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American Morning

Surprising Developments Overnight in Bakersfield Murders

Aired July 10, 2003 - 08:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get back to the story here in California, surprising developments overnight last night in the Bakersfield murders we've been watching. Five members of the family found shot to death in their home on Tuesday. Elementary school Vice Principal Vincent Brothers, the estranged husband of one of the victims, was booked and then abruptly released last night in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. NEIL MAHAN, BAKERSFIELD POLICE: Part of the reason we made that probable cause arrest was because of the information that we had at the time. It was sufficient to do that. We have conferred with the district attorney's office. We have new information and this is the, this, again, is the best decision, we think, at this time, to go ahead and release.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Investigators say they're following the new leads to another state, not North Carolina, though, where Brothers turned himself in. They also say they could re-arrest him, maybe today, maybe not.

Our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will join us right now back there in New York to try and sort this out -- Jeffrey, you've got a smirk on your face there.

Give it up.

What's happening here?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Can you say huh? I mean this is really bizarre. I mean it is not all that unusual for someone to be arrested, released, then rearrested for a crime of, say, stealing a car or something. But for a crime of this magnitude, any murder, much less a quintuple murder, it's really odd.

HEMMER: You just heard the police officer say probable cause. Sort through this, if you can, because there's a lot we do not know. If you have probable cause, you go out and you locate him and you find him several days after the murders happen and you book him for a few hours then turn him loose.

TOOBIN: Well, you know...

HEMMER: And then you come out and say we have some other evidence that has surfaced right now that is taking us to a different state.

TOOBIN: Right. It's a little bit of a reminder of what happened with Kobe Bryant earlier in the week. The police in every state, the standards differ somewhat, but basically in every state the police can always just grab someone, lock them up temporarily. That happens everywhere. And then they consult with the district attorney about whether to proceed -- whether to press charges in an actual court case that could result in a prison sentence. That's what happened with Kobe Bryant. That's what happened here.

In both cases, the D.A. apparently said well, we don't have enough to proceed at this point so let him go. You know, in a case with five murders, I've never heard of anything like that happening before. If you have some, if you have enough evidence to arrest someone on five murders, you simply don't let him go unless you have pretty convincing evidence that you have the wrong person.

HEMMER: Yes, here's a question, I don't know if you can answer it or not, do we know if Vincent Brothers was in North Carolina at the time the police believe the murders took place?

TOOBIN: The, you know, from what I've been able to determine of the investigation, that is obviously a crucial issue that has not been settled. I know the police are looking at cars that were found at the Bakersfield Airport that may be Vincent Brothers' and they are obviously seeing when he went from Bakersfield to North Carolina.

The critical issue, of course, is if he was in North Carolina at the time these people were shot, then he has an ironclad alibi. That appears not to be resolved at this point.

HEMMER: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks, back in New York there.

The question now, how could a well liked vice principal from an elementary school become a possible suspect in the murders?

Donny Waddell, Sr. is a friend of Vincent Brothers'. He's live in Bakersfield with his daughter La-Tonya (ph), a student at that school where Mr. Brothers has worked.

Good morning to both of you.

DONNY WADDELL, SR., FRIEND OF VINCENT BROTHERS: Good morning.

HEMMER: Donny, tell us about Vincent. What was he like as a person?

DONNY WADDELL: Well, as a person he was a good man. You know, I thought that when we go up and down here each and every day, going back and forth to school, that, you know, he was enjoyable, that he loved the kids and, you know, he seemed like a good person to me. We talked a lot.

HEMMER: Yes, how often did he talk about his family?

DONNY WADDELL: Oh, he -- every chance he got. He always had a big smile when he mentioned his family because he seemed like a person that really enjoyed his family.

HEMMER: Did he talk about his estranged wife with you at all?

DONNY WADDELL: No, not that much. He just said that he, mostly just wife stuff. He said we have conversations about each other's wives and he said, well, you know how our wives are.

HEMMER: Hmm. La-Tonya, you were at that school. What was he like for you?

LA-TONYA WADDELL, STUDENT AT FREEMONT ELEMENTARY: He was like the way that normal principals or vice principals would be and he likes to play basketball with the girls and the boys. Sometimes he'll put the girls on one, on his team and the boys on the other team. And the way he looks up to us and the way we looked up to him, he was nice and I thought he would never do that. And it shocked me last night when they told on the -- us on the news that they had released Mr. Brothers.

HEMMER: Yes, I bet it did.

Donny, you have said that you believe he might be rearrested. Why do you believe that?

DONNY WADDELL: Well, because of the way they are about certain things and how far he had went to leave Bakersfield and all that. But I still believe that he's innocent until proven guilty.

HEMMER: Yes, indeed.

Donny Waddell, thanks, and your daughter La-Tonya, as well, attends that school there.

DONNY WADDELL: Oh, yes. My condolences to the family, too.

HEMMER: Yes, indeed.

Thank you very much for joining us and sharing your thoughts this morning.

DONNY WADDELL: All right.

HEMMER: Much appreciated early here in California.

