AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A significant breakthrough in the notorious 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders has emerged as DNA evidence has identified deceased suspect Robert Eugene Brashers, Austin police announced Friday. This new development comes in the wake of renewed public interest following the release of HBO's documentary series The Yogurt Shop Murders.
The case, open for over three decades, involves the tragic killings of four teenage girls: Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, all of whom were bound, gagged, and shot at the local yogurt shop where two of the victims worked. Their abandoned bodies were later discovered after the establishment was set ablaze.
The unsolved case has long plagued the city of Austin, with investigators sifting through countless leads and several false confessions, compounded by the challenges of compromised evidence from the fire. Four men were originally arrested in connection to the case back in 1999, yet their confessions were recanted, leading to their convictions being overturned in 2009.
DNA evidence in recent years has re-opened discussions, most notably in 2018 when Missouri authorities linked Brashers with multiple murders across state lines, including the 1990 strangulation of a woman in South Carolina, and two related shootings in Missouri. Brashers died by suicide during a standoff with police in 1999, leaving many questions unanswered.
The Austin police have promised to provide more details at an upcoming news conference, reiterating their commitment to obtaining justice for the victims and their families.
