started looking closely at his alibi.

They obtained video from the checkouts for the various store receipts and were surprised to see Melvin and not Vincent on the store’s surveillance videos. Police brought Melvin in and confronted him with the video evidence. Melvin told police that Vincent directed him to go to various stores at certain times to purchase items and sign his name.

Melvin and his family told police that from Friday evening of July 4th to Monday evening of July 7th they had not seen Vincent. In fact, police could not find anyone who saw Vincent during that time period.

Vincent Brothers was placed under surveillance. The problem was that there was no direct evidence linking Vincent to the murders.

Police then turned to the rental vehicle to see if it would elicit any information.

Bug Evidence

Vincent Brothers had rented a Dodge Neon when he landed in Columbus, OH, and went to stay at his brother’s house. The police theory is that Vincent flew out to Columbus, Ohio on July 2, 2003, under the pretext of visiting his family. Later on July 4th Vincent traveled from Ohio back to Bakersfield where he murdered his family on Sunday afternoon. He then drove back to Ohio totaling 4,500 miles roundtrip. Vincent and his brother, Melvin left Monday for North Carolina.

The police had the Dodge Neon examined. The University of California Davis’s Bohart Museum of Entomology was called in to assist. The car’s radiator and air filters were examined.

  1. Dr. Lynn Kimsey, an expert in bug identification, identified insects that were consistent with and only found west of the Rocky Mountains. He was able to identify every bug by species and region where they existed.
  2. Police also tracked down the previous five renters of the Dodge Neon. They verified that none of them had driven the car to California or anywhere near the Rockies.

More Evidence Pointing To Brothers

Police reviewed the evidence that was found in the home. They were focusing on the photographic evidence when they noticed a tip from a latex glove was among the items dumped on the laundry room floor. Police sent the tip-off for testing. When it came back it was a 1 in 16 billion match to Vincent Brothers.

Vincent Brothers Is Arrested

Detective Watts discovered through surveillance that Vincent was planning on leaving town. He was selling his belongings and putting the house on the market.  They arrested him on April 30, 2004, and charged him with five counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances.

The Trial 2007

In January 2007 Vincent Brothers went on trial.  The prosecutor was Lisa Green. She has ties to Pennsylvania in that she attended Bucknell University. The prosecution’s theory as to why Vincent committed the murders was that they were financially driven since he didn’t want to pay child support.

They paint a picture of Vincent as a serial adulterer who would disappear for a long period of time. When questioned he would act out violently towards whoever his wife or girlfriend was at the time.

Dr. Kimsey testified that the bugs found in the Dodge Neon were insects that would be found when traveling west along interstate 70. Testimony also showed that the 5,424 miles driven from July 2nd to July 11th fit the evidence.

When Melvin took the stand he tried to change his story saying that he had lied to the police about Vincent giving him his credit card to use.

The Defense

An expert on fast driving testified that it would be difficult to average 70 mph the whole way from Ohio to California. It was the defense’s contention that it was physically impossible for Vincent to have made such a trip. They also put their own pathologist on the stand who testified that the murders happened as late as Monday morning

The defense provided interrogation tapes to show that Melvin was coerced by police to change his testimony about the credit cards. They also provided a witness to a car accident that Vincent claimed happened Sunday morning. A boy on a bike had run into his rental car at an intersection. Police were not called as there was no damage and the boys and his bike were fine.

Rebuttal Witness

The prosecution and police scrambled to verify the bike accident story.  Detective Watts flew back to Ohio and was able to track down Tamba Lebbie, who then flew out to California to testify. Tamba Lebbie was a car dealer who testified that he was driving the morning of the bike accident and that the boy on the bike had hit his car while he was stopped at an intersection.

The Defense – Alibi Witness?

The defense planned on putting Vincent’s other brother, Troy on the stand as Vincent’s alibi witness.  The defense planned to have Troy testify to the fact that Troy had flown in from New York and he and Vincent drove around Ohio on Saturday and Sunday looking at various state colleges. Vincent was interested in applying to these colleges to continue his graduate work.

The problem was that when the trial resumed after lunch on the day that Troy was to testify, Troy was nowhere to be found.  Instead, they put Vincent on the stand. Vincent denied having any affairs and certainly did not kill his family. Vincent was soft-spoken on the stand and often cried during his testimony.

Prosecutions Rebuttal Witness

The prosecution called Franklin School Principal Carla Tafoya who testified that she and Vincent Brothers were involved the same year his son was born in 1996 and had dated off and on until she broke up with him in 2002. She admitted that she and Vincent had sex just weeks before the family was murdered. Keep in mind that he was with Joanie in 2001.

Vincent Brothers Criminal Profile

This crime was planned with meticulous detail. Knowing the family’s Sunday routine gave the killer control and opportunity.  He waited until the family was asleep and used a key he had copied to slip through the sliding glass door and begin the systematic execution of his family.

Vincent Brothers lacked empathy and remorse for his actions. These are hallmark traits of a psychopath. He saw his children as objects and they only meant something to the killer. His stabbing of Joanie was a physical act of breaking his connection with her. He covered the victims so he would not have to look at what he had done since these killings were personal to him in some way.

Vincent Brothers Verdict

Death Penalty

On May 15, 2007, Vincent Brothers was found guilty of 5 counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances making him eligible for the death penalty. This was after the jury had heard from 137 witnesses and deliberated for a little under 2 days. Vincent was removed from the courtroom after the verdict was read and transported back to the Lerdo Jail where he was being held, but this time under tighter security. Deputies at the jail had found that Vincent had somehow modified his leg restraints so that only one leg had a clamp on it and he had made crude handcuff keys that he had hidden in his hair.

On September 27, 2007, Vincent Brothers was sentenced to death by lethal injection by Dern County Superior Court Judge Michael Bush and is currently housed in the same prison as Scott Peterson in San Quentin, CA.

A day in the life in San Quentin Death Row Inmate.

  • Not allowed a tv or radio in his cell
  • Can spend $45 to $90 a month at the prison store
  • All meals are eaten in his cell
  • May leave cell 3 times a week; 4 hours each time
  • Visitors are seen/spoken to through a glass partition
  • Started out in grade B status, but through good behavior can move to grade A
    • You get $180 to spend at the prison store
    • Can have tv, radio and compact disk player in cell
    • Allowed more visitors

The appeals process can take 15 to 20 years and as of July 2018 Brother’s appeals attorney, Phillip Cherny, was allowed to withdraw and the Office of the State Public Attorney took over. Phillip Cherney has defended other notorious murderers such as Richard Allen Davis who murdered 12-year-old, Polly Klaas in 1993.

Resources

You May Also Like