Almost immediately after the murders were discovered, police suspicion fell on Joanie's estranged husband Vincent Brothers.

Brothers had taken a taken a trip four days earlier to visit his extended family in Columbus, Ohio. News of the murders quickly splashed across Bakersfield broadcasts. It also made headlines on the cable news networks. But detectives say Brothers did not immediately return their calls to his cellphone, or their calls to his mother's home in Elizabeth City, N.C. Officers initially had orders to arrest Brothers, but hours later, those orders were downgraded to 'wanted for questioning.' Then, just before 11 in the evening on the day the murders were discovered, Vincent Brothers walked into the police station in Elizabeth City. His mother, Margaret, and his sister Theral Barnard were by his side. He would wait hours, sleeping on a cot in a conference room, as Bakersfield detectives flew to North Carolina to question him. When they arrived, detectives described a bizarre exchange.

"I, it, right?" Brothers said. Detectives asked him what he was talking about, and when his sister interrupted and tried to explain, officers asked her and Brothers' mother to leave. Detectives pressed further, saying they needed to talk to Brothers about the murders. But Brothers began wretching and appeared about to throw up. Detectives pitched a trash can his way, and told him to take a deep breath. They told him they needed his help and that was the bottom line. Brothers began screaming. "Wait! Wait!" "Mama. Mama. Help, Mama," he yelled. Detectives initially had no intention of arresting Brothers, but after calling back to Bakersfield, they learned that neighbors of the Harper home reported seeing Brothers around the time the murders may have occurred. The officers took him into custody.

Vincent Brothers is the sixth of 10 children born to Margaret and Melvin Brothers in Riverhead, N.Y. He has seven brothers and two sisters. He has a master's degree in education from CSUB and a bachelor's degree from Norfolk State University. According to detectives, he was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps reserves.

Joanie Harper married Brothers on two separate occasions. The first marriage, in January, 2000, ended in divorce papers being filed a month later. The marriage was eventually annulled, but the two remarried in Las Vegas three years later.

Family friend Kelsey Spann had last seen the Harper family after church services on July 6, 2003. They had all eaten at Black Angus on Rosedale Highway, and headed home early in the afternoon. Vincent Brothers wasn't present.

On the morning of July 2, he had driven his pickup truck to the Airport Bus of Bakersfield, and hopped a flight at LAX. After arriving in Columbus, Brothers rented a Dodge Neon at the Dollar Rent-A-Car counter and drove to his brother Melvin's house. The car would become a key piece of evidence in the case against him.

Brothers says he spent his time in Columbus visiting with friends and family. On July 2, he had a barbeque with his brother Melvin. The next day, he had lunch with his sister, Tammy, at the China Buffet restaurant in Columbus. He says he used his Visa Card to pay for the meal, and an analysis by a handwriting writing expert suggests it was his handwriting and signature on the receipt.

Throughout the next several days, cellphone service records pinpointed the location of Brothers' phone. The phone, at least, stayed in the Midwest. Defense attorneys argue this proves Brothers was in Ohio at the time.

On July 6, the alleged day of the murders, defense attorneys say Brothers was involved in a minor car accident. Just after 7 that evening, Brothers was reportedly at the intersection of Steele and Hague in Columbus. A boy on a bike darted out and struck Brothers' rental car near the front tire. An unnamed eyewitness who was watching fireworks reportedly saw the crash. Defense attorneys say that eyewitness later was able to identify Brothers in a picture.

But prosecutors paint a very different picture of the events leading up the murders. And they say Vincent Brothers wasn't in Ohio the entire time. Further, there were hints, prosecutors say, that Brothers wanted his family dead.

When detectives seized and searched Brothers' truck at the Airport Bus parking lot, they discovered a small piece of paper behind the center console. It read: "I guess my time is up. The game (crossed out). Life is finally over. I can hear the screams from the trauma team as my body grows colder. Got the monkey off my back. Weight of the world off my shoulders. Angels whisper don't worry." On the backside: "About your girl, we'll console her. The word "clean" was written underneath.

And prosecutors say there were serious holes in Brothers' alibi.

• Brothers Trial Blog
    by Kiyoshi Tomono
• Photo Gallery
• Timeline of events