Prosecutor Lisa Green zeroed in on the splint that Vincent Brothers wore on again and off again the weeks before the murders. Several surveillance store stills have shown Brothers either with this cast on or walking around with it off. Green has said it was part of an elaborate plan that Brothers concocted to make himself more conspicuous. That is, people would see and be able to identify him in Ohio. Then again, a witness took the stand earlier in the trial and said he saw Vincent Brothers walking in front of the Harper home the day of the murders. He said he recognized Brothers in part because he was wearing the “cast” on his right arm. It’s up to the jury whether Green’s theory is convincing.
Today, Doctor Jerry Seydel testified he told Brothers he could take the cast on and off, depending on how Brothers felt. Doctor Seydel was Brothers’ primary care physician. He examined Brothers’ hand and arm and said there was no apparent major trauma. His diagnosis was more of a soft-tissue injury. Doctor Seydel said he x-rayed Brothers’ hand just days after the first set of x-rays had been taken at another clinic because sometimes hairline fractures are more visible as the bone begins to heal. Doctor Seydel testified Brothers did not appear to have such a hairline fracture.
Audrey Wandick then took the stand, and said she saw Vincent Brothers at the intersection of Brundage and P Streets the day the Harper family was killed. It’s the third witness, by my count, who has placed Brothers in Bakersfield. Wandick said she knew Brothers because he was the vice principal at Fremont Elementary, where her children went to school. In fact, Wandick said one of her sons was constantly in trouble, and she received calls from Vincent Brothers on a weekly basis. Brothers eventually expelled Wandick’s son from school and sent him to Casa Loma Elementary.
That Sunday Wandick said she had just woken up from a nap and noticed the family had run out toilet paper. She has six kids, so she rounded up her four youngest, packed them into the family van and headed to Wal-Mart on White Lane. In previous testimony at the preliminary hearing, Wandick said she confused the names Walgreens and Wal-Mart, but today she testified she was certain she was headed to Wal-Mart. As she arrived at the intersection of Brundage and P Streets, and was about to make a right, Wandick says she spotted Vincent Brothers waiting to make a left turn. She said she just glanced, but that she knows for sure it was Brothers. He is lighter-skinned than she is, Wandick testified, and she recognized the light blue truck that Brothers’ drove. Brothers never acknowledged her, Wandick said, and the two never made eye contact.
But the defense suggested Wandick had just a matter of seconds to identify and see Mr. Brothers. And they say she’s was confused about many of the details. Defense attorney Michael Gardina also questioned whether Wandick was angry that Brothers had expelled her son from school.
