23 minutes ago
2
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.
When four teenage girls were murdered successful an Austin, Texas, yogurt store successful 1991, a heartbroken metropolis was near searching for answers. No 1 imagined that much than 30 years later, the lawsuit would stay unsolved.
But now, acknowledgment to caller advances successful DNA technology, determination is renewed anticipation that a portion of grounds collected from the country connected the nighttime of the transgression volition beryllium cardinal to solving the lawsuit erstwhile and for all. "48 Hours" analogous Erin Moriarty reports successful an encore of "The Yogurt Shop Murders," airing Saturday, Aug. 2 astatine 9/8c connected CBS and streaming connected Paramount+.
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: Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, Sarah Harbison and Jennifer Harbison.
AP Images
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 recovered gagged, tied up with their ain clothing, and changeable successful the caput successful an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! store successful Austin. Whoever was liable had besides acceptable the store connected fire, compromising overmuch of the evidence.
Eliza and Jennifer had been moving astatine 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 crime.
Gunshot wounds revealed 2 antithetic types of guns were utilized — but determination was scant different grounds astatine the scene, and debris from the occurrence analyzable the aboriginal investigation. The Austin Police Department soon developed a task unit dedicated solely to solving the crime. Government agencies, including the FBI, were called successful to assist, but the lawsuit yet went acold until 1999, erstwhile 4 men, Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Maurice Pierce and Forrest Welborn, were arrested and charged with the murders.
The men were lone teenagers astatine the clip of the crime. They were archetypal questioned conscionable days aft the murders erstwhile 1 of them, Maurice Pierce, was arrested astatine a promenade not acold from the yogurt store with a .22 caliber weapon — 1 of the aforesaid types of weapons believed to person been utilized successful the killings.
All 4 were released backmost past for deficiency of evidence, but successful 1999, erstwhile a caller squad of investigators were tasked with taking a caller look astatine the aged case, they obtained confessions from 2 of the 4 men, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott. Those confessions would aboriginal beryllium called into question aft the 2 recanted, saying they were coerced.
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
Charges were yet dropped against Maurice Pierce and Forrest Welborn owed to deficiency of evidence, and Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott were the lone 2 to spell connected trial. The sole grounds against them were their ain words. They were some convicted, but a fewer 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.
Rosemary Lehmberg, the Travis County, Texas, territory lawyer astatine the time, was intent connected retrying Springsteen and Scott. But earlier doing so, her bureau decided to instrumentality vantage of what was past a reasonably caller benignant of DNA investigating called Y-STR testing. It was a mode of searching for and extracting antheral DNA only. Y-STR investigating was ordered connected vaginal swabs taken from the victims astatine the clip of the murders. By this point, investigators had travel to judge that astatine slightest 1 of the victims had been sexually assaulted. As a effect of the Y-STR testing, a partial antheral DNA illustration was obtained from 1 of the girls, but to the astonishment of the territory attorney's office, the DNA illustration did not lucifer immoderate of the 4 men who were arrested.
CeCe Moore, a DNA adept and familial genealogist whom we interviewed for this week's "48 Hours," told analogous Erin Moriarty that Y-STR DNA is simply a instrumentality sometimes utilized successful transgression cases. Moore explained it "can destruct astir everyone. … Everyone but the suspect."
"If their Y-STR does not match, they did not lend that DNA?" Moriarty asked Moore.
"Because of… wherever that DNA was found, yes, successful this case, it's precise important," Moore said.
Still, prosecutors were determined to retry Springsteen and Scott. But earlier doing so, they wanted to fig retired who that enigma DNA belonged to.
Key moments successful the probe of Austin's yogurt store murders
20 photos
District Attorney Lehmberg says much than 100 men — specified arsenic transgression country investigators and unit from the aesculapian examiner's bureau who mightiness person travel successful interaction with the assemblage and perchance been a root of contamination — were tested. It was each to nary avail. In 2009, with nary matches, the charges against Springsteen and Scott were dropped. After astir 10 years down bars, they were released, but not exonerated, leaving unfastened the anticipation they could beryllium retried astatine a aboriginal time.
For years, officials kept trying to way down the root of the enigma DNA. Then, successful 2017, an Austin constabulary researcher searched a nationalist online DNA database utilized for colonisation studies to spot if helium could get a hit. Unbelievably, helium did. It seemed to beryllium the astir promising pb successful years, but determination was a problem. The seemingly matching illustration successful the nationalist database had been submitted anonymously by the FBI and had nary sanction attached to it. When officials successful Austin contacted the FBI successful an effort to get a name, the FBI would not supply it, citing privateness laws.
Frustrated, metropolis officials reached retired to U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul, who is from Austin, for help. McCaul pressed the FBI, and "48 Hours" has learned that successful aboriginal 2020, the FBI agreed to enactment with the Austin Police Department to spot if further investigating could beryllium done connected that Y-STR DNA from the transgression scene.
"48 Hours" has learned that initially, the illustration from the transgression country was not precise elaborate and had lone 16 markers, but much precocious investigating successful 2020 came up with an further 9 markers, bringing the full marker number to 25. However, this much precocious investigating revealed that the illustration from the transgression country nary longer proved to beryllium a lucifer to the illustration successful the nationalist DNA database. In a missive to Congressman McCaul obtained by "48 Hours," the FBI explained the caller results "conclusively exclude the antheral donor of the FBI's illustration … arsenic such, the FBI Y-STR illustration is not an investigative lead."
"And that was the top disappointment due to the fact that we truly thought we had it," Congressman McCaul told Moriarty.
Still, McCaul says that helium and Austin officials volition not remainder until they find who that DNA from the transgression country belongs to.
"We're waiting for… the DNA subject to amended to past resubmit what we person near successful the transgression laboratory for further testing," McCaul said.
According to McCaul, immoderate of the existent Y-STR DNA from the illustration recovered connected the unfortunate successful the yogurt store lawsuit inactive exists.
"It's precise constricted and … that's wherefore we're waiting for the subject to amended connected this, due to the fact that there's precise small left," helium said.
With DNA probe advancing truthful quickly, McCaul hopes that 1 time that illustration of DNA obtained implicit 30 years agone volition yet lick the case.
"It's everything," helium says.
English (US) ·