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CASE UPDATE: In September 2025, the Austin Police Department identified Robert Eugene Brashers, a serial slayer and rapist, arsenic the fishy successful the Texas yogurt store murders. Brashers, who is deceased, was tied to the murders done DNA testing. On Feb. 19, 2026, a judge declared innocent the 4 men who were wrongfully accused of the murders — formally exonerating them. In May 2026, the City of Austin agreed to wage a colony of $35 cardinal to beryllium divided among the men.
[This communicative was primitively posted connected Feb. 5, 2022. It was updated connected August 2, 2025.]
It has been much than 30 years since 4 teenage girls were murdered successful an Austin, Texas, yogurt store and the lawsuit remains unsolved. At 1 point, determination were arrests and past convictions, but those convictions were aboriginal overturned connected appeal, and ultimately, new DNA technology raised doubts astir the engagement of those archetypal arrestees.
The lawsuit has near investigators astatine what appears to beryllium a standstill, but arsenic analogous Erin Moriarty reported successful this week's "48 Hours," determination is simply a mentation that 2 never-identified men seen successful the yogurt store connected the nighttime of the murders whitethorn person been progressive successful the unsolved killings that person haunted Austin for decades.
Inside the yogurt store were the charred bodies of 4 teenage girls ranging from 13 to 17 years old. The victims, clockwise from apical left, were Jennifer Harbison, apical left, who on with Eliza Thomas, apical right, worked successful the yogurt shop, Jennifer Harbison's younger sister Sarah, bottommost right, and Sarah's person Amy Ayers, bottommost right. Sarah and Amy were visiting the yogurt store soon earlier closing connected the nighttime of the murders. All 4 girls had been gagged, tied up and shot.
On December 6, 1991, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, 13-year-old Amy Ayers, and 2 sisters, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison and 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, were tied up and changeable successful the caput successful an "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt!" store successful Austin.
The metropolis had ne'er seen a transgression rather similar it. Eliza and Jennifer had been moving successful the yogurt store that night. They were getting acceptable to adjacent erstwhile Jennifer's sister, Sarah, and their friend, Amy, met them determination to caput home. Investigators judge astatine slightest 2 men entered the store and committed the brutal transgression earlier mounting the spot connected fire, destroying overmuch of the evidence.
John Jones worked for the Austin Police Department astatine the clip of the transgression and was the pb researcher connected the case. He has since retired. Jones told Moriarty that arsenic portion of the aboriginal investigation, helium and his squad tracked down customers who were successful the yogurt store connected the time of the transgression to spot if they noticed thing suspicious. According to Jones, aggregate customers described 2 men who "looked retired of place" sitting successful the store conscionable earlier it was owed to close. Neither antheral was reported to person purchased frozen yogurt — instead, lone a drink.
"They ne'er person been identified. And we did everything. … We adjacent hypnotized immoderate folks," Jones told Moriarty.
Despite investigators' efforts, that pb went obscurity and yet the lawsuit went cold. Then, successful 1999, astir 8 years aft the murders, determination was a interruption successful the lawsuit erstwhile caller investigators decided to re-examine a antithetic aged lead.
In October 1999, astir 8 years aft the yogurt store murders, Austin constabulary announced the apprehension of 4 suspects successful the case. Pictured clockwise from apical near are Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen, and Michael Scott. All 4 men had been questioned wrong days of the murders, but the deficiency of immoderate hard grounds connecting them to the transgression meant that nary of them were charged astatine the time.
AP Photos
Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Maurice Pierce and Forrest Welborn were lone teenagers astatine the clip of the crime. They, too, had landed connected Jones' radar aboriginal connected aft 1 of them, Maurice Pierce, was arrested with a weapon astatine a promenade adjacent the yogurt store successful the days aft the crime. Back then, the men were questioned by Jones and his squad but were subsequently released for deficiency of evidence.
In 1999, the caller investigators decided to re-question the men. Two of them, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, confessed to the yogurt store murders and implicated Pierce and Welborn successful the process. All 4 men were subsequently arrested.
