Austin yogurt shop murders solved via DNA breakthrough

A major forensic breakthrough has identified Robert Eugene Brashers as the killer in the 1991 murders of four teenage girls in Austin, Texas. The victims, Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harbison, and Sarah Harbison, were found in a burned-out yogurt shop on December 6, 1991.

For over three decades, the case remained unsolved, leading to the prosecution of four men—Maurice Pierce, Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, and Forrest Welborn—based on disputed confessions. Advances in DNA technology allowed investigators to find a match from under the fingernail of one of the victims, exonerating the previously accused men.

The discovery coincided with the release of the HBO true crime documentary series ‘The Yogurt Shop Murders’, directed by Margaret Brown. Following the DNA match, a fifth episode was produced to cover the resolution of the case and the impact on the families and the falsely accused.