I Can't Believe It's Yogurt!

Good ol’ Austin, Texas. Back in the early 90s, it was quite the place to be. The population was growing, but had a nice small and personal touch to it. People viewed the town as a place where you can raise a family, chase your dreams, and just enjoy life. No one in Austin ever thought they would be faced with one of the most shocking and gruesome murders that could happen in the 90s. What people still ask to this day is “What kind of monster could do this?”

The events that are about to unfold took place on December 6th, 1991. The case of the Yogurt Shop Murders remains unresolved to this day, but there are some people out there that will never stop looking….

Right Before It Happened…..

It was a cold and wintery night on December 6th, 1991. About an hour before 10 pm, Sarah Harbison and Amy Ayres went down meet up with their friends Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas. The plan was for all 4 of the girls to ride home together once the shop closed at 10 pm. Closing time was coming up soon, and the two girls started closing up shop. People were starting to leave, and as 10 o’clock neared, one of the girls followed the last couple out the door so she could lock it up behind them. Once the door was locked, it was known that there were two men left in the shop, and no one could have anticipated what was about to happen next.

Just before midnight, police received a report of smoke rising from the local yogurt shop. First Responder Firefighters arrived on site to extinguish the fire, and that's when the bodies of all 4 teenagers were found.

All 4 girls were found naked, bound, and gagged with their clothing. The girls were also burned to a severe degree, and there was evidence of sexual assault based on the placement of their bodies. Jennifer, Sarah, and Eliza were found near the back door, while Amy's body was found in a different room, however in the same condition as the other three girls. Ballistics report stated it was a .22 and .380 pistol that was used to commit these murders, but any other evidence was hard to uncover due to the fire.

The crime appeared organized, premeditative, and on a level that would assume the perpetrators were most likely adults.

Using arson to destroy evidence, propping open the door in advance, and the way the girls were controlled prior to their deaths, shook the entire police force while they attempted to gather any evidence they could.

Suspects

There were only 4 suspects that were under suspicion for the murders:

1. Robert Springsteen

2. Michael Scott

3. Maurice Pierce

4. Forrest Welborn

After everything was said and done, only the cases against Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen moved forward. No charges were filed for Maurice Pierce and Forrest Welborn.

Unfortunately, the cases against the two boys started to unravel……

Yes Your Honor…We’ve Reached a Verdict

The guilty verdicts relied heavily on the confessions that both Scott and Springsteen put on record. Unfortunately, both men end up recanting and stated that they were coerced. The legal team that was out to prosecute the two men were using the men's confessions against each other to get the guilty verdict, but it ended up hurting the case in the end. It was determined that confession cannot be used against two individuals to gain a guilty confession, as it could be seen as manipulation.

Furthermore, DNA was progressing forward in the early 2000s and scientists were able to pull DNA off of some of the girls’ clothing, which none of the DNA matched any of the 4 original boys. In the end, there were no suspects after a decade of searching.

Hope For the Future

As of 2020, there aren’t any more leads, but the friends, family, and legal team that have been there since the beginning will never stop searching. DNA science will keep growing, and what’s putting a roadblock on finding out the truth are protection laws for the people that have volunteered their DNA in certain systems. It’s a hard thing to grasp knowing that it’s protections laws that keep people from the truth and knowing who committed this horrific crime, but we will keep searching until we find the answers.