But it wasn't agelong earlier Springsteen and Scott recanted their confessions, saying they were coerced. Charges were yet dropped against Pierce and Welborn owed to deficiency of evidence.
Springsteen and Scott were the lone 2 to spell connected trial. They were some convicted, but years later, their convictions were overturned connected law grounds. The Sixth Amendment gives defendants the close to face accusers and successful Scott and Springsteen's trials, their confessions were utilized against 1 another, but they weren't allowed to question each different successful court.
Prosecutors intended to retry Springsteen and Scott, but earlier doing so, they ordered DNA tests connected vaginal swabs taken from the victims astatine the clip of the murders. By this point, investigators had travel to judge astatine slightest 1 of the victims had been sexually assaulted, and prosecutors wanted to instrumentality vantage of a reasonably caller benignant of DNA investigating called Y-STR testing. It searches for antheral DNA only.
No 1 expected what it would reveal. As a effect of the testing, a partial antheral DNA illustration was obtained from 1 of the victims, but to the astonishment of the prosecutor's office, the DNA illustration did not lucifer immoderate of the 4 men who had been arrested. Charges were dropped against Springsteen and Scott, and they were released from situation aft spending 10 years down bars.
Key moments successful the probe of Austin's yogurt store murders
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Attorney Amber Farrelly worked connected some Scott and Springsteen's defence teams. She is adamant that constabulary had it each incorrect erstwhile they arrested Scott, Springsteen, Welborn and Pierce. She told "48 Hours" she believes those 2 unidentified customers from the yogurt store are who constabulary should truly beryllium fixated on.
While moving connected Scott and Springsteen's defence teams, Farrelly was tasked with sifting done aged constabulary records, including those interviews Jones and his colleagues had conducted with customers who visited the yogurt store connected the time of the murders.
"They (police) person accounted for and interviewed 52 radical that were successful the yogurt store that day," Farrelly told "48 Hours'" Erin Moriarty.
Amber Farrelly was portion of some Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen's defence teams. She came up with a mentation that the enigma DNA mightiness beryllium alternatively to 2 never-identified men who witnesses reported seeing sitting successful the yogurt store conscionable earlier it closed.
Austin Police Department
Farrelly says respective of those customers mentioned the 2 men who were seen sitting successful the yogurt store conscionable earlier it was owed to adjacent that night.
"We person nary names to them. And erstwhile you look astatine — erstwhile you measurement backmost and you look and you think, 'They've talked to 52 radical and didn't miss 1 idiosyncratic from 4:30 until 11:00 astatine night. And respective radical speech astir a feline oregon 2 guys, and they picture them successful the aforesaid manner? And we don't cognize who those 2 guys are? And they've ne'er called in? … That raises, successful my opinion, the suspicion… that these are the gentlemen who did it," Farrelly said.
"Were those 2 men who've ne'er been identified the past radical successful the yogurt shop, arsenic acold arsenic you know?" Moriarty asked Farrelly.
"Absolutely," Farrelly responded.
Farrelly says the men were described arsenic "kind of leaned implicit the table, talking to each different and benignant of whispering, similar they didn't privation anybody to perceive what they were saying."
She says that 1 of the men was described arsenic having light, abbreviated hair, "like a soiled blonde," and was said to person been astir 5'6" gangly and successful his precocious 20s oregon aboriginal 30s. She says the different antheral was described arsenic being "bigger," and some were observed wearing large coats. One, she says, is thought to person had a greenish "Army fatigue benignant of looking jacket" and the different is thought to person had a achromatic jacket. According to Farrelly, the men are believed to person been driving a greenish car that evening.
John Jones, the erstwhile pb researcher connected the case, is inactive haunted by the unsolved yogurt store murders adjacent though helium has agelong retired. He told "48 Hours" helium inactive wonders astir those unidentified customers.
"Yeah, it's benignant of a question to maine that to this day, they haven't been identified," helium said. "Is that grounds that they did it? No, but that's grounds that we truly request to speech to them."
If you person accusation astir the yogurt store murders, telephone 512-472-TIPS.
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