Detectives flew to Ohio and seized Brothers' rental car. They searched it for trace evidence and they culled driving records. What they uncovered would become a key part of the prosecution's case against Brothers.

Dollar Rent-A-Car keeps only general records about the mileage that customers put on their cars. Detectives say that Brothers put more than 5,400 miles on the car he rented. They say that's more than enough mileage for him to have surreptitiously driven from Ohio to Bakersfield and back. The prosecutor has said only 3 other people rented the car before Brothers. Before that the Dodge Neon was brand new. None of the other drivers took the car past the Colorado Rockies. But bug experts examined the front end of the car and discovered dead insects only found west of the Rockies.

And detectives say Brothers had created a cover story. Prosecutors say on July 6, Melvin Brothers used his brother's credit card in Columbus, Ohio. Melvin took the card to Wal-Mart and bought two DVDs and a pair of hair clippers. Detectives say Melvin initially lied to them about using the card. But he later told them Brothers had asked him not to 'go crazy.' The purchase was made the same day as the alleged murders, at his brother's request, Melvin said. Detectives say Melvin forged the signature on the receipt.

It wasn't the first time Melvin Brothers used the credit card.

In a similar trip to Columbus three months earlier, Vincent Brothers instructed Melvin to purchase specific items and sign his name. According to Melvin, as some point during Vincent's weeklong visit in April, he disappeared for about two days. Melvin could not account for his brother's whereabouts. About that time, Vincent was captured on an ATM camera withdrawing money in Bakersfield. Prosecutors called the trip a dry run that allowed Brothers to plan how he would commit the murders.

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    by Kiyoshi Tomono
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