AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — In a major development, DNA evidence has uncovered a long-sought suspect in the 1991 slayings of four teenage girls in Texas. Authorities announced that they have linked Robert Eugene Brashers to these infamous murders, prompted by recent DNA tests and renewed attention from an HBO documentary series titled 'The Yogurt Shop Murders.'
Austin police regard the case as open and have scheduled a news conference to outline their latest findings. The heartbreaking incident involves Amy Ayers, 13; Eliza Thomas, 17; and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, ages 17 and 15, who were tragically killed at a popular yogurt shop where two of the victims worked. They were bound, gagged, and shot in the head before the store was set ablaze.
The murders shocked the community and have remained one of Austin’s most notorious crimes. Over the years, investigators have navigated through a myriad of leads, false confessions, and compromised evidence from the fire. Although four men were arrested in 1999, their convictions were eventually overturned after new DNA evidence pointed to an alternate suspect.
Brashers, who died by suicide during a standoff with police in 1999, had previously been linked to other violent crimes, including a 1990 murder in South Carolina and assaults in Missouri and Tennessee. Investigators believe the new DNA revelations may finally provide the closure that the families of the victims have been seeking for decades.
Austin police regard the case as open and have scheduled a news conference to outline their latest findings. The heartbreaking incident involves Amy Ayers, 13; Eliza Thomas, 17; and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, ages 17 and 15, who were tragically killed at a popular yogurt shop where two of the victims worked. They were bound, gagged, and shot in the head before the store was set ablaze.
The murders shocked the community and have remained one of Austin’s most notorious crimes. Over the years, investigators have navigated through a myriad of leads, false confessions, and compromised evidence from the fire. Although four men were arrested in 1999, their convictions were eventually overturned after new DNA evidence pointed to an alternate suspect.
Brashers, who died by suicide during a standoff with police in 1999, had previously been linked to other violent crimes, including a 1990 murder in South Carolina and assaults in Missouri and Tennessee. Investigators believe the new DNA revelations may finally provide the closure that the families of the victims have been seeking for decades.