DONNY WADDELL: Thanks.

HEMMER: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 10, 2003 - 08:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get back to the story here in California, surprising developments overnight last night in the Bakersfield murders we've been watching. Five members of the family found shot to death in their home on Tuesday. Elementary school Vice Principal Vincent Brothers, the estranged husband of one of the victims, was booked and then abruptly released last night in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. NEIL MAHAN, BAKERSFIELD POLICE: Part of the reason we made that probable cause arrest was because of the information that we had at the time. It was sufficient to do that. We have conferred with the district attorney's office. We have new information and this is the, this, again, is the best decision, we think, at this time, to go ahead and release.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Investigators say they're following the new leads to another state, not North Carolina, though, where Brothers turned himself in. They also say they could re-arrest him, maybe today, maybe not.

Our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will join us right now back there in New York to try and sort this out -- Jeffrey, you've got a smirk on your face there.

Give it up.

What's happening here?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Can you say huh? I mean this is really bizarre. I mean it is not all that unusual for someone to be arrested, released, then rearrested for a crime of, say, stealing a car or something. But for a crime of this magnitude, any murder, much less a quintuple murder, it's really odd.

HEMMER: You just heard the police officer say probable cause. Sort through this, if you can, because there's a lot we do not know. If you have probable cause, you go out and you locate him and you find him several days after the murders happen and you book him for a few hours then turn him loose.

TOOBIN: Well, you know...

HEMMER: And then you come out and say we have some other evidence that has surfaced right now that is taking us to a different state.

TOOBIN: Right. It's a little bit of a reminder of what happened with Kobe Bryant earlier in the week. The police in every state, the standards differ somewhat, but basically in every state the police can always just grab someone, lock them up temporarily. That happens everywhere. And then they consult with the district attorney about whether to proceed -- whether to press charges in an actual court case that could result in a prison sentence. That's what happened with Kobe Bryant. That's what happened here.

In both cases, the D.A. apparently said well, we don't have enough to proceed at this point so let him go. You know, in a case with five murders, I've never heard of anything like that happening before. If you have some, if you have enough evidence to arrest someone on five murders, you simply don't let him go unless you have pretty convincing evidence that you have the wrong person.

HEMMER: Yes, here's a question, I don't know if you can answer it or not, do we know if Vincent Brothers was in North Carolina at the time the police believe the murders took place?

TOOBIN: The, you know, from what I've been able to determine of the investigation, that is obviously a crucial issue that has not been settled. I know the police are looking at cars that were found at the Bakersfield Airport that may be Vincent Brothers' and they are obviously seeing when he went from Bakersfield to North Carolina.

The critical issue, of course, is if he was in North Carolina at the time these people were shot, then he has an ironclad alibi. That appears not to be resolved at this point.

HEMMER: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks, back in New York there.

The question now, how could a well liked vice principal from an elementary school become a possible suspect in the murders?

Donny Waddell, Sr. is a friend of Vincent Brothers'. He's live in Bakersfield with his daughter La-Tonya (ph), a student at that school where Mr. Brothers has worked.

Good morning to both of you.

DONNY WADDELL, SR., FRIEND OF VINCENT BROTHERS: Good morning.

HEMMER: Donny, tell us about Vincent. What was he like as a person?

DONNY WADDELL: Well, as a person he was a good man. You know, I thought that when we go up and down here each and every day, going back and forth to school, that, you know, he was enjoyable, that he loved the kids and, you know, he seemed like a good person to me. We talked a lot.

HEMMER: Yes, how often did he talk about his family?

DONNY WADDELL: Oh, he -- every chance he got. He always had a big smile when he mentioned his family because he seemed like a person that really enjoyed his family.

HEMMER: Did he talk about his estranged wife with you at all?

DONNY WADDELL: No, not that much. He just said that he, mostly just wife stuff. He said we have conversations about each other's wives and he said, well, you know how our wives are.

HEMMER: Hmm. La-Tonya, you were at that school. What was he like for you?

LA-TONYA WADDELL, STUDENT AT FREEMONT ELEMENTARY: He was like the way that normal principals or vice principals would be and he likes to play basketball with the girls and the boys. Sometimes he'll put the girls on one, on his team and the boys on the other team. And the way he looks up to us and the way we looked up to him, he was nice and I thought he would never do that. And it shocked me last night when they told on the -- us on the news that they had released Mr. Brothers.

HEMMER: Yes, I bet it did.

Donny, you have said that you believe he might be rearrested. Why do you believe that?

DONNY WADDELL: Well, because of the way they are about certain things and how far he had went to leave Bakersfield and all that. But I still believe that he's innocent until proven guilty.

HEMMER: Yes, indeed.

Donny Waddell, thanks, and your daughter La-Tonya, as well, attends that school there.

DONNY WADDELL: Oh, yes. My condolences to the family, too.

HEMMER: Yes, indeed.

Thank you very much for joining us and sharing your thoughts this morning.

DONNY WADDELL: All right.

HEMMER: Much appreciated early here in California.

DONNY WADDELL: Thanks.

HEMMER: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com