Introduction to the Case
Two days after four teenage girls were found murdered in a burning Austin yogurt shop in 1991, a man with a pistol in a stolen car was stopped at a border checkpoint west of El Paso. Nearly 34 years later, cold case detectives have now connected that man and the weapon to the horrific killings that stunned Texas’ capital city. The case frustrated investigators for decades, and previously led to the convictions of two men who were sent to prison, one of them to death row.
The Crime Shocked the City
On Dec. 6, 1991, Amy Ayers, 13; Eliza Thomas, 17; and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, ages 17 and 15, were bound, gagged and shot in the head at the “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt” store where two of them worked. The building was then set on fire. Investigators have said that around closing time, someone was either in the store or entered through the back door, attacked the girls and set the fire. The bodies were found by firefighters who were still battling the blaze, and the efforts to put out the fire badly damaged the crime scene.
Investigation and Previous Convictions
Detectives chased thousands of leads, including multiple confessions, before the case went cold for years. Then in 1999, police arrested four men who were juveniles at the time of the crime. Two of them, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, confessed and implicated each other, but later recanted and said their statements were coerced by police. Springsteen and Scott were convicted. Springsteen was sent to death row before the sentence was reduced to life in prison. Both convictions were later overturned, and the charges were dropped in 2009 when new DNA evidence told detectives they were looking for a previously unknown male at the crime scene.
New Connections to Brashers
Authorities had identified Brashers as a killer who left a deadly trail across several states before he was connected to the yogurt shop murders. In 2018, Missouri authorities said DNA evidence linked him to the strangulation of a South Carolina woman in 1990, and the shooting of a mother and daughter in Missouri in 1998. The evidence also connected Brashers to the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee. In June, Austin cold case detective Daniel Jackson resubmitted to a federal system the ballistics findings on a shell casing from a .380 caliber handgun taken from the yogurt shop that was used to kill Ayers. It came back as a match to an unsolved 1998 crime in Kentucky. Jackson would not detail the Kentucky case, but said it has similarities to the crime in Austin.
Prosecutor Says Evidence Points to 1 Killer
Police said the case remains open for now and asked for help from anyone who could connect Brashers to Austin at the time. Brashers could be a suspect in other unsolved killings, Jackson said. Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said the “overwhelming weight of the evidence points to the guilt of one man" and the innocence of the men previously arrested and convicted. “If the conclusions of APD’s investigation are confirmed, as it appears that they will be, I will say: I am sorry, though I know that that will never be enough,” Garza said.
Conclusion
The identification of Robert Eugene Brashers as the likely suspect in the 1991 Texas yogurt shop killings brings a measure of closure to the families of the victims and the community. The case is a testament to the power of advanced DNA testing technology and the dedication of cold case detectives. While the case remains open, the evidence points to Brashers as the sole perpetrator, and his connection to other violent crimes across multiple states underscores the gravity of his actions.
FAQs
Q: Who was identified as the likely suspect in the 1991 Texas yogurt shop killings?
A: Robert Eugene Brashers was identified as the likely suspect.
Q: How was Brashers connected to the crime?
A: Brashers was connected to the crime through advanced DNA testing technology and ballistics testing.
Q: What other crimes has Brashers been linked to?
A: Brashers has been linked to the strangulation of a South Carolina woman in 1990, the shooting of a mother and daughter in Missouri in 1998, and the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee.
Q: What is the current status of the case?
A: The case remains open, but the evidence points to Brashers as the sole perpetrator.
Q: How have the families of the victims responded to the new developments in the case?
A: The families of the victims have expressed a sense of closure and relief that the case is finally moving forward, but also acknowledge that the pain of their loss will never fully heal.
