Key Takeaways:
- In 1991, the bodies of four teenage girls were discovered after a fire at a Texas frozen yogurt shop. The cold case, known as the yogurt shop murders, has never been solved.
- In 2017, Austin police matched a DNA sample from the crime scene with one the FBI had uploaded to a public research database. Similar testing was used to confirm Albert DeSalvo as the Boston Strangler.
- More advanced DNA testing completed later excluded the donor of the FBI sample. Investigators continue to search for the perpetrator.
A harmless night inside a frozen yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, turned catastrophic when four teenage girls were murdered and their remains gruesomely burned in a fire. Investigators have pursued answers for the heinous crime, but more than three decades later, the truth remains hidden.
The new HBO docuseries The Yogurt Shop Murders has renewed the buzz around the cold case. Directed and produced by Austin native Margaret Brown, the four-part project includes interviews with city officials and family members of the victims as it examines the pain that has lingered over the Texas capital for almost 34 years.
“I would be at parties, and people would just start talking about the yogurt shop murders,” Brown told Time recently. “It’s part of the mythos of Austin, part of the collective memory, the fabric of the city.”
Advancements in DNA technology—including one that helped identify one of the most famous killers in U.S. history, the Boston Strangler—have brought detectives tantalizingly close to solving the case but, ultimately, to no avail.
What were the Yogurt Shop Murders?
On December 6, 1991, firefighters responded to a blaze at an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt store in Austin. But once the fire was under control, a more grisly discovery emerged.
Responders found the bodies of four teenage girls, including two workers, who were killed by gunshots to the head. According to the San Antonio Express-News, multiple victims were sexually assaulted. The remains were quickly identified as belonging to Eliza Thomas, 17; Jennifer Harbison, 17, and her younger sister Sarah Harbison, 15; and Amy Ayers, 13.
Investigators surmised the fire was started intentionally to cover up the killings and, while much of the evidence was compromised, discovered two initial clues. A bullet found was found in a store sink suggested a .22 caliber revolver was one of two guns used during the crime. Additionally, a couple who left the store around 11 p.m. testified to police that Jennifer Harbison had locked the door behind them to prevent additional customers from entering. They saw two men who “looked out of place” sitting at a table with only a single drink.
The Austin Police Force established a task force solely dedicated to solving the quadruple homicide, but finding the truth proved elusive.
Two men were convicted of the murders but later freed
According to The Austin Chronicle, at least 50 individuals confessed to the yogurt shop murders over the next decade.
In October 1999, police arrested four men in connection to the crime: Robert Burns Springsteen Jr., Michael James Scott, Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welborn. All four were charged with capital murder. The charges against Pierce and Welborn, who were juveniles when the crime took place, were eventually dropped because of lack of evidence, according to Today. However, in 2001 and 2002, respectively, Springsteen and Scott—who separately confessed the crimes to detectives—were tried and convicted. Springsteen received the death penalty (later commuted to life in prison), while Scott was givem a life prison sentence.
But by 2009, both Springsteen and Scott had their charges dismissed and were released. The Texas Court of Appeals ruled that Springsteen had received an unfair trial because he wasn’t allowed to cross-examine Scott, who had implicated him in his written confession. A court determined Scott’s rights under the Sixth Amendment were violated for the same reason.
According to People, detectives also admitted to unethical interrogation methods, including holding a gun to Scott’s head and withholding key evidence. Perhaps most importantly, genetic testing of DNA found on one of the bodies didn’t produce a match for either suspect.
Springsteen and Scott weren’t exonerated, meaning they could be tried again. However, no one has been arrested in the case since their release.
Still, a promising clue brought investigators and the victims’ families tantalizingly close to more answers.
Investigators pursued a DNA test used to identify the Boston Strangler
In 2017, Austin police matched a DNA sample from the crime scene with one the FBI had uploaded to a public research database overseen by the University of Central Florida. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the sample is a single DNA strand, or Y-STR, that includes a Y chromosome. Although they can’t identify an individual from this snippet, these sections could help pinpoint a suspect’s male lineage.
One of the most notable examples of this involves Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the notorious “Boston Strangler” responsible for killing 13 women during the 1960s. Although DeSalvo was never convicted of any of the murders prior to his 1973 death, a Y-STR found on one of the victims was tested decades later. It produced a match with his nephew, confirming DeSalvo was responsible for that murder, though his role in the other 12 is still disputed.
Although investigators in the yogurt shop case hoped to do similar research on the Y-STR in question, the FBI initially refused to grant access to the research sample for legal reasons based on the anonymity of the Florida study. “The FBI did not perform forensic DNA testing in [the Austin] case and cannot speak to this case,” the agency said in a statement.
The DNA strand didn’t produce a match, leaving the case open
According to the CBS program 48 Hours, the FBI ultimately agreed to work with the Austin Police Department for further testing at the urging of U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul, who represents part of the Texas capital. However, the results weren’t what investigators had hoped.
More accurate analysis performed on the crime scene sample in 2020 raised the number of identifiable DNA markers from 16 to 25. However, this more complete picture ultimately led the FBI to “conclusively exclude the male donor of the FBI’s sample” as a match, meaning the case was at another dead end.
“That was the greatest disappointment because we really thought we had it,” McCaul said.
Austin officials vow to keep searching for an identification and are hoping more advancements in DNA technology can help bring closure to the community.
“I think that with new technology, new information that we have—that I can’t go into—even since I’ve taken the case over, the ability to do more with less when it comes to forensics is light-years ahead than it was a few years ago,” Detective Dan Jackson told USA Today. “When I started, we needed a certain amount [of DNA]. We weren’t even close to it, but that amount that you need is so much less now.
“I am confident that I will solve this.”
Watch The Yogurt Shop Murders on HBO Max
The first two episodes of The Yogurt Shop Murders are now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes debut Sundays through August 24.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
