Unsolved cases

1991 Austin yogurt shop murders

On December 6, 1991, in Austin, Texas, a patrolman noticed a fire coming from I can't believe it's Yogurt! And report it to dispatch.

After the fire had been put out, firefighters found 4 naked bodies. Each had been shot in the head, execution-style with a .22 caliber lead bullet. The victims were four teen girls:

Amy Ayers: 13 years old.

Eliza Thomas: 17 years old

Jennifer Harbison: 17 years old

Sarah Harbison: 15 years old, Jennifer's sister.

Jennifer and Eliza were employees at the yogurt shop while Sarah and her friend Amy were at the shop to get a ride from Jennifer after the shop closed at 11 pm.

One hour before closing, a man who had tried to hustle customers in his queue was allowed to use the toilet in the back, took a long time, and May have jammed a rear door open. A couple who left the shop at 11 pm, when Jennifer locked the door to prevent people from entering, reported seeing two men at the table acting furtively.

Back to the crime scene, Sarah's hand had been bound with a pair of panties and she had 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 at the back of the head.

Amy's body had been found in a separate part of the shop. She was not charred but had received second- and "very early" third-degree burns on 25-30% of the body. She was found with a "sock-like cloths" around her neck. Had also been shot like the others but the bullet missed her brain. She also had a second bullet which caused severe damage to her brain.

It was believed that the killers stacked the bodies on top of one another but Amy had pulled herself off and managed to crawl to a different part of the store since Sarah's and Eliza's bodies were found stacked on top of one another with Jennifer's body but been disturbed when Amy crawled away. The autopsy revealed a high level of BTU output, which suggests an accelerant may have been used.

There were people of interest, especially a 15-year-old who was caught with a .22 (not the murder weapon) in a nearby mall days after the murder.

At the time of the murders, a known serial killer named Kenneth Allen McDuff was in the area. He had a history of multiple murders involving teenagers but was soon ruled out. He was executed on November 17, 1998.

There had been over 50 people, including McDuff on the day of his execution, who had confessed to the yogurt shop murders. In 1992, two Mexican nationals who were held by Mexican authorities confessed to the murder. It was soon disputed and finally ruled false.

There was a man named Robert Springsteen who was questioned in 1991 and had his conviction overturned in 2006 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals due to an unfair trial since there were no records of what was said to him when he was interrogated back in 1991 for the murders. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate the conviction in February 2007.

On August 20, 2008, the defense lawyers for Robert Springsteen and Micheal Scott, another man who was accused of the crime back in 1991, requested DNA testing of alternative suspects. There were no matches against evidence discovered earlier that year were found. Seven jurors from the trial have stated that they would not have convicted the men had this evidence been available at the time.

On June 24, 2009, Judge Mike Lynch ruled that defendants Springsteen and Scott be freed on bond pending their upcoming trials. At 2:50 pm, that day, they both walked out of the Travis Count jail with their attorneys. On October 28, 2009, all charges were dismissed against Scott and Springsteen.

On December 8, 2021, The House Judiciary Committee passed a legislation from Rep. Micheal McCaul giving the families of cold case victims the opportunity to petition the federal government to reexamine cases older than three years.

Recently, on February 5, 2022, it was announced that advanced DNA technology was bringing investigators closer than ever to solving the murders.

The case is still ongoing but hopefully one day, it would be solved.

For now,

The case is

Unsolved