The horrific murder of four teenage girls in an Austin yogurt shop has been solved after more than 30 years.
DNA evidence led investigators on Monday to identify Robert Eugene Brashers as the likely killer of Amy Ayers, 13, Eliza Thomas, 17, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, ages 17 and 15.
“I’m full of gratitude, it has been so long, and all we ever wanted for this case was the truth,” said Barbara Wilson, the mother of Jennifer and Sarah.
Brasher killed himself during a 1999 standoff with law enforcement. His DNA was later linked to multiple murder and rape cases, including in South Carolina, Missouri, and Tennessee, from the 1990s.
“Austin lost its innocence the night those young souls became victims…Today was a long time coming,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at a news conference held to announce that DNA evidence led to the identification of Brasher as the murderer in the 34-year-old case.
The four girls were killed in 1991 at an “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” shop in Austin, Texas, where two of them worked. They were found gagged, tied up with their underwear, and shot. The shop was then set on fire, destroying most of the evidence.
Austin Police Department Cold Case Detective Daniel Jackson said the DNA linking Brasher to the case came from sexual assault kits and a fingernail clipping, as detectives at the time had collected swabs from the victims.
In 1999, investigators arrested four men in connection with the case. Two of them, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, confessed to the murders but later claimed police coerced their confessions. Springsteen was sentenced to death, a sentence later reduced to life in prison. Ten years later, charges against both men were dropped after new DNA evidence pointed to an unknown suspect.
The announcement comes after the release of the HBO documentary series The Yogurt Shop Murders, which explores the trauma endured by the victims’ families amid years without resolution.
Following Monday’s announcement, officials say the investigation into the murders is still ongoing.
“Our reality doesn’t change after today, our families are still too small, still missing an essential ingredient,” said Sonora Thomas, the sister of Eliza Thomas.
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