The 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders is an open homicide case in Austin, Texas. On Friday, December 6, 1991, the yogurt shop was robbed and set afire after four teenage girls were murdered inside it. They were 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison and her 15-year-old sister, Sarah Harbison. Jennifer and Eliza were employees of the store; they were working the evening shift. Sarah and Amy had spent the earlier part of the evening at nearby Northcross Mall, and were looking forward to a sleepover planned for that night. They were in the shop to help Jennifer close it down, and to get a ride home with her afterward. The original investigation spanned nearly eight years. Two men who initially confessed to the quadruple slaying were thereupon tried and convicted; however, they were released from custody in 2009, for lack of evidence. No new charges have been filed, and local media coverage remains ongoing., the Austin Police Department's cold-case unit continues to pursue the identity of an unknown male, using DNA found on the youngest of the victims.
Murders
Shortly before midnight on Friday, December 6, 1991, a patrolling Austin police officer noticed a fire coming from an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop and reported it to his dispatcher. After it was extinguished, firefighters discovered four nude bodies. Each had been shot in the head execution style with a.22 lead bullet. Sarah's body had been bound behind her with a pair of panties and she had also been gagged and raped. Jennifer was not bound but her hands were behind her back. Eliza had been gagged and her hands were also tied behind her back. All three had been severely charred and shot in the back of the head. Unlike the others Amy's body was found in a separate part of the shop. She was not charred but she had received 2nd and "very early" 3rd degree burns on 25-30% of her body. She was found with a "sock-like cloth" around her neck. She had been shot the same as the others however the bullet had missed her brain. She also had a second bullet which did severe damage to her brain. It exited through her lateral cheek and jawline. It is thought that the killers had stacked all 4 bodies on top of another but Amy pulled herself off and managed to crawl to a different part of the store. Sarah's and Eliza's bodies were found stacked on top of each other with Jennifer's body next to them which is theorised to have been stacked on top of them but had been disturbed when Amy crawled away. Autopsy results show high levels of a BTU output which suggests an accelerant may have been used. It is believed the girls died before the fire started. Just before the murders, the girls had been seen alive at the yogurt shop as late as 10:00 p.m. They had planned a sleepover for that night.
Subsequent events
At the time of the murders, a known serial killer, Kenneth Allen McDuff, was in the area. He had a history of multiple murders involving teenagers, but was soon ruled out of the crime. He was executed for his crimes on November 17, 1998.
False confessions
Austin police admit that over fifty people, including McDuff on the day of his execution, had confessed to the yogurt shop murders. A confession in 1992 by two Mexican nationals, held by Mexican authorities, was soon disputed and finally ruled false.
1999: Four suspects arrested
On Wednesday, October 6, 1999, police in Texas and West Virginia arrested four suspects in connection with the murders. Robert Burns Springsteen, Jr., 24, was arrested in Charleston, West Virginia. Michael James Scott, 25, of Buda, Texas, was arrested in the Austin area. Maurice Pierce, 24, was arrested in Lewisville, north of Dallas, and Forrest Wellborn, 23, was picked up in Lockhart, southeast of Austin. The prosecution stated at one hearing that DNA evidence in the case had been tested against more than 70 people and failed to match. Charges against Wellborn were dropped when an Austin grand jury failed to indict him. Charges were later dropped against Pierce. Only the cases against Scott and Springsteen went to trial. The investigation was complicated by matters internal to the Austin Police Department. Detective Hector Polanco was fired for allegedly coercing confessions. A relationship between Springsteen's father and Austin police data-processing employee Karen Huntley prompted her transfer. Polanco was later reinstated after suing the city for discrimination based on race. He would eventually be promoted and retire with a full pension. He was also involved in coercing a false confession in a previous murder case, which led to the false imprisonment of Christopher Ochoa and Richard Danziger. Both were released after 13 years in prison; Danziger was assaulted in prison which resulted in permanent brain damage.
On August 20, 2008, the defense lawyers for Scott and Springsteen requested DNA testing of alternative suspects. No matches against evidence discovered earlier that year were found. Seven jurors from the trials have stated that they would not have convicted the men had this evidence been available at the time.
2009: Release of Scott and Springsteen
On Wednesday, June 24, 2009, Judge Mike Lynch ruled, in response to Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's request that one of the trials be continued, that defendants Springsteen and Scott be freed on bond pending their upcoming trials. At 2:50 p.m. that day, they both walked out of the Travis County Jail with their attorneys. Later that day, Lehmberg responded to Lynch's decision with the following statement: On October 28, 2009, all charges were dismissed against Scott and Springsteen.
2010: Death of Maurice Pierce
On December 23, 2010, Austin police officer Frank Wilson and his rookie partner, Bradley Smith, conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Maurice Pierce - one of the four originally arrested in this case - in the northern part of the city. After a brief foot pursuit, Pierce struggled with Wilson before removing a knife from his belt and stabbing Wilson in the neck. Wilson, who survived his injuries, subsequently pulled out his gun and shot and killed Pierce.
Book
The murders were the subject of Beverly Lowry's 2016 nonfiction bookWho Killed These Girls? Cold Case: The Yogurt Shop Murders, Corey Mitchell's 2016 nonfiction book Murdered Innocents and the novelSee How Small by Scott Blackwood.
