Teacher suspected of murdering his family released without charge

THE deputy head of a California elementary school has been released by police who said they did not have enough evidence to charge him with the murder of his estranged wife, mother-in-law and three children.

Vincent Brothers, 41, walked out of jail in North Carolina less than 12 hours after being arrested for "probable cause" and barely a day after he had turned himself in to the authorities.

Police said they still consider him a suspect in the deaths of the five, who were found shot dead in their home in Bakersfield, California, on Tuesday.