Austin Police Name New Suspect in 1991 Murders of 4 Teen Girls at Yogurt Shop

Over three decades after four teenage girls were shot and killed inside an Austin, Texas yogurt shop, police say they have made a “significant breakthrough” in the case and named a new suspect.

Austin police identified the new suspect as Robert Eugene Brashers in a statement released on Friday, Sept. 26. Brashers died by suicide in 1999 amid a standoff with law enforcement in Kennett, Mo. Brashers was linked to several killings and rapes in other states, the Associated Press reported.

Brashers was never considered a possible suspect during the 34-year investigation, and he had no connection to Texas’ capital city, according to the Austin Statesman.

“This remains an open and ongoing investigation,” Austin police said. They have scheduled a press conference for Monday, Sept. 29, to announce their findings.

The gun Brashers used to shoot himself is allegedly consistent with a bullet casing found in a drain inside the yogurt shop, retired Austin detective John Jones told CBS News’ 48 Hours.

On Dec. 6, 1991, a fire broke out at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt shop in Austin. After firefighters extinguished the flames, they found the bodies of Eliza Thomas, 17, Jennifer Harbison, 17, Sarah Harbison, 15, and Amy Ayers, 13, all of whom had been gagged and shot in the head.

In the days following the murders, police detained teen Maurice Pierce, who was carrying a pistol matching the caliber used in what the media dubbed the Yogurt Shop Murders. His arrest led police to three other male suspects: Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Forrest Wellburn. 

Maurice, Robert and Michael all confessed to the crime at different times over the next eight years. Michael and Robert were convicted in 2001 and 2002, respectively, but the rulings were eventually overturned due to a lack of DNA evidence and controversial questioning by police, which led some of the young men to recant their statements. These suspects were later released in 2009.

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“They’re not forgotten,” Angie Ayers, the wife of Amy’s brother Shawn Ayers, told PEOPLE in 2023. “They’re not given up on.”

The cold case received newfound attention from the public when HBO Max released the first installment in a four-part docuseries on Aug. 3. The Yogurt Shop Murders includes interviews from the crime’s investigative team and the victims’ families, as well as footage of the suspects from an unfinished documentary.

Brashers is a serial killer and rapist linked to several cases across the south, from Tennessee to South Carolina. The new DNA evidence also connected him to the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee, per the AP.

Austin police met with the victims’ families to share the latest news in the case, according to the Statesman.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.